Early morning TTD rides

I have a question. Does anyone know if employees are allowed to come into the park before open and test ride dragster or millenium during the test runs?

Test rides are only done by the crew. Test riders must ride in proper riding position while observing the ride for any unusual sounds and/or vibrations during the ride. In the case of the coasters, one test rider for each train.

Has there ever been an instance when you, or any other crew member in this forum have heard or felt any "unusual sounds and/or vibrations" when testing a ride in the morning?

Im sure if they had they could'nt say, unless they no longer worked for Cedar Fair.

If they did hear any "unusual sounds" or felt and "vibrations", wouldn't the ride be checked out? and possibly closed for the day? and instead of saying why the ride is shut down and possibly "scaring" people away since it it potentialy "dangerous", dont you think they would BS it a little bit? (not BlueStreak.)

There are times earlier in the season where they post announcements that Riders are needed for MF and TTD for morning testing. This is open to any employees. This is done when it is colder out, and they want full trains of real people, as opposed to water dummies, to greatly lessen the chance of a rollback. I was lucky enough to participate in one of these mornings during my first season at the Point ('02). Got to ride 7 rides in a row on MF... good times... and to answer your question... CP takes it's employees very seriously if they do "hear a sound" or "feel a vibration." If this happens, the Team Leader of the ride will ride the next time with the employee to listen for themselves, and then any appropriate action is taken.

Yes, the employee test ride is important on every coaster every morning. I hear people tell me all the time "That's SOOO COOL you get to ride it every morning!" Yeah.. well, it's not really "riding".. you're still working. It's not a ride for enjoyment, you're riding to listen to the track and the wheels, feeling the movement of the train to make sure everything is running smoothly, etc..

And, with most rides (I know it's true with WT, Mantis, and Raptor) the test ride REALLY isn't the most 'fun' thing... those trains tend to be a little more rough without all that weight in them. I don't even want to know what a test ride on Mean Streak would be like.

Solo rides on Mean Streak aren't so bad. I still enjoyed test rides, but it's just not the same as when you're in the park as a guest riding.

Gravity, what section do you work at CB? I stayed there a couple of weeks ago, just wondering.

I work in the Activities department... all of the childrens activities, hanging out with Snoopy and the gang, and such. ;)

Sounds cool, we had a great time when we stayed there, all of the employees were very friendly. Keep up the good work.

When I went back in Feb, Snoopy and Linus (I think it was) was out in the lobby with the guests. My sis wanted a pic with snoopy and I could tell the person in the Linus costume was thinking "Why can't I be the favorite character?" :)
*** Edited 7/7/2005 4:17:59 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

Hahah... it's a good thing you got that feeling... because they're supposed to look that way.

In all reality, though... our Linus is quite happy being Linus. Sometimes, a little less attention is a good thing... especially when sweltering inside of those things.