Employee favorites

I got a little bored so I am starting this new topic.

To all past employees, answer these questions:

1. What ride is "your" ride and why do you like it?

2. If you had to work on another ride other than your own, what would it be and why?

3. What ride would you not want to work and why?

So here I go answering my own question.

1. Of course my ride has to be Turnpikes!!! I love that ride so much. There are countless number of reasons: the ability to walk around all day and keep moving (not confined to one spot), getting to DRIVE during work, hanging out with AL (who else would change ALL those spark plugs), being the only car ride to have to spiel (no auto speils here!), finding great treasures underneath the cobra roll of Raptor.

2. The other ride I would choose would have to be probably Wicked Twister because I had the chance to work that this past summer and it wasnt a bad ride to work especially when its like 100 degrees out and at WT there is shade and its right on the beach so there is some breeze.

3. The ride I would NOT want to work on would be Monster. I worked it for 2 days and I tried like hell to stay on Witches Wheel because I couldnt handle Monster. Those pins that you have to pull out to unload guests hurt a lot and there is pretty much NO shade at Monster. I just happen to be working there on 2 of the hottest days of the summer too.

My Ride is Wicked Twister all the way. It is my favorite ride in the park. It is just such a great ride to work, not to mention the beach breeze on a hot day.

If I had to work another ride I think it would have to be Raptor even though I only worked crowd on it for 3 hours one day last season, the ride itself just seems like a fun place to work at.

The ride I would not ever want to work again is Sky Ride. I worked it for a week and a few random days throughout the season and I hated it. It requires very fast reactions (every 8 or so seconds), a lot of physical strength. There is really no time to interact with guests or co-workers. A lot of people don't understand the fact that we have 8 seconds from the time their cabin enters the station before it has to be ready to leave the station, which is another reason why I don't like to work it, too mush stress. Oh and the fact of nearly getting smashed between two cabins because of a slow guest and not enough stopping room. :(

After all that though, this past summer is one I will never forget. And the 2007 season should be even better. :) Cedar Point is such a great place to work.

My ride is Sky Ride. Constantly moving, when we have 38 cabins on its 1 cabin every 9 seconds. I love it. Plenty of time to interact with (half of) your crew, since you all work together on a small platform. The downside is you don't get much time to interact with guests, unless we are running 26 or 20 cabins. Oh, and it doesn't really require much strength, just a lot of endurance. Another perk is drama seems to stay away from the ride for the most part.

For other rides that I love, I have to go with Mantis or Gemini. Mantis I love because of how much there is to check compared to other coasters. Sure, not everyone gets it that you have to stand up straight, with your heels all the way back, and feet flat on the floor... But its ok. If everyone listened perfectly, the job would be boring! And at Gemini, I loved checking the whole train durring rotation, when you are checking lap bars, seat belts, and spieling, and clearing the train by yourself. You really have to book it to hit interval.

As for what I don't like working... ANY CIRCULAR! I HATE CIRCULARS! AAAHHHHHH CIRCULARS ARE EVIL! Not really evil, but I hate working by myself. And I really hate sitting for any length of time doing nothing. And at a circular, you just sit there, hand over e-stop, for the entire ride cycle... BORING!

1. My ride is maXair because there is alot of guest interaction and no auto spiels, well until the incident. You constanly move if you're doing unload and load. And we follow rotation.

2. Iron Dragon would be my other ride to work because of it's location and how fast you have to work, the ride automatically shuts down in 30 seconds (with three trains). I worked there one day (it was cold and rainy) but you stayed warm.

3. The ride that I do not want to work is the Mantis, I was placed there last summer for about three weeks and it was terrible high seat, low seat, guests did not stand up and it was a nightmare, and there was puke all over the place......So gross!!!!

^ what incident? Just wondering...

1) My ride was Top Thrill Dragster, but because I liked working extra hours, I got to work everywhere in Zone 3 except for Power Tower, plus a few rides in Z4. Dragster is nice for the number of sitting positions that it has, plus 2 sit-down, air-conditioned positions in controls. When the ride is working properly, it is decently fast-paced (which I like), and you still have some opportunity for guest interaction. It's a large crew, so you have a nice set of friends to start with. On the other hand, downtime isn't as fun as you might think. If the guests are cool, then it's fun to talk to them for awhile, but then eventually you'll have to start cleaning....which is a bit interesting to do when it's raining....But you have to have a lot of patience and tact, because Dragster calls for you to address loose articles and large guests both at entrance (hopefully) and/or on platform.

2) About halfway through the summer they were asking for volunteers to be cross-trained on certain rides that require more training, such as Sky Ride and Paddlewheel. At that time, I was getting a bit frustrated on TTD, so I put in for some time on PWE, and enjoyed it as a bit of a break. It's a complete change from TTD with TONS of guest interaction and spieling those wonderfully awful jokes. Again, I don't know how much I'd enjoy it for an entire summer, but it was a welcome change of pace for awhile. I also worked on Magnum for a morning (mostly because I wanted to be trained on it and have to climb the lift...AMAZING view from up there!) and whoa, do you have to fly on that ride, especially during rotation.

3) Again, I like to be kept occupied while I'm working, so flats really don't do it for me. Running around checking everything, then waiting two minutes for it to cycle would probably drive me crazy in short order. I worked several at various times throughout the season, and while I can do anything for a morning or a day or maybe even a week, I couldn't handle circulars for an entire summer.

Hoosier...I agree PWE is a nice break from TTD, but only for one day! Coming from a crew of ~25 I thought there would be less drama in a crew of 5...

I'm a TTD snob, and spent only 1 day all summer w/out her. Wouldn't work any other ride in the park. She's like the retarded third cousin I never had, and could never give her up.

Craig...'that is all'

Though it didn't start out as "my" ride in '06, I inherited Gemini from its previous leaders. Gemini would be my favorite ride to work due to its manual control system. You feel so much more powerful when you have to manuall drive the trains into the station and park them just right (or not so right Eli). Though loaded flybys are prohibited, you do get the chance to let them coast through during block checks, especially when its cold outside so they can keep their momentum to the lift hill. The only downfall at Gemini is the dreaded sandbags, but at least it keeps you in shape.

I pick Raptor as the ride I'd like to work for a day. I love the challenge of fast interval and I really miss working on the Hulk Coaster and Kumba.

My least favorite rides to work would be circulars, but only because I don't like watching things spin in circles for more than a few minutes.

I can't wait to be back in '07, especially since I have a new challenge ahead of me as supervisor. It's going to be good times!

My Ride Op Answers:
1. Super Himalyah (spelling) cause I spend 4 hrs there one day w/out a break. Best record all summer. And it was better than working Corkscrew.

2. TTD/MF/Raptor I like problems and problematic guests.

3. Any water rides... I hate water rides.
===============================
My Maintenance Answers:
1. I have several...
-Wave Swinger - Climbing to the top 3 times a week was fun.
-Trokia - Being literally ON it when it was moving
-Monster - Being all around that ride when it was on and moving..
-Disaster Transport - Walking track
-Gemini/Mine Ride - Cause of ppl I worked there with.. It was very funny...

2. TTD - Cause it always breaks
MF - Cause I wouldn't break it

3. Giant Wheel - Had to climb up 3 times a week. I didnt like those certain stairs...
Iron Dragon - The chain was hell...

- Wicked Twister was 'my' ride. I love her. Spieling was so much fun on that ride. Clear - Launching in 10, 9, 8, ZOOM! You also get that nice one-minute break while the train is in motion to dance or yell across the station to your crew. It's definitely one of, if not the easiest coasters to work in the park, but sometimes it did get boring.

- I always wanted to try out Magnum or Raptor, but never got the chance to in '06. I'm going to do everything in my power to get on the Magnum crew in '07, though. It was my dream to work on Millennium Force back before I ever even considered working at any amusement park, and I got a chance to do just that for a week over the summer... and it's really not the greatest ride to work (LGs).

- I can see Mantis really pissing me off if I worked there. There were times that I really didn't like Skyride, but I've grown kind of fond of the times I had there. I really can't see myself enjoying circulars at all.

And I thought that I was the only that disliked Mantis.........

1. Blue Streak: Best Year as TL fast enough pace that the day goes by but slow enought that you get out at a reasonable hour.

2. Iron Dragon: The pace of ID is a great change. you have a mission to perform and if you mess it up its a real mess up as a set up.

3. Any circular that you have to work on your own.

TurnPikePetey said:
being the only car ride to have to spiel (no auto speils here!),

Yeah Cads is the only one that HAS an auto spiel..... Tiques doesnt either.... believe me.... i know! lol!

maXair didn't have autospiels, but I messed that up for everyone......lol

Erroll said:

TurnPikePetey said:
being the only car ride to have to spiel (no auto speils here!),

Yeah Cads is the only one that HAS an auto spiel..... Tiques doesnt either.... believe me.... i know! lol!

Jen, I was totally going to put that.

My ride is The Magnum XL-200. Not only has it always been my favorite roller coaster but it was also the first ride I've ever worked on. I can tell you countless stories about my rides on it over the years starting with my first one. From a operating aspect the ride is so fast paced and complex that I don't know if I'd be able to adjust to another ride. I know every sound, every bump, I just seem to know alot about the ride. She'll always be my baby and I'll never forget my first season with the best crew, on the best ride in the park.

If I had to work at a different ride I would love to work Raptor. I've worked it in the past for maybe an hour. The fast pace of the ride is simular to Magnum but not nearly as intence.

I can honestly say that there isn't a ride in the park I wouldn't want to work. Every time I've worked away from Magnum I've looked at as and a learning experience and enjoyed every second of it!

Question... what does TL mean and ATL. When I get older I'm thinking about working at CP.

Team Leader and Assistant Team Leader.