Friday Sept 19th
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High Po!nts:
My day started with a Mr Skyward sighting right at the front gate. After riding Raptor he decided to come over to my b/f and I and started talking to me. He pulled his usual touching me thing again (Mr Skyward that is, not my b/f , because it is ok if he touches me ;)) and my b/f got to see me freak. Raptor only running 1 train...more about all that in the "low points." Eventually we ended up meeting up with tons of Po!nters, Matt (Hooper), Tony (Tony), Dave, (Dodgem Dave) his friend Rob, and Greg (screen name unknown) and Alex. Hanging with them for the while we did, turned out to be just the sanity I needed to stop being so pissed off about how Six Flagish the park seemed to be that evening. We all rode Maggie together, and yet the most fun for me was the Wildcat ride, I found out that ride really books when the other 3 riders are tall males. I finally got to meet ST Kara, and even saw Jeff and his wife Stephanie hanging on the midway. Eventually we all headed to Banshee and that’s where our little group departed. Banshee was only running 1 train too BUT was still managing more RPH than Raptor was-how was THAT possible? By the time we got to the platform I was absolutely bombarded by all the ride ops I knew. Many were recruits from other rides, plus the actual Banshee crew so I got 6 hugs, and even got to hear "hi Raptor Jo" over the loudspeaker, and we all know how much I love that!! :) I have to admit Banshee was just hauling too, much to my surprise. We had been watching TTD (and tons of rollbacks) while in line and decided to head over there once we were done with Banshee. The line was cut off (gasp!) on the outside of the queue but we decided to take our chances anyway. I had wanted to go back to Raptor till closing but my b/f has been chomping on the bit to ride TTD for weeks so I thought fine. Comments on this in "low points" but the high po!nt of that was my b/f finally got his TTD ride, front car even and he just LOVED it! Honest to goodness he was high the rest of the night and trip home after riding it. In conclusion, spending time with my b/f (remembering the drive to and from CP was longer than the actual park hours!) was awesome as usual, and hanging with my CP buds was great too. I was happy to be at CP since I missed it so much. B/F and I even bought matching Halloweekends sweatshirts-how disgusting is THAT? :)
Low Po!nts:
This will be the longest "low po!nt" section of ALL my TRs this season. I was well prepared for Isabel to play some what of a role in making things less than perfect. As mentioned previously Raptor was running 1 train, I knew exactly why, and I knew no power riding for me :( Low point after our ride was the idiot who was behind us down the ramp going on and on with his g/f how "they are only running 1 train to be sure they get their monies worth...blah blah blah" My b/f KNEW I was going to say something when he kept yapping his "know it all" big mouth off. I turned around and (politely) said "actually they are only running 1 train to insure each train is fully loaded because of the wind, it keeps any potential rollbacks from happening" Of course he shut up and I do hope he was intelligent enough to read my employee jacket which clearly says I am on the Raptor crew, whereby I should know what I was talking about. Why would someone think CP would be saving $$ by having longer lines and less trains running? CP made their $$ when he bought his ticket. Maybe I did take it too personal but he was absolutely clueless, with a smart ass mouth to match. The winds may have been a factor the first hour but there was no reason for them not to put on the 2nd train towards the mid evening. Crowds could have had the trains at least half full, and I have seen winds far worse with all 3 trains operating. 30-45 minute wait times. If Pointers were pissed I don’t blame them. I know I was, but admittingly so being spoiled by Friday night Halloweekends of years past. MF down all night (had to hear Tony complain about that MANY times) but at least I found out the real reason why it was down. Wicked Twister, down mechanical (cough-Intamin-cough) and the wait for TTD (although eventual outcome awesome) was almost embarrassing for me with my b/f. Once 3 trains successfully made it over, the outside line is allowed on the actual queue. Once in the actual queue, it is non stop waiting on trains, waiting on the rollbacks, hearing "TTD is currently down for mechanical", which I counted 5 freaking times in an hour. I knew we were staying and riding no matter what but was still po’d that after the entire season TTD is still jacked. Let’s see, WT down, MF down and TTD jacked-I only have one thing to say about that-B&M!!!!
Again I know Isabel may have started things off badly but as the evening went on nothing was getting any better, the crowd even seemed heavier than usual too. Dan Keller was walking around the park (gasp!) and we even talked to him briefly, I wonder if he noticed things weren’t up to par? Guests did not see CP as the real CP. Easy for a Po!nter to blow off (there’s always next time) but I’m sure not easy for the full ticket price guest (my b/f included!) to shrug their shoulders at. Most pathetic Halloweekend ride count EVER: 1 on Raptor, Wildcat, Maggie, TTD - blech!! :(
My grace is knowing it was only the 1st Halloweekend Friday, which means the rest HAVE to get better because as far as I’m concerned, they can’t possibly get too much worse! Anyone who knows me knows rarely do I complain about CP, and am always the 1st one to defend it, but feel this ***** session was justified.
Thanks to my CP buds for the great time again, you guys were all a blast as always, and I'm glad my b/f finally got to meet Dave and Tony, oh yea and ride TTD too!!!
Jo
2000 Raptor Crew
2002 Raptor Crew
2003 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 793 :)
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It's all about getting around the barrels, or over the fences, right leads, no faults, fastest time and looking pretty when done. What's so hard about that? :)
Anyway to me it seemed six flagish only having one train running on Raptor with a nice long line. (/end rant)
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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K. Per my conversation
EA Sports "It's in the Game"
*** This post was edited by Hooper 9/21/2003 9:27:54 PM ***
Even though practically everything was down, it was still cool to walk around the midways and be a guest for once...taking in all the Halloween stuff. Here's hoping next Friday the park is more "up to par" rides-wise ;).
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Kara (car-uh)
Super/'Screw Crew '03
Races for the Sky: 15.5
Congrats to Sparty on his rollback!
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MF Circuts=487(03=171)
TTD Launches=29
TTD Rollbacks=5
*** This post was edited by Tony 9/22/2003 12:31:40 PM ***
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Steve Sergent
MF: 255
TTD: 43
Tony said:
It was good to see everyone again, but it was a weird night not knowing what to ride, because Millennium Force was down.
___________________________________Try knowing your baby IS running and you're not riding it cause the wait time is jacked up! :(
At least you avoided the Philly Cheese Steak Tony and for that we ALL thank you! he he! ;)Jo
2000 Raptor Crew
2002 Raptor Crew
2003 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 793 :) (207 to go!)
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It's all about getting around the barrels, or over the fences, right leads, no faults, fastest time and looking pretty when done. What's so hard about that? :)
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MF Circuts=487(03=171)
TTD Launches=29
TTD Rollbacks=5
*** This post was edited by Tony 9/23/2003 11:48:14 AM ***
Running one train on Raptor is inexcusable under any circumstances, especially when there's an actual line in the queue.
Add to that having MF, WT and Dragster down more than it was up, and the entire place was a joke. I can't remember a time I was more disappointed in the park. Operationally the park has been so far below what we're used to this year. The only thing that went well Friday was the food operations, which I credit to the awesome and enthusiastic international employees.
The park has to do better...
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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?
Yeah let me just say that really makes me reconsider coming to CP Friday nights, even being so close. Dave, Rob and I left the park around 10ish for Applebee's because of the lines with ONE train operation on Raptor. You hear us CP?? Come on, We expect short lines on Friday nights at Halloweekends mainly walkons.
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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K. Per my conversation
"Hey Werewolf lady"
I was upset about things too, but what can they do? MF had obvious mechanical problems that needed to be delt with before operation. As for Raptor and TTD....it was windy, ya know ;).
I feel bad for the people who did pay or drove some distance to go there, but I think we should just dismiss it as simply a bad day. I bet this Friday shows significant improvement.
And Hooper, you know you had walkon Corkscrew all day Sunday. You only needed 47 more for a Corkscrew 50, you know!
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Kara (car-uh)
Super/'Screw Crew '03
Races for the Sky: 15.5
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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K. Per my conversation
"Hey Werewolf lady"
Shorthanded maintenance staff not having rides or trains ready to run at opening, increased downtime, the addition of lame autospiels to rides, lack of cleaning supplies, the lack of a "handstamps only" sign at the Magnum freeway entrance (which was a cob job in the first place), and a decent number of employees who'd rather yell at every guest on their way through rather than just doing their job all contributed to a down year (or two years).
Granted I'm sure everyone was disappointed that Dragster had so much downtime and I'm sure the fact that the park spent $25 million on it has a lot to do with some of these other shortcomings, but this should not be used as an excuse. Some people at CP need to pull their head out of their ass and realize that they are the park that has been setting the standard for years. Stop cutting corners and lowering the park down to the rest of the industry or CP will become no different than the rest of the parks that people complain about so much.
There - that's coming from a huge CP fanboy too! :) Kara's right that Friday was probably a particularly bad day, but CP has always prided itself on consistent operation from opening day until closing day. CP relies on making good first impressions and anyone that experiences an "off" day on their first trip, most likely won't be back. Why do you think I drive five hours to go to CP instead of 45 minutes to Darien Lake? CP usually hasn't had "off" days in the past, but I'm losing a little faith now.
-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew
*** This post was edited by MDOmnis 9/23/2003 3:03:54 PM ***
The front felt like I was about ready to be thrown out of that ride.
You say that like it's a bad thing. :)
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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.
On a bright note, Sunday, Raptor was sending out trains with empty seats and they were running all three trains. Many rides were virtual walkons, MF had about a 20 min. wait and Dragster had about a 30 min. wait. Managed three Dragster rides on Sun.
I hope the CP execs read these complaints and make sure stuff like that doesn't happen.
About a week ago on Sunday, Raptor was running two trains and was a walkon. Then, they removed a train and made a line. I was disgusted and only rode once. This was most unusual operation for CP, about as bad as SFWoA has been. One train operation sucks and has no business at CP, except maybe on Blue Streak if the park is extremely dead. Hopefully, based on this past Sunday's performance, someone higher up saw what was going on and set things straight.
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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.
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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K. Per my conversation
"Hey Werewolf lady"
MrScott
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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"
*** This post was edited by MrScott 9/24/2003 4:27:40 AM ***
Jeff said:
Friday night sucked ass.Boy now that's what I call right to the Po!nt, isn't it? ;)
I have to admit that I was VERY hesitant at first to post my complaints but now that I see that others (even our own webmaster) was as po'd as I, I don't feel badly at all!
I hope the remaining Fridays fare better, of course I'm NOT referring to the horrible season record of TTD, my $ says it will suck until closing day. I wonder if TTD could fall under the "lemon law?" he he
Jo
2000 Raptor Crew
2002 Raptor Crew
2003 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 793 :)
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It's all about getting around the barrels, or over the fences, right leads, no faults, fastest time and looking pretty when done. What's so hard about that? :)
If not, I will not buy a Season Pass for 2004.
It isn't worth getting a season pass if Cedar Point has another bad weekend and doesn't add anything more exciting for next year? Seems pretty drastic to me. I don't care if they don't add anything for the next 10 years (and I think the 2004 improvements are good additions), I'd say it's still a pretty cool park. You can't beat $85 for a summer of fun.
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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
.....then again if the weather was perfect you would complain about the crowds.
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Dan Haverlock
TTD Rollbacks 0 For 26
"get a job man!"
*** This post was edited by Dan 9/24/2003 11:13:08 PM ***
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HW 2K3: 1
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