Gatekeeper- terrible stacking

Hmmm...let me do a little figuring here...a way to load the Wheel on a busy day...

A=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
B=7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
C=13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
D=19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
E=25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
F=31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

3, 4 - 21, 22
27, 28 - 2, 3, 4, 5 - 9, 10 - 20, 21, 22, 23
33, 34 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - 8, 9, 10, 11 - 15, 16 - 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 - 26, 27, 28, 29
32, 33, 34, 35 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 - 14, 15, 16, 17 - 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 - 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
31,32,33,34,35,36 - 1,2,3,4,5,6 - 7,8,9,10,11,12 - 13,14,15,16,17,18 - 19,20,21,22,23,24 - 25,26,27,28,29,30

To reduce capacity on subsequent cycles, reverse the pattern, removing two seats from opposite sections on each cycle. So each section could have 0, 2, 4 or 6 seats in use, matched with the opposite section. Opposite sections would be A-D, B-E, C-F. The idea is to avoid a total imbalance of more than two seats.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Whoops. My head just exploded.

The time it takes to load and unload a large ferris wheel fully loaded or evac without power is generally why parks don't load every tub. It's also so time consuming to load and load each one, running with fewer tubs is generally more efficient.

For example: with a small (16 tub Eli Bridge) ferris wheel, we can load and unload about 20 people in 11 minutes, plus a 3 minute cycle. So about 14 minutes from when you get on to when you get off, with 8 tubs. All 16 tubs would take 22 minutes to load, you'd still get a 3 minute cycle, and are now spending 25 minutes on the ride, with still only about 40 people. So not only are you getting less people on and off, each person is also spending a ton more time on the ride (not buying things). Granted, our ride takes longer to load and unload, but still.

And balancing isn't particularly hard, especially if you only have to keep the ride balanced within x number of tubs on each side. But it gets exhausting quick and takes a long time to go back and forth between a full cycle and one that's only half full.

I vividly remember spending a long time on Giant Wheel when it involved loading more of it, and that was a good thing. To suggest that I'm not going to buy fries before or after because I'm on the ride is the silliest thing I've seen on the Internet today. Now that time I was "stuck" on the ride is spent "stuck" in line.

The simple solution is for them to erect a fry stand about midway up on the wheel.

The imbalance of loading/unloading on a small ride like Monster I can understand. The Giant Wheel I can't.

This has always been a pet peeve of mine at the park. I vividly remember in the late 70's/early 80's that this ride was full to capacity and we would walk up the slanted far left or right platforms to load. Yes there would be 6 tubs all loaded at once. We're talking about a 50+ ton structure here so I don't think loading 4,000 pounds of extra people on the bottom of the wheel when some are empty at the top will throw it off that much; and what will happen if it is not balanced, is the wheel going to stop or roll away? Can anyone verify what happens when a huge ferris wheel like this is imbalanced? Again overall this is a very heavy structure that we're talking about.

As crazy as it sounds, Ride Man's solution is about as close as you should do the loading/unloading with the opposite sides of the wheel. On a crowded day, maybe start with 4 of the 6 cars loaded, proceed to the opposite side until all 8 sides are full, then when all of those are full, load the 2 outer cabins on each side, there solved.

On the Eli Wheel you are loading and unloading one tub at a time. The Giant Wheel loads tubs in sections, i believe six tubs park in the loading area and can simultaneously unload and load. Given enough people checking restraints, it should take about the same amount of time to load one, two and on up to six tubs. So, on the Giant Wheel, the logic used in Eli Wheel loading doesn't apply.

From the impression I'm under, if the wheel is unbalanced, the drive motor doesn't work very well.

Also, if while loading and the wheel rolls the opposite way, I know it's an operational (kind of like points being docked) for the ride ops.

I've never worked Giant Wheel so I can't really say if that's true or not

Is it possible that the Giant Wheel isn't loaded/unloaded to capacity ( six tubs at a time) any longer due to staffing issues? or not wanting that many ops on one ride when there is a greater need for ops at other rides? The more I thought about it, back in the 70's there seemed to be more (maybe 5 or 6) ops to this ride as opposed to the three that I'm used to seeing now. Just a thought.

Build a new observation deck / platform at the top of the wheel. Reroute the second part Gatekeeper (which is terribly short and boring anyway) over to the new platform, which will be long enough to hold two trains, where riders will unload and be required to either ride the wheel down or use a set of giant metal slides with a potato sack (which could also be handy for quicker evacuation in emergencies). Every time a cab on the wheel is loaded / unloaded at the bottom the same can be done at the top. The Gatekeeper train will be sent back to the station empty and ready for new passengers while the second train ascends the lift hill. The third train will be simultaneously unloading at the new platform.

No more terrible stacking on Gatekeeper and the wheel is easier to balance.

P.S. I was also going to suggest that they could include a concession stand on the new platform and serve fries...but that just sounds ridiculous.

From my understanding, IROC now requires all previous guests to completely exit the platform before the ride hosts can begin checking restraints. Since guests take forever to leave, that slows down operations quite a bit.

I'll second the Dollywood comment....I was there a couple weeks ago, the park wasn't that busy and holy cow they were slow. Holiday World on the other hand, had ops down pat on Thunderbird when i visited earlier this season. They even were telling you to unfasten the belts before you got into station.

Gatekeeper crew was sporadic on my visit back on the 14th. A couple times through they were cycling pretty well. A couple others big time stacking, mostly due to "people of size" or those trying to take items on with them.

I talked to one of the Gatekeeper ride ops last week, he basically confirmed that numbers were down this year due to the new procedure. Apparently numbers are down around the park except for Millennium, which oddly is on early track for record numbers.

See? Two trains is better after all.

Yeah that is interesting, they are back up to 3 now though. I think a large part of it is the crew, they seem to be the best in the park.

This is what happens when you have stellar returners and returning supervisors. They train crews the best and the right way. Some people who were in leadership my year and the few still there like Millie's supervisor are the kind of people you'd be happy working under and know things would get done, and done right.

One of the biggest delays seems to be waiting for people to exit (why???). On Magnum on Monday night what I noticed most was that they were waiting a VERY long time to lock the lap bars.

Well, what's different about Millennium Force that gives it an advantage? The train always comes into the loading station *empty*.

I wonder if the ride operator mutiny will happen this week, or next week after CoasterMania...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

If they want to wait for people to exit, they need to fix some of the stations so it can actually happen quickly. At Magnum, Raptor, and Rougarou especially, the exits are very bottlenecked. Rethink/widen the ramp, make a second exit door and ramp that merges with the first, or something. Thirty people squeezing through a door that isn't wide enough for two at a time takes forever - especially when they are chit chatting and talking/having fun about the ride they just rode.

Having said that, I'd still like to hear the reasoning for waiting for people to exit before locking restraints/checking seats. I get if you don't want to dispatch the train with people still standing off to the side because people like to do dumb things like give high fives, throw stuff to their friends waiting, etc, but what is the logic behind waiting until people have exited the platform before checking seats? Might someone be interpreting the "rule" too literally? Maybe it's really supposed to be, "wait to lock the restraints and check the seats until they've exited THE TRAIN!" But waiting until they've exited the platform is just dumb. Why not wait until they've reached the bottom of the ramp too, or until they've gone completely out of sight, or exited the park? I just don't get it. Someone should invoke common sense and fast.

Cedar Fair started using IROC last year (International Ride Operator Certification) for all of its parks to attempt to get a standard of operations for all of its parks, similar to Ellis & Associates for Lifeguards. However, the only people that was actually trained last year, were the managers and leadership team. I don't really know the basis behind the rule, and I think the rule is extremely silly in general. I'll keep my opinion on IROC to myself, but if you guys really are noticing a difference, tell the park. Complain, otherwise nothing will be changed.

Also, it's not the leadership that's the problem. I know the leadership teams at all of the big coasters, and I'm pretty sure they're all just as frustrated as you all are with the slow operations. It's not their fault, they're just following the rules and regulations that were presented to them this year. It's also unfair to compare rides like Gatekeeper, Raptor, Rougarou, Magnum, etc to Millennium because this stupid rule has zero effect on it.

Spork - Where are you working this year?