Halloweekends Kick-off event for club members?

Excuse me, but who do you thinks runs the attractions, food stands, and behind the scenes operations? ALL of the employees. Tony isn't the only one who had to deal with those on days like these. Excusing any recognition of clear annoyance by any employee is just not right. I'm willing to agree to disagree though.

As a side note, this year was great. Yes it was cold and rainy, but the season passholders who renewed or paid their $18 were all very generous and just all around wonderful. That's why I agree that events like this should be paid for by all attendees.

No, excuse me. I don't care WHO he threw the ticket at, WHO was standing in front of him when he got up in their faces - there were 3 or 4 people standing there, and they all heard it. I watched it happen. There is NO excuse for anyone top treat anybody like that, especially the people who are providing you with the hospitality that they aren't obligated to.

I think I've made it clear that I'm not excusing the coaster member's ridiculousness. But I'm also not excusing an employee's reaction to something that can easily be laughed off until you get behind closed doors. So yes, I'll excuse you for not seeing both sides.

I'm certain he didn't say anything until he was away from the situation. In fact, as I said, I watched it all go down, and watched the person continue his rant over by the restrooms - screaming that he was going to throw his free sweatshirt in the f'ing trash, never coming back to this f'ing place... they treat their loyal fanbase like "S"... on and on..

Him, and 2 or 3 others stood by and handled it professionally.

Unfortunately there are people like this in almost every enthusiast group (not just coaster clubs). They are in a definite minority, but their actions have resulted in a great many events coming to an end. They are not limited to certain organizations, they are present in just about all of them.

Well, if you witnessed it and he handled it professionally, then that's a different story. But according to TrinDawg41's post, that wasn't the case. That's what I'm basing my opinion on.

Why are you concerned at all with Tony's handling of the situation? I doubt I'd have handled it without telling the guy off. I'm more concerned with these insane people at events with me that throw hoodies into trash cans and have fits because they were late to a clearly advertised portion of a free event. I know you worked there... I know how hard park operations staff works to provide the best day experience... but the issue in front of us is the poor attitudes of some of our fellow enthusiasts, not the park's employees.

TwistedWicker77 said:
Excuse me...

and

e x i t english said:
No, excuse me.

Okay, you're both excused. 😃 Anyway, regardless of the situation, no one deserves to be screamed at like that in public or private.

Top_Thrill_Tyler said:
Why are you concerned at all with Tony's handling of the situation?

Because if all employees are supposed to follow certain guidelines on how to handle a situation like this (no matter how difficult a guest is being), those who work in other departments are not exempt from remaining professional. If the idiot who made a scene like that wanted to leave that bad and never return...GOODBYE. As someone who worked in PR before, letting something like that upset you in front of other guests isn't okay. But hey, maybe I just handle things differently and try to de-escalate situations rather than make them worse. I'm not singling Tony out because I wasn't there and I don't know the whole story. I'm just basing it off of what TrimDawg said.

Like I said before, I agree that there should be a fee or donation requirement for all events like this to weed out the ungrateful jerks. I've been thinking that since preview night last year.

I doubt I'd have handled it without telling the guy off. I'm more concerned with these insane people at events with me that throw hoodies into trash cans and have fits because they were late to a clearly advertised portion of a free event.

Please don't think for a second I'm saying that enthusiast wasn't wrong. He was. And quite frankly I would have had a smile on my face the entire time. He sounds like a baby who needs to grow up into a man soon. Someone who complains and moans when they don't get their way are just a laughing stock in my eyes.

I know you worked there... I know how hard park operations staff works to provide the best day experience... but the issue in front of us is the poor attitudes of some of our fellow enthusiasts, not the park's employees.

I understand that. Absolutely. And thank you for recognizing how hard of workers the operations team is. Those same enthusiasts also thought height requirements and loose article policies would be ignored on a preview night just because they had a coaster club card. You wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) how many of them were completely rude and had something to say when they were turned away or asked to rent a locker.

Okay, I'm definitely done talking about it now. I'm just glad they didn't do that event this year. The season passholders night was just awesome to work. As I said above, they were all very thankful and generous of the employees working because of the crappy weather.

TwistedWicker77 said:

Well, if you witnessed it and he handled it professionally, then that's a different story. But according to TrinDawg41's post, that wasn't the case. That's what I'm basing my opinion on.

I can't imagine Tony not handling things professionally, I think TrinDawg41's post may have been misinterpreted. He said Tony was not happy, but I can't imagine him being unprofessional directly to the guest. There is a big difference between being unprofessional in a situation and being upset about it after the fact when the incident is over.

I think these events came to an end not because CP employees were upset with certain individuals, I think it probably is the case that they cannot risk certain individuals behaving badly in front of the media. A media event is after all designed to show off new things in the park to media so they can share the excitement with readers/viewers/listeners in the general public. The last thing you want is some entitled a-hole making a scene about something they are not happy with in front of the individuals you are trying to impress. That type of negativity is unacceptable at a media event.

Even on here, you get people complaining over Valravn that they should have put in this type of coaster, it's too similar to the Busch rides, it's not intense enough, ect., etc., etc. It is that type of criticism and negativity that just does not fly at a media event.

As far as I'm concerned, Valravn looks great, is very unique (very few in the U.S) and just looks to be a blast to ride. I've never experienced a dive coaster, which probably holds true for 90% of CP's guests and I'd rather talk about the positive experience the ride will be rather than nitpicking that it is not exactly what I wanted. A certain percentage of coaster enthusiasts would unfortunately do the opposite.

Exactly, Pete. Enthusiasts were only ever invited to attend media events to fill in seats and provide an enthusiastic presence in front of the media. If the park is able to bring in fans that will speak positively about the new additions, that works well for the park. If the park invites guests in for free, feeds them, and gives them freebies, they expect a little better behavior than making a scene. Even if no media was present, this was still in front of paying guests. That doesn't bode well for the park.

Hopefully these events can continue to allow those of us who are well-behaved, even if it does mean we will be providing a mandatory charitable contribution to screen out the entitled people. I don't mind helping out a good cause while enjoying the park's hospitality.

I also really love the freebies the park has given me over the years. I wore last year's CM! jacket last night when I went out; so nice.

Back before the various enthusiast organizations came into being they would use employee's dressed in "civilian" clothes to fill the attractions for these events. It costs a few dollars to do that, but probably less than the perks that have been offered in recent years to participants. It may have gotten to the point where they will have to consider re instituting this procedure over bringing in outsiders.

I still think "enthusiasts" will be in attendance at these events, but the number will be considerably smaller. Invite-only and contests are probably the wave of the future, so to speak.

I don't have any insider info on that or anything, but it would seem that it's probably a lot easier that way.

I've noticed that Knotts has become a little more selective who they call when they need bodies for a media event (they have had some issues in the recent past as well). They are now pulling from a sub list of annual passholders as well as select group from "the clubs".

quoting Pete from above: "Even on here, you get people complaining over Valravn that they should have put in this type of coaster, it's too similar to the Busch rides, it's not intense enough, ect., etc., etc. It is that type of criticism and negativity that just does not fly at a media event."

It was about 15 minutes after the announcement was made and people were tossing negative comments, Geesh...the park just cant seem to make some folks happy. At my house we had been anticipating the news for days.....and were happy we got to watch the announcement online ~I so wished we could have been there!! but work kept me from going.

Forget about Disney, at my house we think The Point is the HAPPIEST place on Earth!