iPods at the Point!

I apologize if this has been discussed before. If it has, can someone please post a link and close the topic?

I am currently planning on getting an iPod or iPod Mini as soon as I can afford one, and was wondering if I would be able to bring it to the park.

Would an iPod be allowed on rides w/o OTSRs (I assume headphones on a ride with them could cause problems), so long I listen to the safety instructions before the ride?

There may be visits I make where I would go alone, and I would love to be able to listen to my music while riding and waiting in line.

Also, does anyone have a suggestion for a case, if I can bring an iPod or Mini on the rides? I would need something to keep it from being loose, and wonder if the cases Apple has are any good.

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

Taking your iPod into the park and listening to in while in line shouldn't be a problem. I doubt you will be allowed to use it while actually on any ride though.

As for cases, don't buy the Apple one...it blows.

The website iPodLounge has a lot of good reviews on different third-party cases. You can also try iPoding for reviews.

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-James
2003 Ride Maintenance
2004 Millennium Force Crew
*** This post was edited by Draegs 2/26/2004 7:06:12 PM ***

A hard drive based MP3 player on a roller coaster? Hmmm, I don't know if I would recommend it.

The iPods are cool, but maybe one with solid state media would work better in the park.

Just a guess, I don't have one, so maybe someone else could shed some light on it.

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Tyler
2001-2004 Park Admissions

Sorry, we go by height...

Depends on the ride your talking about. If the ride has a no loose article policy, it's got to be put away in a fanny pack or cargo pocket. If the ride doesn't have this policy, you still must take off your head phones in order to hear all safety announcements.

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2003 Super Screw Crew

I really doubt you can wear them on any type of ride. I asked a few people to take them off when riding. I know it's a slim slim chance, but when you're on the ride, I don't think you'd want the cord getting wrapped around your neck, or get caught on something else and not being able to get it off while the ride is going.

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'04 ATL Top Thrill Dragster
'03 WT crew/ATL Sky Ride
'02 WT crew

I have any iPod too but I wouldn't bring it to CP. If you want to though I would listen to it in line then put it in a zipped pocket for the ride. If you want to buy the mini iPod I would just get the 15GB because its 11 more GB's for only 50 bucks. Unless you really like the minis. :)

*** This post was edited by Sean_N 2/26/2004 6:52:41 PM ***

Sean,

I was at the Apple Store yesterday, and looked at both the Mini and the regular. Although the regular is a much better value in terms of space, I like the way the buttons/scroll wheel is set up on the Mini. Ever since I switched to Mac, I seem to care about style and usability.

And Mathew, I didn't even think about the cord. Good point. What I was worried about are OTSRs, and headbanging. But that is a great point.

Since you were on the Dragster crew, maybe you could tell me this: would I be able to store it with me, like in a pocket, while riding a ride like TTD?

Oh, and the iPod and iPod mini have 32mb of RAM, for about a half hour of skip protection. Does anyone know what the g-forces (which I assume are smaller than what would be on it if I were jogging with it) and banging around on a coaster would do to the Hitachi Microdrives the Minis have?

Thanks again,

Sam

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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

You will be able to use your ipod or any mp3 player for that matter while inside the park. But, while riding you will have to secure your player in a cargo pocket or a backpack of some sorts. Personally I wouldn't reccomend bringing that to Cedar Point. First of all it is expensive and if you drop it, or someone knocks it out of your hands and it breaks, you are SOL. The only reason i could think of that anyone would want to bring one to the park would be to avoid listening to the park music all day long. Just be careful if you do decide to bring your mp3 player to CP, and use common sense.

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Monster/W.W. Crew '04
Monster/W.W. Crew '03

I too have an iPod and took it to CP many times. I will take it on rides, but I turn it off and lock it and safely stow it in my cargo pocket...even on TTD. According to Hitachi's site, the hard drive in the mini can withstand a shock 2000 G/ms and a vibration of up to 5 G's. No coaster is going to have a 5 G vibration nor a 2000 G shock rating, so it's pretty safe provided you're not operating the iPod while riding the coaster.
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--Seth

You can only bring it with you if you have a pocket that zips, buttons, etc otherwise it's a no-go.

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'04 ATL Top Thrill Dragster
'03 WT crew/ATL Sky Ride
'02 WT crew

That would be a great distraction in line for a ride (you've probably all seen folks whip out the playing cards to pass the time, and I'd take a decent selection of my favorite J-Pop and Bemani tunes over War and the park's music any day). However, I'd just be worried about losing the iPod by accident while on the ride...I totally agree with the "make sure it's zipped up or don't take it" idea. That's too much of an investment to lose in just a few quick seconds.

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~Lee~

Group Sales ATL '01
Group Sales TL '02
Park Admissions Zone 5 Supervisor '03
Park Admissions Supervisor '04
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"The greatest leaders don't take credit for their actions; they don't have to."
*** This post was edited by Lee 2/27/2004 7:41:48 AM ***

The problem with putting it in your pocket is it may be damaged on certain rides. Magnum and Gemini come to mind.
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Eddy the retard is awesome.

That's your own perogative, though.

I've been thinking about getting one of the new small form factor players myself (probably not the iPod Mini, but perhaps the Rio Nitrus or Creative's Nomad MuVo2). I have an original Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox, hacked with a 40 gig drive. It's GREAT for travel (car, airplane, sitting around at a cafe) -- tons of capacity, and easily replacable AA batteries, but it's the size and weight of a discman, a bit big for, say, walking around at the park or going to the gym.

Anyway, you'd have no problem with Cedar Point's policies with an iPod at the park, as long as you turned it off and safely stowed it away (including the headphones) while you were actually on the ride.

You COULD risk it getting banged around and damaged, but turning it off would eliminate any risk of hard drive damage from "lighter" shocks. Many of us carry all sorts of electronics with us at the park (in my case, that includes an insulin pump that simply does NOT come off!) with no ill effect, so odds are you'd be fine.

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--Greg
My Home
MF count: 69 TTD: 9

I have an I-pod. It is great. However I would never take it to an amusement park. It's way to expensive to take a chance, and besides, you are at the greatest amusement park in the world, is a $400 toy really necessary to have a good day? The only, only, only way you could justify it is if you are going alone, but even then, be social talk to someone in line, make a new friend so next time you won't have to take technical gadgets to enjoy yourself.

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Rides 2001
Guest Services 2002
www.veronicaspreciousgifts.com

Apple blows..... Archos is the one to get! They really take a beating plus you can use them as a portable hard drive for non-music files.

I have had my iPod for three months now and I full plan on taking it to the park and on everything. Back in '99 when I would actually have to wait in line for Magnum I had a CD player in my bookbag and listened to music as best I could in line and on the ride.

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Dan Haverlock
Magnum: 2440
TTD Rollbacks 4
TTD Complete Laps 73
"get a job man!"

Wow, what an informed opinion Mr. Polansky. We all have a huge use for portable hard drives at Cedar Point....

There are gel sleeves for iPods out there...basic slip covers that reduce the potential for it to be banged around. Gemini and Magnum were somewhat of a problem with my iPod, but i usually wore shorts with side mounted cargo pockets that protected the the iPod from flying up into the lapbar.

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--Seth

Mr. Polansky,

You obviously have not used an Apple computer since OS X came out. I find your ignorance annoying, and just plain rude. Do not tell me that Apple sucks when I primarily visit this site using an Apple computer, and even with the problems I have experianced with this thing, it is still one of the best computers I have ever owned.

If I get the music player, it will be an iPod. Apple may be expensive, but you get what you pay for. Besides, Apple makes computers and accessories that are easier to use, and that experiance far fewer problems, than their counterparts.

Oh, and one last thing, the iPod works as a firewire hard drive. I just plug it into my Mac, and it will work just like any other external hard drive (except for there being music there, in hidden folders).

Enough of my rant,

Sam
Who loves both Apple Computers, and The Point!
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

I agree with you Avalanche Sam. My iMac(purchased in October and my first Apple) is the only computer I've owned that I really do love. The mouse that came with it was the only thing I didn't like, but that was easily replaced with a scrolling one.

My iPod(40 gigs :) ) is always in my cargo pocket while I'm at The Point.I connect it to the car stereo during the drive down and I'm not about to leave it in the car to overheat. It has been on all the rides many times along with my Gameboy Advance SP, which quickly became an essential item for passing the time in line.

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Millennium Force Laps-135
**Vertigo Launches-21**
Dragster Launches-25....no rollbacks :(

I'm a Windows developer for a living... and I'd still be all-Mac if I could be.

Since the iPod buffer's several songs at a time into its memory, and its hard drive doesn't spend more than a couple of seconds spinning, the motion of a ride isn't likely to cause any problem.

But there's no way in hell you can or should be allowed to listen while riding. For one thing, you can't hear instructions of the ride operators, and for another, something that could at some point hang out of the vehicle and get wound up in something (perhaps around your neck) is not something they're going to allow. Don't even try.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
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