lax or by the book?

I understand policy and so do most guests. But am I not doing my job by understanding that a few people are unaware of our policy?

About midway thru the season I realized that being so by the book was becoming rather stressful. So I changed gears and became super lax with some of the policies that were in place for the sole purpose of preventing us from dealing with situations every 2 seconds.

I'm not talking about safety issues such as pushing the gates, standing on the handrails, basketballs on the platform, etc.

I'm talking about the convenience policies such as large stuffed animals making it past entrance. Is it right for us to punish that person who just waited in line for 45 mins because the person at entrance wasnt paying attention and because they simply had no idea it wasnt allowed? Wouldnt it be soooooooo much easier to just hold the stupid thing for them? It's not like it happens more than once every few days. Isnt it so much easier and so much nicer to just explain next time dont do this.

How about our yellow line. It's clearly in the same position it was last year when we didnt have gates. Now it's a good half foot behind the gates. MF and WT have theirs right at the gate. Do we honestly have to be so annoying and tell people to stand behind it every other train?

What about people standing on the exit ramp down near the transfer track waiting for someone. Are they really in position to rush towards a train? Do they hold the line up? No! So why dont we just let them be happy and let them give that smile or take a pic of their friends when they get back. Its all they want to do.

How about the nice guest complaint with the camcorder. Wouldnt it have been soooooooo much easier to say put it in your bag. they had one!!!

I know its all policy...but is there room for leniency? By my being lax, am I not following policy... or am i just following my cornerstones?

:james
magnum crew 2002

Wow, interesting post.

I think being lax with some of the things you mentioned are sketchy. Guests will complain, but they feel as if they are being crapped on. If they understand WHY they have to follow such perplexing rules, then the problem becomes Park Op's, not yours. You didn't make up the rules, did you? The problem isn't so much in personal judgment as it is in consistency. If you do something lax that could create a situation later in the day, then you are not only breaking the rules, but creating headaches for countless other employees. If it is late at night, your platform is empty and you feel compelled to make an exception, then, by all means, make an exception. You should let the guest know that you are breaking rules for their benefit and they shouldn't expect it anywhere else. This indemnifies you from blame and, although you aren't following rules, you are making a happy guest.

If the employee at entrance screws up, then the guest should ride and the said employee should stay at entrance for awhile. That was my in-charge policy.

Nothing says lovin' like talking to the people riding your ride. They aren't all stupid. They just don't live and breath the park everyday.

I liked your post.

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I am still the Geminazi!

rawr!

James, about the video camera, I talked to Bob that night and he said as long as they could fit it in a bag then it could ride b/c we don't search bags. I just thought that Peggy always said the opposite...
Oh well it's over and done with and now we know that they can put it in a bag. You did great this season and I'm proud of you! Keep in touch hon.

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2000 - Mean Streak/Magnum
2001 - Mean Streak ATL
2002 - Magnum TL

Here's my 2-cents if you want it...and if you don't, well it's here anyway:

Always go by the book, that way you can't get in trouble for doing what you're supposed to, and there's no chance that a guest will think that since you broke the rules all the other operators will or should. It's true that sometimes it would be easier and make more sense to explain that someone screwed up and that you're making an exception to the rule, but I've had run-ins with several guests that took one person's kindness and tried to turn it into either that person not doing their job properly or that person telling them that this was the way everyone would handle said situation. In case that sentence was confusing, I'm saying we have more than our share of people who will complain about ANYTHING (even if you tried to help) just to get something for nothing, i.e. ride agains. If you follow the rules and they don't like it, then send them to park op, and we'll back you up 100%. Ok, so that was more like a nickel than 2-cents, but there y'go.

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Jon

Park Op 2000, 2001, 2002
"He's gonna rue the day he came up against The Extreme baby!
Bill I'm talking imminent rueage, imminent rueage..."

Really interesting topic! Gives you a lot to think about. I suppose I will share my own thoughts with everyone as well.

In my five or six years' worth of job experience (not including Cedar Point), I have learned that it is usually the best idea to go with what the rules are, especially if you are not in a position of authority. This has two advantages: first of all, it takes the responsibility (and guilt) off your shoulders of making a decision which might be going against a policy. If you made an error in allowing a guest to do something they shouldn't, it would fall back on you and could get you intro trouble. Secondly (like I believe someone else already stated), it makes things more consistent across the board for the other employees and therefore also consistent for park guests, in that they know that every rule and precaution is the same anywhere they go in the park. (Although I like to give most people the benefit of the doubt, if someone learns that a certain excuse will work for them on one ride, what is preventing them from trying the same story on another? And so on...)

I believe that if you come into a situation where you feel like you are being forced into a choice which may cause you to break policy, you should first discuss the situation with your team leader and/or supervisor. This both protects you and also gives you the confidence that someone will back you up on your decision. As well, if the guest doesn't like the outcome of the situation and has a negative reaction, there is someone right there of authority that has already been informed of what was going on and can explain the reasoning behind the decision to the person(s) involved.

Now I realize this scenario doesn't work for all situations, since not everything you do in a day needs to be or can be approved by someone higher up. I would advise you in those situations to use your common sense and best judgment. Think about how the results of your choice could affect your co-workers, and could cause confusion for the guest(s) later in their day if there was a lack of consistency. Although breaking policy might make your life easier, you have to remember that you were hired with the understanding that you would do a job and would do that job well. If that job requires you to follow certain rules, in my opinion it is in your best interest -- and the interests of the guests -- to follow them as closely as possible. Be polite, sincere, smile! (and get advice and assistance where you need it).
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~Lee~

Group Sales ATL '01
Group Sales TL '02
'03 -- TBA
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"The greatest leaders don't take credit for their actions; they don't have to."

Ok, here’s the MIB for you. Cedar Point has all the rules and policies for a reason. It is our job as the ride hosts to enforce these rules. They are all clearly noted (line jumping in the map and on the A-Frame, and large item policy in the map.) That is one of the duties of the entrance and turnstile host, to tell people that they can’t take those items on the ride. A real easy way to do it is to strike up a conversation with the guest. Say something like, “Oh, I see that you won a great Spongebob. You probably do not want that flying into Lake Erie so you can’t take it on the Magnum. There are some alternatives though…” and then go on to tell them what we can do for the guest. Yes, there are things that we can do for the guest in this situation. They can be sent to a locker, or they can do a Parent Swap with the large item. That is the easiest way that is what we did a lot at Magnum, (when I was there). I think what Jon said is the best, always go by the rule because when you follow the rule; Park Op and other employees can back you up. Remember for the future, entrance and turnstiles are not positions where you can fluf off and do nothing. Granted, yes, you are sitting away from everyone else, which does not mean you can just fall asleep; you have a job to do! I have said my peace, have a nice day J

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Mark-O-Polo

Magnum Crew 2k2

Speaking of Spongebob and Magnum-why doesn't Maggie or Gemini have the usual boxes/shelves for guests to put their stuff???

I know I did my best to follow the rules to the best of my ability. Raptor doesn't have the airgates YET (next season baby!! ;)) so monitoring the yellow line was constant. Yes we had to say it ALOT cause we did have the guests who went to walk right in front of the train when the floor was dropping. Or better, who wanted to cross the platform when the floor was down. We had ride prides the last couple weekends and had them do entrance. We saw MORE than our share of short kids in line with parents, basketballs, and video cameras, even had a Mom pushing a stroller with a baby! Yikes! All we could do at that point once the guest made it to the platform was apologize that the rules were not enforced at the entrance, and tell them not next time.
I myself loved entrance so leaving me there as "punishment" wouldn't have done much good! ;) However putting me on crowd control - BLECH! :( So as for me I did try to follow all the rules, as dumb as some may seem.

Jo
2000/2002 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 708 :)
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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? :)

There are days that I wished we had the bins at Magnum. Maybe that will be an improvement for next year. I think that if any ride should get them, it should be Corkscrew for two reasons. One, there is goin to be a new influx of guests in that area, therefore the ridership on Corkscrew, (and Magnum for that matter) is goin to go up. Having to tell more people at enterance that they cannot take an item in line, (if the host is doing their job) is going to cause more headaches. But i also have a felling that there will be lockers in the area for 2003. There will probably be a rule on the new ride just like at MF. That can help rides for the Magnum and Corkscrew. Currently the closest lockers are across from Magnum Hot Shots.

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Mark-O-Polo
Magnum Crew 2k2

I'm pretty sure that we didn't have bins on Magnum because it would take FAR too long for people to put their stuff in the bins, and then walk back into the train. I remember in 2001 on Mantis it took FOREVER to get people in their seats, since they didn't know where to put their stuff. We just don't have the time for people to walk over and place their stuff in a bin. It's easier for Raptor, Mantis, and Wicked Twister to have bins, since there's a row for each seat, and plenty of "aisle-space." Imagine having people climbing over each other in the train to try to get back to their seat.

But, back to the original subject, I know that the thing I hated MOST of all about enforcing the policies was how I'd always hear, "But, they let us take that on ________, and they just held it for us..." or "Well, she rode _______ and ________, why can't she ride this ride?" But the worst was when I was at entrance, and the parents would tell the kids, "Well, they let us on earlier, so we'll just wait an hour until somebody new is down here." Now, instead of being an enforcer of the rules, I was reduced to being some anal guy who was trying to ruin somebody's day.

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Mike
Mantis 2001
Magnum 2002
*** This post was edited by MikeVT 11/1/2002 11:39:31 AM ***

one thing i noticed about the stamp at the freeway deal is that it stays on fairly well while the cancel stamp rubs right off!!!..made 3 round trips that way last summer on the mf....i dont think the gate guy really cared...kids and i sure enjoyed it!!!!! ken

I agree with Mike that bins on Magnum just wouldn't work. They are okay on a ride such as WT or Raptor where it is easy to walk right through and toss something over there. Raptor can also stack all of its trains in the event someone has trouble getting back in. They'd like to hit interval every time just like Magnum, but the fact is those bins probably cause some of their misses. On Magnum, it isn't exactly easy to cross through the trains. Plus a lot of times the lapbars fall down on their own (no they're not broken!) and we would have to manually release cars to let people back into their seats.

Also, we allow a whole bunch of stuff to be taken on Magnum, thus reducing the need for the bins. Bookbags, small stuffed animals, sealed pop bottles, etc are all examples of things allowed to be taken on Magnum. I might be wrong on this, but I don't think any of the rides with bins allow basketballs and HUGE stuffed animals past their entrance. My point is that most of the items that would go in bins on other rides can be taken on Magnum to begin with. Personally, I like the policy on Magnum the way it is because it makes the platform a lot less chaotic in terms of dealing with people's junk.

As for Corkscrew, I'm still waiting to see CP put some lockers by its entrance because having to tell people to walk down to Power Tower or Magnum to use lockers is kind of stupid. Perhaps next year with the new ride's entrance being in that area, it'll happen. Or perhaps the entrance will be down closer to Power Tower?

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
*** This post was edited by MDOmnis 11/1/2002 4:20:58 PM ***

Management's eventual goal is to not allow any personal items in any ride line. This would be nice for platform operation and would reduce the commotion between which rides you can take stuff on and which you can't, but it would also be harder for the entrance hosts, not to mention a pain in the butt for guests who don't want to leave all their stuff in a locker. I guess there is no simple solution. Nice to see you Mike! Talk to you all later.

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2000 - Mean Streak/Magnum
2001 - Mean Streak ATL
2002 - Magnum TL

Magnumjames,

Where I work (not CP) we have Cornerstones, too. I think CP follows OUR Cornerstones pretty closely:

1) Walk the Talk

2) Delight the Customer

3) Respect Others

4) Pursue Excellence

5) Do Whatever it Takes--SAFELY

Sounds pretty close to CP, huh?

MrScott

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

Hi,

I'm not a CP-employee (but hope to become one in 2003!), and (therefore) it's very interesting to read about the CP-policy towards personal stuff/ride lines.

I'm from the Netherlands, and over here people are allowed to bring their stuff, and put it on the platform (at the exit-side of course;-) ). This works really well, but there's always a chance that your bag gets stolen when there are two trains on track...

Two weeks ago I visited Europapark (Germany), and there I saw the most effective system (yet) at Silverstar (a B&M megacoaster).

Two or three trains were riding, and there's only one station (to get in and out). One or two operators are taking care of personal belongings of the guests. Guests hand their bags over and the operator puts the bags in a locker. Afterwards, people can take their own bag out from the locker.

I think this is the easiest way to cope with bags etc. Especially when you have to wait for a long time, it's uncomfortable not to have your bag (with food/drinks) with you (at least, that's my opinion!).

I honestly think Corkscrew and Magnum were the only 2 rides that were run very much by the book this year. There are so many times that I rode coasters when I saw policies not being enforced and I just couldn’t understand why. The day I worked on Mean Streak I was so irritated because nobody did what they were suppose to do. I mean come on, let’s let people wait on the unload side for family and friends. Let’s not train the crew properly either so when there is a shutdown the untrained person who happens to be the acting ATL of Corkscrew is sent to the ready brakes just because he has done walk downs before. I loved it when I got sent to Magnum because I knew that I could do my job correctly without Magnum's crew telling me something different because they did exactly what they were suppose to do. Good job Erin :) Being at entrance on Magnum was so weird. I kept seeing backpacks and my instinct was telling me to tell the guest to place it in a locker. Corkscrew will most likely have lockers close to its entrance next year with #16 being right in front of it. There were so many times this year that Naomi and I were plotting on going into the park in the middle of the night and pushing some of Magnum's lockers to Corkscrew's entrance.MDOmnis said:

As for Corkscrew, I'm still waiting to see CP put some lockers by its entrance because having to tell people to walk down to Power Tower or Magnum to use lockers is kind of stupid.

Matt, it's kind of funny that you said that because at the beginning of the season I kept telling people to put their bags and stuff in the lockers by Power Tower. I had this kid come back to entrance telling me like 3 different times that he couldn't find the lockers by Power Tower but I kept telling him they were by the entrance. It wasn't until I went on break one day that I walked by Power Tower and was like, "where did the lockers go?" Apparently they were taken out after last season. I think they are the lockers that were put by Wicked Twister. One of the ride prides we had this year told guests the same thing which I thought was kind of funny. The other funny thing is the rumor going around that Power Tower's entrance policy is going to be like Corkscrew's next year because the shelves aren't good holders for bags or something. It would be funny to see a set of lockers back in the same place after they were taken out for a year.

I think it is stupid that Raptor, Mantis, and Wicked Twister have bins. I mean honestly, let's just let people put their crap in a bin and that way Cedar Point could become held responsible if anything happens to it. Of course because of this people complain that those rides have bins but Corkscrew doesn't. If certain items aren't allowed on a ride that are allowed on most others, there should be a set of lockers by the ride's entrance for people to secure their stuff in and not bins. But if you're going to put bins on rides that can't accommodate certain stuff then put bins on all the other rides that also have the same entrance policy unless they have a set of lockers. It would be silly for Millennium Force to have bins because how would you get your crap from the load station while you're in the unload station? Demon Drop and Corkscrew either both need a set of lockers by their entrance or bins so guests stop complaining about other rides having them.
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Justin
Corkscrew Crew 2002
http://www.msu.edu/~kemppai8/ --- My stupid website

I'd probably agree with Erin that the way CP is eventually going to make their policy "consistent" is by saying, "no personal articles in any ride line."

Raptor, WT, and Power Tower are examples of rides where bins/shelves can be used easily (ie. not climbing through a nasty trian like at Magnum or Corkscrew) and not negatively impact capacity too much. Then again, I always thought Corkscrew could set up which I know not to be the case now, so maybe bins would be a good idea on that ride since their line is always short anyway. I personally like that they currently make accomodations for articles where it is possible and practical, but some people just don't get it. Guests who can't understand that there are differences between policies at various rides end up complaining and I suspect eventually it will lead to a consistent "no personal articles in any line PERIOD" policy. I certainly don't see it going the opposite direction as CP is so anal about safety and not being responsible for people's junk! :)

Personally I don't understand why people would want to carry so much crap around the park. Anything that comes in with me can easily fit in my pockets! :)

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

Hahaha--speaking of guests and their bags, well if anyone has ever ridden Thunder Canyon, you know that you walk underneath our control tower. Underneath that tower is our lockers for the employees, well more than few times we cleaned out our stuff at the end of the night and noticed a few more sweatshirts or stuffed animals or sunglasses that didnt belong to us. I only saw it once but the guests would open the gate, walk over to the lockers, open them up (where all our personal stuff was) and shove anything they didnt want to get wet in. This was why we started moving our stuff to the high lockers, inside the control tower, or in the maitenence shed...i just wish there was an easier way for guests to deal with their items. Oh wait, there is, a 75 cent locker.

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"Captain" Nate
Paddlewheel crew 2000
Paddlewheel ATL 2001
Thunder Canyon TL 2002

Indeed this is a difficult problem that will be solved only with alot of pain and suffering on both sides. Some park patrons (LIKE ME!) dont read...Personally i take everything out of my pockets save ID and a credit card. Prohibiting personal belongings in ride lines seems harsh and would meet with a ton of resistance, animosity and ill will. I would not like to be a ride op for all the tea in China if I had to deal with that situation for long.

More lockers, a reasonable cost coat/belongings check, and bins may make the policy workable. In addition VERY LARGE signs at all of the park entrance ways may help...Some of us still dont read..I would not mind seeing personal belongings banned from line as I am always amazed at the fact that some cretin decides that his/her 6 foot high stuffed dog can ride along with him/her on millie/maggie!

I think for the time that the guests use them the lockers at least right by the rides should only be a quarter or free since they make so much money off of them

-Doug-
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I am a Mechanical Engineering major not an english major so pardon my horrible grammer

Personally, I think the lockers should be free...I think it is just a bit off the wall for people to pay to get into the park, and then before they can ride a certain ride, have to pay to put their stuff somewhere (assuming they don't have anyone to hold onto it for them). I encountered a lot of people around the MF lockers who were absolutely miffed at the idea of having to pay to use them.

Of course, people should realize that it isn't a good idea to be toting a bunch of stuff around with them at an amusement park, especially if they plan to ride the coasters. But I know that there are a lot of girls/women (not to sound sexist, I am female myself) who would not even dream of attending any park without a purse, so they'll always have a brush and make-up at their disposal. (Those water rides and coasters can do a real job on your hair) ;)

I'm sure there are also reasons why people might really need to carry stuff around with them. IMO I think making people pay for lockers is just about is ludicrous as, say, having people pay to get into the park and then charging them to get into a queue line. Oh, well.