Line jumping is not a sport.

The group I had problems with line jumping at Magic Mountain wasn't the families.

I didn't have that problem at Knott's either.

If I was too talk about my bad experiences with line jumping at SFMM, this thread would be 5 pages long.

The problem is these people that think they are too good to wait. How many times have you been in a big traffic back-up on the freeway and there's always those few individuals that can't be "inconvenienced" by waiting in the back-up and go speeding down the shoulder? Same thinking applies with lines for rides. Waiting is part of life, get used to it...

The Knott's thing surprised me completely. The family cruised up the log flume line - dad, a couple of kids, and mom about 6 steps behind. My wife asked each one of them as they passed by why they didn't have to wait in line, without so much as a look in return. That's when we started the arms on the rail thing. From that point, we blocked at least three groups of teenagers in various lines. They all got pissed; a couple of girls in a long Ghostrider line said "We can't wait in this long line! Our friends are up there, and we've had to wait for every ride here!" To which I replied "so does everyone else here". And then one of them called her friends on her cel and proceeded to tell them how some mean people wouldn't let them past. The downside was we had to stand there and listen to them bitch for 10 or 15 minutes until they finally left the line.

Some people really suck.

When it's possible to point the line jumper of smoker out to an on-duty employee that's the first course of action, but that's not always an option since most rides only have a ride op at FreeWay to police the queue. You guys think that it shouldn't be out job to "police" the park when we are off duty, but I feel obligated to speak up when I see something amiss no matter if I'm on or off the clock.

Why should the people who are following the rules be put at a disadvantage when there's a simple remedy to the situation? I would say that the employees that care about the park are more likely to speak up rather than those that are just there for the summer job. The park trains the employees to deal with this type of behavior while working, what message are they sending when they tell off duty employees to do nothing? What's sad is that you are chancing being written up for making the park less aggravating to the other guests. The park shouldn't require action out of off duty employees since they are off the clock, but they should also tell them that they are allowed to use discretion in dealing with such a situation.

As a guest if someone lights up in front of you, you can't find a ride op or security guard, and you ask them to put it out but they ignore you, are you just going to take it? I think that many people would make a scene so that it embarrasses them enough that they put it out. Flashing a badge eliminates the need to make a scene and accomplishes the same thing.

Generally the people that try cutting at Cedar Point are teenagers (not hatin', just stating an observation). They don't know the difference between the ranks of ID's, they just know that they could get in trouble if the employee would happen to tell an on-duty employee.

I know one time at work I chased down this guy who stole from our store, and I was off-duty. I just clocked out, and my manager's like, "Hey! that guy just stole and I called security." So, I ran after him and got his license plates and followed him from store to store. Each store he went into I'd tell their manager and they would just follow him around, so he wasn't able to steal anymore. Point of the story is, the district manager got mad at me and wrote me up, even though I was not even working. So, I suppose this is just like Cedar Point, you can't really enforce anything by showing your an employee.

As for stopping line jumpers, I usually just make indirect comments. Like, I hate when people CUT their hair; and a bunch of sayings like that. That usually makes the line jumpers uncomfortable and it's funny for me and everyone around me.

-S. Eagle
*** Edited 7/29/2005 3:42:04 AM UTC by sean_s_eagle***

I am a teenager, I'll be 17 soon and CP bound, I agree with you, most people who cut are teenagers. Just like most people who steal and do drugs are teenagers, it's called stereotype, but unfortunately it's true. I mean most people look at teenagers as bad people who do bad things. I'm not "one of those teenagers," I've never cut in line and I wouldn't even try it because if everyone else has to wait, then so do I, waiting in line is part of going to an amusement park.

I work at an Italian club in the Members' Bar making pizza (it's good pizza, thin crust baked in the wood burning oven ;)). Now, I myself am Italian so I am used to dealing with people of my kind. For any of you who don't know this, Italians are stubborn. People will come up to me and I'll have a line of 10 pizzas to do and they will come up and ask me to do theirs first. One time a man came up to me, reached in his pocket, pulled out some change (nickels, dimes, quarters), placed them on the bar, slid it towards me, knodded, and said get to mine when you can. I had a good laugh afterwards. It's amazing how many people think that I will do their pizza(s) before other peoples pizza(s).

Vince, I'm 16.
And am not one of those stereotypical teenagers either! :)

*** Edited 7/29/2005 5:28:43 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

Actually, most people who steal (at least the high dollar theft) and do drugs (the hardcore ones at least) are not teenagers, but adults.

Ben, those people also (well, at least the druggies) don't have the money to get into the park in the first place, so I don't worry about them. And to be honest, some of the nicest, most polite people I've met have been pot-heads. It doesn't mean anything, just like there are mellow drunks (like me) there are angry drunks.

And Vince, you should have cooked that guys first, just because he was joking about it (at least I took it as he was joking the way you told the story).

Vince and TTD, I'm with you guys as being 16 almost 17 and not being one of "those" teenagers. I really hate 80% of my age group.

bholcomb said:
The group I had problems with line jumping at Magic Mountain wasn't the families.

Were they members of club "33" by any chance? :)

I seriously don't like SFMM for a number of reasons, the crowds being the least of my concerns.

-Josh

Jugga, I did cook his first because it was just such a classic situation I just had to laugh and put his right up front.

If an off-duty cop sees someone run a stop sign, can he pull them over? I don't think so. The best course of action is what Jeff said. Make a scene. There will be enough people around that will get angry enough, the line jumper(s) will leave.

Can he? Probably yes (as long as he is in a properly marked car)
Will he? Probably not

An employee having their badge with them is like a cop on their way back to the station with the marked car. They CAN still pull someone over, but its up to their discretion.

Form a new task force and make badges that read: Line Jumping Police. Carry your badges to every park you visit and crack down on the impatient goons. ;)

Anyways, I never really had any encounters with a line jumper.

I haven't had an encounter with a line jumper at CP before. Only smokers (and lots of them!). The only time I've ever seen line jumping in a park was at Great Adventure. And, it was so obvious that a blind person could've seen it. Hordes of people (and I mean tons) would walk through landscaped areas (mainly at medusa) and bypass the entire effin' line. Not one ride op said a thing. Then I kept seeing it on other rides. The way the queue lines are set up there, its really easy to just walk right passed them and up the stairs into the station. They were too far away to say anything (since they weren't really IN the line anyway), but I wrote a nasty letter to the park. Didn't do anything, but oh well.

I'm not quite sure why line jumping isn't as common at CP. I hate to stereotype the location of parks and the guests that attend said parks, but that's really the only thing I can come up with.

It's got a lot to do with it.

This may sound like a racist comment, but the six times I have been to Cedar Point this year, everyone I have seen cutting, are African-American. I am not saying they're the only ones doing it, but they're the ones who do it while I am in line.

I have been cut in front of a lot of times. I am not going to start a fight, or attract attention to myself and others over one person cutting in line. To me, one person does not make a difference.

Yes, that is a racist comment. Don't be a moron. If it wasn't racist you wouldn't have to preface it with "this may sound racist." Race is irrelevant.