Magnum station

I would like to know why Magnum employees lets there station get so crowded, I mean you walk in there and can't even find a line to get into.

the main reason that the platform is crouded is so that more people are put thru the turnstile increasing the amt. of riders per hour. If the croud/turnstile host was really good, they could adjust lines for the front car that get lost and even out the amt. of guests.

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Mark-O-Polo
Magnum XL 200 Crew 2002
Mean Streak Crew 2003

That's pretty stupid, because the ride can't physically move more people that way, and at the end of the day, it all averages out.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

During my training they said the reason they put as many people in as possible is to pair up single riders. The more people you have in the station, the better chance that you'll be able to have a single rider paired up. Also, it gives the illusion of a shorter wait. Face it, most people don't care how long they're waiting in the station. Of course, there are exceptions (Dragster Breakdown).

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Formerly the imbecile known as ddogg
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2003 Super Screw Crew

But with the single riders, most guests either don't know they are a single rider (don't ask me how), or they don't want to pair up with anyone. I know I've asked for single riders for the next train, can't find one, then a train later there they are. And they weren't even paying attention.

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MANTIS ROCKS 2002 & 2003

Yeah Brian Short, you are 100% correct. I was waiting in line for Dragster's front seat (by far the best) and a single rider was being seated, the ride ops called out "Any single rider who wants to ride front seat step foreward!" And then eventually a guy on the ramp heard them and he was escorted to the front seat. Two trains later, in the same exact fashion a person from the front seat line, stepped foreward as a single rider.... I was like "THEY JUST CALLED FOR A FRIGGIN SINGLE RIDER FOR THE FRONT SEAT! DIDN'T YOU HEAR THEM?!?!?!?!" Of course i'm a nice guy, so I didn't yell it out. But it made me mad because if they would have stepped up that would have advanced my ride one train, but they have to sit in line like a total idiot, and then step out of the gates as a single rider....

Some people are stupid.

Seriously...you could get lost in the Magnum Qeue, we went into it and couldnt find our way through, people were pushing and shoving and "line-jumping" as Cedar Point states it...but we EVENTUALLY got on the ride, hehe, it was an AWESOME ride!

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LaUnCh...420 feet, 120 mph, 4 seconds....brakes...breathe

people pushing and shoving to get onto the magnum really now we haven't had really anything really over 45 minutes of a wait this year. and we move people through that line as quick as we can it depends on you have on the load side if myself and the other 1/2 of the monster are over there we get hungry and eat the line up we make sure we fill every seat you can't tell me that filling every train doesn't help capacity if you have 3 empty seats every train after every 12th train you have 36 empty seats that is a full train. we try to keep no line in our queue because it attracts more riders when they see that you can walk straight on the platform. most of the time you don't even need a crowd control but people like to walk through the turnstiles and just stand there. and than the people waiting for the front line wait in clusters and block the 2nd-4th rows. what day were you there tubby the longest wait we had this weekend was a half hour.

Yea, it was near the opening of Cedar Point, on a weekend, it took us a half an hour to get on, the ride ops did do a good job keeping everyone in order, it just seems a little hectic, the way the station is built...

The original design was decent but after they put in the platform gates it just went down the poop shoot.

Honestly, I think that Magnum's station has been the least impacted by the addition of gates. Compared to rides like Raptor and Mine Ride, the gates have made little difference in capacity and how people line up for the ride.

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James Draeger

Like Drew said, its simple: keeping the line moving keeps people happy and makes the line appear shorter so more people will ride.

Keeping the lines moving also ensures that no group of guests will be stuck under those misters for any long period of time. Also, the rate of vandalism tends to increase as the amount of time guests stand around in the queues increases.

I'd just like to add that the two headed monster on Magnum rocks my world ;).

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Kara (car-uh)
Super/'Screw Crew '03
Races for the Sky: 13

So is the half of the two Headed monster Matt?

If it isn't, I'll let him know you are cheating on him on my next trip!

(Just kidding of course)

-Sam (for whom this is none of my business)

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

Jimmy James and Matty D. are the two headed monster. It was good to see you back at the Point Sam.

The other half of the two headed monster is here to give you the scoop.

In the beginning of the season, way too few people were being let onto the platform. People at turnstyles were getting 4 or 5 trains worth of people on there and then letting it get nearly empty before letting more in. This was resulting in not only a lot of empty seats, but completely empty rows. This is unacceptable when there are plenty of people down in the queues who could have filled those rows, helped our numbers, and moved our line faster. It took me a while to convince everyone that we needed the number of people on the platform to be consistent and that there should never be any less than 4-5 trains worth of people on there. You're always going to have groups trying to line themselves up so just because there are two people in a chute does not mean they'll always get on the train. But if you have a bunch of additional riders on the platform and call out for "2 riders right now!" you can almost always fill the seats. This isn't the case if there is next to no one on the platform. The same applies to single riders like Drew said. The more people there are up there, the better your chances of finding a single rider are. It's true that some people don't pay attention when you call for single riders. But some do. You just have to be really loud about it like Jimmy and I were. Trust me - when some guy (be it a coaster enthusiast in the park by himself or a dad riding by himself with the rest of his family waiting on the midway) comes from the back of the station and gets right onto the train, he appreciates it. I had countless guests thank me for saving them that 5-10 minutes.

Ideally, I think the platform should be about 2/3 full at all times. This gives you a good number of people to get single riders from, but at the same time, people aren't packed in like sardines back to the garbage can at turnstyles. Consistent movement of the line is also important. When I was over there, as soon as people boarded the train, I'd let about 36 more through the turnstyle. When the next group of people board, another 36. I found this method was good because it kept the line moving consistently and it kept the correct number of people on the platform at all times. This is much better than letting the thing fill up and then get completely empty like a person here or there would do. Who wants to be that guy standing under the mister for 5-6 minutes getting soaked while the line isn't moving? Also, if the line is moving constantly, people are walking by trashcans more often so they're less likely to throw their garbage on the ground.

Here's a tip for anyone looking to get on Magnum the quickest. When the platform is fairly full, the shortest lines are ALWAYS the second and third rows of the front car. The front seat line tends to block off those rows. Just slide your way up there and you usually won't have to wait any longer than 3 trains on the platform.

Admittedly, I got frustrated with some members of the crew who didn't buy into the whole packing trains idea. To that the only thing I can say is read the manual. It's part of your job description to pre-group riders. One of Cedar Fair's cornerstones is service and one way of providing exceptional guest service is by running your location as efficiently as possible. Interval is the most important in this regard, but filling seats also helps. Three empty seats on every train reduces capacity by over 8%. I don't know how anyone can argue that packing trains doesn't make a difference. The one week that everyone did it, our numbers were up 3.8% over last year and we got the efficiency star. Go figure!

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew

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when some guy [...] comes from the back of the station and gets right onto the train, he appreciates it. I had countless guests thank me for saving them that 5-10 minutes.

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Been there, done that, thanked the crew. That's why the Maggie crew is one of the best in the park.

-brian, a dad whose wife doesn't ride (yet), and whose thrillseeking daughter is not yet 48".

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