MF load time slower

it was taking a long long time for the ops to get the trains moving consistently yesterday. and it wasnt with weight issues either, becuase they told people before they eve nsat down that they wouldnt fit. after i was all strapped in...waited about another minute and 1/2 just to get going...and almost 2 in the brakes after the ride was over! anyone else notice this this year?

This would be the best place to bring this up, I think.

http://www.pointbuzz.com/cpplace.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=16701

Not flaming, just sayin'

-Josh

Agreed.

Last Sunday I took the time to wait for the front seat, so I had a good 40min. to observe things on the platform while I was waiting. (I should have just closed my eyes and looked the other way to avoid getting upset) In the amount of time that I waited for the front seat the crew didn't hit interval even once. And the delays weren't because of large guests (only one person had to exit the train, and that was a terrified skinny girl who requested to be let out of the train).

Nope, the delays were simply because of a slow crew with no sense of urgency. Is there a new policy in place that the crew has to be in a certain position before they can clear a train for dispatch? If there is, that's cool, but does the crew have to chat with one another before making their way back to their positions? It was driving me crazy to watch.

This is what Standard Operating Procedure seems to be for load hosts at Millennium Force...

First, Check all of the lapbars and seatbelts. Then wait for the trains to stack. Once the trains are stacked continue to talk to the other employee on your side of the platform for 30 or more seconds. After that walk slowly to your dispatch position and proceed to clear the train. Reset unload (unload has their own SOP for slowing down interval), clear the train again and repeat.

Seriously, the crew was the only thing that I could see slowing things down last Sunday. I'm am no longer willing to blame the slow dispatches on large guests. Maybe the crew has gotten so used to the slow dispatches that they don't even know how to hit interval.

I miss MF crew 2001.

Agreed. The '01 crew was the only reason how I rode it 307 times that summer.

Over the last few seasons I've noticed how "lazy" the Millennium crew has been getting. But, I guess it's just because I got used to the quick intervals the first two seasons Millennium was open.

One thing I also noticed, and am not sure if it changed.. But the two hosts would start on opposite ends of the train and both would 'check' until they ran into each other - whether it be in the front middle or back of the train. They'd always pat the other person on the back to let them know the rest of the train was checked and ready to clear.

I've noticed now that if one of the ride hosts makes it halfway, they will stop, even if the other host is still checking seats.

Then they proceed to yakk.
*** Edited 6/16/2005 1:39:53 AM UTC by bholcomb***

I've noticed a lack of enthusiasm and efficiency from almost all of the crews in the park for almost all of the rides this year, but the Millennium crew has to be one of the worst. I too am done blaming it on the large guests, because I haven't seen an issue with them at all lately. The crew is just slow and doesn't care. I was at the park today and waited 30 minutes with a FreeWay stamp, which shouldn't happen!

Seeing this makes me appreciate the hard working crews in the park. Raptor crew continues to be the best, hitting interval 95% of the time, and having energy and enthusiasm. Another one I feel needs to be mentioned is the Mantis crew. They've been doing a great job this year making sure everyone is in proper position BEFORE the seats lock in a friendly non-sarcastic way, and for the most part have done a great job. I just wish all of the crews were awesome, like they used to be.
*** Edited 6/16/2005 2:02:20 AM UTC by MillenniumMan1287***

Oddly enough, when I rode on Sunday, Millennium Force was running a lot more efficiently than it had been a few weeks ago. A series of minor changes to seat belts and policies made a *huge* difference. I suspect because it's back to where people who could ride last year can apparently ride again.

Still slow, but better than a couple of weeks ago.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Richie, you guys did have a great crew that year. Doing 1.9 million on that ride is a great achievement and the last couple of years have seen huge drops in numbers. Magnum and Raptor's crews were awesome that year too with Magnum hitting over 2.1 million and Raptor over 2.2.

You were correct about a new policy that people have to be in certain positions before they clear now. There was some sort of incident with people clearing out of order last year that caused it. Not really sure why they couldn't still clear out of order in their positions, but whatever - that's another operational change that seems questionable. They could at least HUSTLE back to those positions and then clear. What's with everyone walking? I used to run if I knew "ready ready" time was getting close. I've noticed that MF crew doesn't like clearing until the train hits that bunny hop. At Magnum, we cleared as soon as we were done checking, whether the train was halfway up the lift or dropping off the lift. That way when the dispatch point is reached, there is no more waiting for people to get their thumbs up.

Also, bholcomb, we got yelled at last year for "meeting in the middle." I guess if a seatbelt is missed, they want to know who to write up or something like that. Forget helping helping the guy who gets stuck with a guest sitting on his seatbelt or something. That would be too much like the old Cedar Point where things made sense.

Unfortunately, I think what is happening on MF now is what happened on Mantis for a few years after they got seatbelts. It made things more difficult, sure, but then people just began making up more excuses for diminishing numbers. MF's interval, barring large guests, should be hit very often. I sat in the Stockade in 2001 and timed trains reaching the top of MF's lift. 1:37 or 1:38 every time. I cringe when I think of what the average interval is now, but I'm thinking mid-2 minute range is probably a good bet.

Over the past 10 days things have gotten a little better, and I do notice that if they are having a good day with no problems they can get trains close to interval (2 minutes or so) for 20 or 30 minutes at a time before they hit a slow loading train. In defense of the crew, I do think they are moving things along faster in the past week or so.

Slow dispatches and lazy crews also irritate me to no end. I was at SFGAm today, and believe it or not the Raging Bull crew was doing an awesome job with 3 trains, no stacking and an average or 1:30 or so between dispatches. Man that thing ate up the queue like nobody's business today. I was just surprised to see a SF park running their main attraction much more smoothly than CP (I'm going by my last trip to CP a couple weeks ago). About all I can say for SF though when comparing the parks...but still, props to them for the good work.

*** Edited 6/16/2005 6:09:23 AM UTC by Emohnke*** *** Edited 6/16/2005 6:09:33 AM UTC by Emohnke***

MDOmnis said:
Also, bholcomb, we got yelled at last year for "meeting in the middle." I guess if a seatbelt is missed, they want to know who to write up or something like that. Forget helping helping the guy who gets stuck with a guest sitting on his seatbelt or something. That would be too much like the old Cedar Point where things made sense.
.

Looks like another one to put in the “theyhadtheirheadsuptheiranuswhenthinkingofthis” book :;) Apparently now it’s more important to figure out who’s name to put on a yellow piece of paper than it is to service the guests. A guest waiting in line is not going to care who checked or missed what that caused a lift stop, and this does nothing more than appease the policy gods at Cedar Point. It certainly doesn’t prevent theses things from happening, because they still do. It’s supposed to be a ride ‘crew” that works together, not a 4th grade classroom where a kid gets his name put on the board.

And Richie………
To think at one time when the line was at the pop machines, and your crew had me on and off the ride in 45 minutes every time. Didn’t think much of it then, but to move that many people is amazing. Those days are looooong gone. Now 2.5 hours from that same point.

Emohnke…….

Yes, Not all Six Flags parks or crews for that matter are bad. A few years ago on Nitro, they had a crew that could put many of CP’s crews’ to shame. There would literally be a 10 second gap waiting for the next train to get in because they were dispatching so fast. *** Edited 6/16/2005 6:54:36 AM UTC by Joe E*** *** Edited 6/16/2005 6:56:15 AM UTC by Joe E***

i'm actually scared to go to CP this weekend. after reading about all the fiascos going on at the point this year, i'm terrified that its going to scar my CP memories for life. i remember when i used to brag to all of my friends across the country how good i had it growing up with CP as my home park. it was the cleanest, had the best rides, lines were always moving REALLY fast, seats were never left empty, and the ride crews were fun and enthusiastic. now it seems like all of that is gone.

if CP starts being run like all the six flags i've been to, i hate to say that i will probably stop flying back to ohio every summer to go. i can go to great adventure if i want slowly loaded trains running half empty because no ride ops are paying attention. oh and don't even get me started on the q-bot fiasco. ugghhhhh.

Yeah I agree that Cedar Point is not really up to par this year. A lot of their policies this year are idiotic. The crews definetly aren't too enthusiastic either. I think if Cedar Point starts operating like most Six Flags parks, I'll just start going to Busch Gardens Parks or Paramount Parks! Those are the next best things I guess.

I don't exactly know how ops can be enthusiastic all the time from doing that job. But when I was boarding Dragster a couple of weeks ago, one of the park ops was dancing to the Ready to Go song and they were moving very quickly boarding people.

They want to know who to write up? How typical. File that under stupid BS policy change.

I really hope that someone high up in CP management is reading this. Maybe we all should E-mail CP about this.

I'd suggest either writing a real letter (with proper spelling/grammar) and mailing it, rather than using e-mail. Either that or stop in Park Operations the next time you notice something wrong in the park. Just ask to fill out a comment card. There's no sense in yelling at the people in the office as they can't do anything about it. But the cards do go straight to managment.

I was there on the 16th, and I thought all the crews were doing a great job, all very friendly and seemed to be happy. I am not trying to take anything away from the great crews of the past, but I really didn't see any major problems. There were two times all day that there were delays on any rides, one was a larger women on MF that needed help with her belt, and the other was a guy on Mantis that just didn't get the whole stand up coaster concept.

I don't know, when I rode MF on Thursday morning, the ride ops were just sort of wandering around and taking their sweet time. I seriously thought that one of them was going to nod off when he was standing in his dispatch position.

You check out:

http://www.pointbuzz.com/cpplace.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=16659

Thanks