Millennium Force Crowd Control

Just a curious thought. Are they doing away with the letting a certain amount of people in the station at a time for Millennium Force? It just seems like sometimes when I go, they just let a sheep herd of people in the station. I don't like the idea of them doing this because the station for Millennium Force is too small of a station to let that many people through. I like the idea of letting a 1-2 train loads of people in because you can actually see where your standing in line. Top Thrill Dragster seems like they're doing this as well.

Millennium force crowd control is there as it always has been. This time of year its harder to regulate the crowd because of a few factors. Less staffing will cause cuts in positions and usually crowd is the first one to go. Also with low staffing we get more "Ride Pride" workers. These workers are raising money for an organization and work most, if not all non-safety positions around the park during low staffing days (especially halloweekends). These workers can be really good at their job, others could care less if they are doing it wrong. I'm sure some ride prides don't take their positions as seriously as actual employees cause they are only here for the week volunteering their time for their organization. We can only tell them how to do their job, it's up to them to put fourth the effort to physically do it correctly for 12+ hours in the work day.

It no where near under control last Friday. Each row was 3 deep and the station op was just sitting there letting people go in as much as they wanted.

Millennium Force should NEVER pack the station. It's a fire hazard. Same with Wicked Twister.

Top Thrill Dragster said:
It's a fire hazard.

I'm kind of curious as to how you would burn down a station built out of metal and concrete.

Jason Hammond said:
It no where near under control last Friday. Each row was 3 deep and the station op was just sitting there letting people go in as much as they wanted.

That was probably a "bad" ride pride not doing their job.

Well as far as a fire hazard i could not see that. I am a firefighter in PA and i dont know the codes for ohio. The only thing i could see catching fire in the station is maybe the control booth with all the wiring, other than that, metal and concrete dont burn very well.

^^ It was a "bad" Ride Pride. Just sitting there, not doing much of anything. Same for the one working Dragster.

The past year it seems to be hit or miss; as if it is the perogative of the person "manning" the opening to the station. Unfortunately, though, there are times when that person gets up to speak with someone, etc...and there is a "mad dash" of people while he/she is gone which quickly fill sup the station.

I always stop the line there, not to help, but because it's hard to see which lanes have the least number of people in them when the platform is crowded.

BGRooDoG said:

Jason Hammond said:
It no where near under control last Friday. Each row was 3 deep and the station op was just sitting there letting people go in as much as they wanted.

That was probably a "bad" ride pride not doing their job.

Or a hot one!! ;)

Maniaman said:

Top Thrill Dragster said:
It's a fire hazard.

I'm kind of curious as to how you would burn down a station built out of metal and concrete.

The way I learned it was that it was a fire hazard, but maybe it was implied that was more of an "emergency" hazard, in a sense that if the station needed to be evacuated quickly that the capacity cannot be over a limited number.

When there is enough staffing they do it. When there isn't enough staffing they don't. Simple as that...

Millenium Force, Maverick and TTD are the only place they usually do it at. However, all roller coasters have "crowd control". However, it's one of the first postions to be cut due to staffing issues.

You would think though since Millennium Force station is the smallest out of the 3 you mentioned would be an exception to the staffing issue seeing as a couple of you said it's a fire hazzard. Plus like Jeff said I like doing the same. I like to stop the line to help them out and be able to see where I'm waiting in line at in the station.

Okay Millennium Force has the gate to the exit so at least if there was a fire it wouldn't be so crazy. TTD and Maverick people would be jumping over gates to get to the exit, or just go back the way you came. However, people don't really understand that concept. So Millennium's station may be small but it does have an exit gate.

Right now during Halloweekends, staffing is slim so when crowd isn't needed they don't use it.

I hate it when the station is like Magnum and TTD. It's too much of a mess. You never know which row to choose either because the lines are out of control.

The reason Millennium Force started limiting the number of guest in the platform had nothing to do with being a fire hazard. On the very first day of public operation, the excited and rowdy crowds in the station were so the loud (yelling non-stop and banging on the sides of the tin-can walls), ride operators could not communicate with one another. It took only one false dispatch for crew and management to decide that it was a safety concern. The number of guests admitted into the platform has been limited ever since.

Originally rider seat selection options were on a first come first serve basis. The crew took on a lot of abuse because of that rule. In 2001 we were permitted to allow guests to wait for the front or the back row only (with absolutely no exceptions). That amendment really helped cut-back on the number of complaints and police department phone calls. Today it seems like things have relaxed so much that crew can cut crowd anytime staffing is low.

Out of all of them, I think Magnum is the worst. The hole station fulled up, it seems like it takes forever.

Nope, not always there. I have been to Cedar Point atleast 20 times this summer and most of the time there has been someone looking after this but atleast twice there was not. Also on other occassions there person was letting everyone in. I have also seen this on TTD more than once this summer.

I consider this very annoying on Magnum which I think has the worst platform for confusion and overcrowding. I always wait the longest on that platform.

Most times "crowd control" is just a postion. Most platforms have them to make sure the height is correct of young children, food and beverages are in the trash prior to getting on the platform. I know for a fact Magnum is not required to tell people where to go. However, it all comes down to the Team Leaders defintion of crowd control and/or business.