MM 9/14 -- a BIT of a letdown actually...

One of the biggest complaints many people have about several of the Six Flags parks is the sheer inconsistency of policies, while one of the praises Cedar Point frequently gets is good, consistent operations.

Cedar Point fell short of this expectation yesterday when they instituted a "no rerides" policy on the last day of their "Millennium Mania" event. After 4 days of MM rerides last year, and 3 days this year, the policy was suddenly stopped. When we asked why at Park Operations, the answer was simply "Because Cedar Point does not give rerides, ever." When we pointed out that they had been giving rerides the other 3 MM days, and indeed even earlier on THIS day, the response was "They shouldn't have been doing that, that was a mistake and it's been corrected." We were also told that the reason was that if we were reriding and someone was walking up the queue line, then we would be effectively cutting in front of them. I disagree -- what difference does it make if the train dispatches empty or with reriders to people walking up the queue, they're not getting on that train anyway. And if they were up in the station to be able to get on the train, then the people on the train would be moving anyway, and therefore not cutting the new riders off! Even the attempt to justify the mid-event policy change was stupid.

This, my friends, was very Six Flags-like. Actually, on second thought, it wasn't Six Flags-like -- many Six Flags parks DO allow rerides on empty days. As do Paramount, and even other Cedar Fair, parks!

Now, we didn't let that little bit of sheer stupidity spoil our day. "Our" being myself, LoriU and her husband Steve, my brother Matt, and we met up with our friend Josh at the park.

In spite of having to walk around (and watch trains we'd just gotten off of go around with only 4 riders in the process!), we hit all operating rides (except VertiGo which opened later in the day) multiple times. In my case, that's Raptor (3), Mantis (2), Magnum (4), Power Tower (1 down, 2 up), Millennium Force (13). Our group split into various subgroups at different times.

All rides warmed up nicely, with Millie giving incredible rides by the end of the day. No complaints there. Maggie was running with no trims when we hit it, and Raptor's midcourse was barely on if at all. Mantis' drop trim was off, but the midcourse was on HARD the first time we went through -- we were crawling, and I started chanting "rollback, rollback..."

Incidentally, those 2 Mantis rides, and 2 Power Tower rides, were both rerides AFTER we'd been told "No Rerides" at operations. Not that I'm complaining -- in fact I'm complimenting the crews on being sensible in the face of Dilbert-style Pointy Haired Boss management.

Oh, and one more negative comment. At one point, the Millennium Force crew roped off several rows. When asked why, they replied "because there's not enough riders and we're tired of undoing and redoing seatbelts". At the time the guy said this, ALL rows were filled in 2 or 3 trains deep, with even more people being held at the station turnstyle. "Not enough riders"? Baloney. I realize that the seatbelt thing can get a bit tedious, but it's part of the job! I couldn't believe how far back the line started building before those ropes finally disappeared again. Admittedly, that "line" was still FAR shorter than you'll ever see on most normal days, but at an event advertised as having "no waits", they sure let the line start to build before doing something about it. Sorry, guys, but that was pretty dumb.

So overall, not a bad day at all, but compared to some of the earlier MM trip reports, we came away feeling a bit disappointed. If this were due to crowds in the beautiful weather, that'd be one thing, but for it to be due to poor management and operator decisions was somewhat of a letdown. And I can honestly say that I can't remember the last time Cedar Point had let me down.

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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
MF count: 50

*** This post was edited by GregLeg1 on 9/15/2001. ***

"I know whos fault it is"

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Mr. 2000
Magnum: 831/2096

Well i have to agree with roping off seats.  you have no idea what a pain it is to buckle every seat belt, especially at the end of a long day.  I know i only speak for the woodstock express, but still with 2 seatbelts per car and just as you get them all buckled more people are waiting to ride.  it's a never ending process, so i would close a couple cars when we were not busy.

shoewee/goldberg

http://shoewee.tripod.com

As I posted on CoasterBuzz about this rediculous situation:

I know Cedar Point's official policy is no re-rides.  My guess is that this is a situation comparable to the first couple Joe Cool Club ERTs.  We were giving re-rides to the Joe Cool people because the trains usually had a maximum of 5 people in them and many trains were being dispatched empty.  In my opinion, I don't really see what the harm is in letting them re-ride.  We had to send the trains anyway, so why not at least have a few people in them.  But anyway, one day, we were told by higher authorities that we were not to allow re-rides.  I honestly don't know why, but we just had to deal with it. 

This didn't bother me as much as the fact that they let the GP into the park at 9:30, but we weren't supposed to let anyone except Joe Cool people past entrance until 10.  That's not fun sitting at entrance during a time like that.

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

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shoewee said:
it's a never ending process, so i would close a couple cars when we were not busy.

---

Oh, I perfectly understand, and agree. I had no problem with the rows roped off on Magnum, for instance. But at no point did Millennium Force EVER get "empty". All the open rows were 2-3 trains deep AND people were backing out of the station, AS they were putting those ropes off. And that was senseless.

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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
MF count: 50

MDOmnis explained it perfectly.  GregLeg1, the same exact thing happened to me during the JCC this year.  I was riding Magnum every week until one of the last ones they decided to change the rules and allow no rerides.  Here's the thing that burned me up, I was the only one riding the ride and the only one in the station!  So I exit only so they could send an empty train and I could walk back around again to board the same empty train I was on, thus losing out on a ride.  I have no problem with the policy if they are filling the trains with 20 or more but 1 person is absolutly absurd.  I hope this is a policy that changes but I don't see it happening.

Greg: I sure hope that you made an official complaint. The whole appeal of Millennium Mania is the re-rides. If you don't get them, there's no point in going. It was the primary selling point that got me in there the first time. If that's gone, forget it, I won't be back for it next year.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP
Watch my grass grow: http://www.sillynonsense.com/subdivision/

Damn straight I registered an official complaint -- on Cedar Point's "Feedback" web page, *AND* I will be mailing an actual paper letter to the park's Public Relations department tomorrow. The contents of this message are below.

Now, in retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have spelled out WHO we talked to at Operations, and I may omit that from the hardcopy version, but I DO feel we were treated very poorly by this individual.

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First, I'd like to thank the park for running Millennium Mania again. I'd attended last year and thoroughly enjoyed myself, so this year I went again, and took several friends with me.

Now, having said that, I'd ALSO like to express my DISAPPOINTMENT in the event. Having attended last year's event and hearing many comments from friends attending the first 3 days this year, I went in hoping for rerides. I realize that this is not Cedar Point's normal policy, and I respect that. However, Millennium Mania is a special event. As a season passholder, I paid EXTRA for this event, which was advertised as "no waiting in line". Additionally rerides had previously been allowed. Indeed, when the day started rerides WERE allowed. So imagine our disappointment when rerides were suddenly disallowed in the middle of the event on 9/14. It was rather disheartening to be told we HAD to get off of Raptor (where we were when the policy was switched) when the station was deserted other than the front seat, and watch the train we had been on go through empty. This is rather silly, and in fact unfair to the attendees on Friday when earlier riders HAD been allowed to reride.

We went over to Park Operations to inquire as to why rerides were disallowed, and were turned away, rather rudely, by one Bob Wozniak. He told us that "Cedar Point does not allow rerides." When we told him there was nobody in line, he simply said "Then you'll be able to walk around that much faster." Finally, we pointed out that the previous three Millennium Mania days this year, as well as earlier that day, rerides WERE allowed, to which he said "They weren't supposed to be doing that, that was a mistake that has been corrected."

A "mistake" that took over a YEAR (looking at least year's MM event) to correct? This is VERY unfair to those of us who went on Friday.

After being rudely dismissed by Mr. Wozniak (if he had explained the situation nicely, I may not even be writing this letter, but we all felt that he was VERY rude to us), we went back out into the park to enjoy ourselves. Which we did. However, we were continually annoyed to see near-empty trains that we had just been on get dispatched while walking around.

We later heard that rerides had been cancelled due to one family complaining about not getting rerides on Millennium Force because there were other people in line. If this is true, SHAME on Cedar Point for allowing one set of whiners to spoil things for the rest of us. They should have simply been told "if there are people waiting in line, those people get priority", and
dismissed. Instead, Cedar Point chose to just cancel rerides, dismissing the REST of us at Operations (and I know our group wasn't the only one to ask).

I always have a good time at Cedar Point, and will continue to enjoy the rides there. However, I was quite disappointed in how this event was handled, and I can honestly state that I cannot remember the last time Cedar Point disappointed me.

Sincerely,
Greg Legowski
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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
MF count: 50

*** This post was edited by GregLeg1 on 9/16/2001. ***

 What bone-heads would complain about not getting re-rides on MF?  Nobody was getting re-rides on MF because there was a line (although not a very big one).   I think most semi-intelligent people realize that re-rides are only allowed if no one was waiting for your seat.  On my previous MM trips, guests would always exit if someone was in their line and it was never a problem. 
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Bob M.

Not only that but re-rides on MF technically aren't possible because you unload at different station from where you load.  There is no way to know whether someone is waiting for your seat, so you have to exit the ride.

Since I noticed a few members are allotting to the fact... I will throw in my comments... I suggest to anyone that writes a letter(or email message) to word it VERY carefully... Cedar Point NEVER advertised Millennium Mania as "stay in your seat for as long as you want or until someone else takes your seat" they just said the event will have small attendance. Some people at Cedar Point(in this case Bob Wozniak) may take people asking about rerides the wrong way... there is no lines(which is a plus) and asking for rerides is just wrong. Also I would say about 50% of the people attending Millennium Mania do not know about getting rerides when they walk in the park.

I am just pointing out how some people at Cedar Point may look at this... I agree with Greg... they gave rerides the other days and just to stop doing it the one day is wrong. And Greg I would suggest sending that letter right to Dan Keller(General Manager).

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Andrew Hyde
http://www.experiencethepoint.com
Author- Experience The Point: The Unofficial Guidebook To Cedar Point

*** This post was edited by Andrew on 9/17/2001. ***

Shutup Andrew. When did you get so annoying? I can't stand you anymore. Go away. I'm tired of you trying to enlighten everyone.

When you set a service precedent that's what your customers expect. There are no take backs unless you state your change in service at the door. Cedar Point is generally speaking very good at that. Consider the way they made it no secret that MF was down after the lightning strike last year or the cable break this year. They spell out everything for you. Mid-day policy shifts that happen after a year of precedent is not acceptable.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP
Watch my grass grow: http://www.sillynonsense.com/subdivision/

Harsh...I'd still have to agree with Andrew.

Jeff, I never said changing things mid-day are a good thing to do.  If you were at the park in the last few weeks you would have saw signs for Millennium Mania. Nowhere on those signs did it say "Rerides are allowed". I would hate for people to email/ write(like the people who complained about Millennium Force)  and say "I paid to get rerides". I understand where Greg is coming from and I agree with him.  I never knew about getting rerides until I was about to get out of the train on Magnum and then Dan told me. I am not takeing Bob Wozniak's side, I love rerides. And Jeff why would Cedar Point come out and say "We are not going to have rerides today" when they never said they were going to have them in the first place?

 

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Andrew (Who was going to buy Pop Forums, until now)
Http://www.experiencethepoint.com
Author- Experience The Point: The Unofficial Guidebook To Cedar Point

I'm perfectly aware of the conditions of sale, but you've become such a smartAss around here that every post you make pisses me (and quite frankly several other members) off. You know damn well that Greg has every reason in the world to be pissed. They changed the rules in the middle of the game. That's wrong. Don't give me this crap about what the park did or didn't advertise.

And I honestly couldn't give a monkey nut about what you buy.

I am so tired of these self-proclaimed "experts" to be civil any longer.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP
Watch my grass grow: http://www.sillynonsense.com/subdivision/

The whole point I was trying to make was simply that Cedar Point had handled things one way for most of the event, and suddenly switched it without warning.  In the interest of fairness, they SHOULD have applied the same policy throughout, and THAT was the point I was trying to make in my letter.  It's fairly simple, actually.
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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
MF count: 50

Greg, I agree with you by all means...since I was planning on attending on Friday I would have done the same things you are doing. And I think your letter is perfect.

Jeff, If you read my posts above you would have saw that that I am on Greg's side so how could you say this "You know damn well that Greg has every reason in the world to be pissed."? My posts weren't directed towards you or Greg. I just didn't want someone write/email the park and get all smart. Like for example the many morons who email/wrote PKI because they didn't add a new roller coaster. If the park stopped rerides because one person got smart, what would the park do if they got a bunch of smart remarks. You are just taking my post the WRONG way. Also Jeff, I would like to know why you can me a smart ass? I didn't try to be smart in this topic nor any other topic. I honestly can't remember any time when I pissed off you or any other member.

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Andrew
http://www.experiencethepoint.com
Author- Experience The Point: The Unofficial Guidebook To Cedar Point

So what you're saying is that I can't read and Greg's too much of a moron to write a business letter?

Whatever dude... if you agree so much you wouldn't have posted anything in the first place.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP
Watch my grass grow: http://www.sillynonsense.com/subdivision/

I never said Greg was "too much of a moron"  cause i my last post I said- "And I think your letter is perfect." I know that not every one will take time, like Greg did, to site down and write a good letter to Cedar Point and they would just throw something together without thinking. I just don't want morons(like the person who complained about rerides on Millennium Force) to write a piss poor letter/email to the park... and have the wrong person read it and ruin rerides for the rest of us. Like I said before I posted just so people don't write a piss poor letter to the park complaining. And like I said before: "If the park stopped rerides because one person got smart, what would the park do if they got a bunch of piss poor remarks."  I agree that it is wrong to change policy mid-way through and that is very unCedar Point like and Greg(and everyone who was there) has every right to write a letter to the park. I just wanted try to get people to sit down and write a good letter like Greg.

--------------------
Andrew Hyde
http://www.experiencethepoint.com
Author- Experience The Point: The Unofficial Guidebook To Cedar Point

*** This post was edited by Andrew on 9/18/2001. ***

Andrew you are the man...NOT. Get over yourself. Your posts are annoying, your "facts" are usually WRONG, and if Greg can't put a "good letter" together, I am sure he wouldn't send it. Please go play RCT and come back in a few years. Listening to nails on a chalkboard is more pleasant than seeing a post from you.

At first I was taken aback by Greg being upset about no re-rides. I first thought hell walk around and ride again, big deal...but I then realized re-reides had been "allowed" earlier THAT day forget the previous days of MM. This is NOT CP STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. Heck last season there was a discussion about lower the height requirement on MF to 48 inches after Labor Day. We all know it was decided to wait until the START of 2001. For what ever reason re-rides were stopped last Friday, or maybe shouldn't have been started, the park should not have just changed the rules mid stream.

I hope MM returns in 2002. CP can make it "easy" for those attending by stating the "rules" up front and remaining conistent with the rules. Why not just open the access gate at MF?, I am sure a "short cut" can be found on most of the ridess involved.

I just hope this is an isolated instance of Sixflagitis. I am sure it is.