No cell phones... at all

GoBucks89 said:

What could happen if I don't respond quickly? May well lose the client (either to someone else in the firm or to another firm).

My point was that not having your phone during the ~2 hours in line won't be the end of your career, your company, or the World.

My position similarly requires rapid response, as we support manufacturing facilities that operate 24/7 throughout most of the year, and downtime is measured in dollars. Lots of them. But my value to my employer goes far beyond being able to respond quickly. And I would like to think most people offer far more value than being easy to get a hold of.

GoBucks89 said:
Its not a mandatory locker (at least not how I understand the policy is being enforced). They ask you if you have a phone when you enter the line. They have people scanning the line looking for people using their phones. If you answer no to the question and keep your phone in your pocket while in line (or use it and manage not to be spotted by an employee while in line) you can ride with your phone. And even if you answer no, I suspect they do not escort you to a locker and watch you put it in a locker but only state that you must do so. Circle around a little and come back to the line entrance with phone still in your pocket and answer no to the phone question and presumably you can just keep it out of sight in the line and ride with it in your pocket.

A mandatory locker policy would involve metal detectors/scanner wands like Universal uses. This policy (as enforced) seems to me to be less about rider/customer safety than reducing the park's liability. Their policy (as enforced) allows for phones on the ride just that the park does not know about. They are also reducing use of phones while in line which itself isn't a safety issue.

Not true at all. Last night they were stopping people as they enter the line and threatening misdemeanors if they think you have a phone, even if they see a faint outline of what could be a phone in a pocket. The signs make it clear, the line attendant (at least the one last night) makes it crystal.

I wish they would have shoved the misdemeanor law into people's faces before the policy, considering that before this policy it was a misdemeanor to disobey any park rules (that's the letter of the law and the park can use it however they want) including using secured pockets for phones (before this policy, secured pockets were required for phones) and taking your phone out on the ride. If people knew there were consequences instead of just having the lift stopped and getting yelled at, maybe they'd be more responsible and we wouldn't need this policy.

That said, given that CP has Battle for CP AR scanning signs in line for SV, and that many of the FunTV ads encourage you to look stuff up in line, and that Cedar Fair has said they want to integrate the digital experience into the parks more, I think that the park might find an alternative policy. Twisted Timbers was allegedly spotted with a pouch on a train to test it (not used by guests at this point), and New Texas Giant uses these pouches successfully, so if that works out hopefully Cedar Fair will start moving towards letting phones back in line for their RMCs AND keeping people safe.

^ "I wish they would have shoved the misdemeanor law into people's faces..."

That sounds like a real #CPBestDay....... yikes.

^In other, more clear, less harsh words:

"I wish they would've used this misdemeanor law more assertively in enforcing the old policy like they are using it right now for the new policy."

They are shoving it into guests' faces right now, and I think that if that was done with the old policy, more guests would follow the rules.

dj -- I would like to think a lot of things. But sometimes reality gets in the way. My value to my firm is in attracting and retaining clients. As I noted responsiveness is becoming much more important to clients over the past several years. Most are reasonable about it. Others less so. Someone can email me a 50 page document and 15 minutes later they are calling to me to discuss it. If no response in 15 minutes they are calling the head of my department or of the firm saying someone else needs to be put on it. Fair? Reasonable? Probably not (at least in many situations) but it is reality. And becoming more common. I have lost clients for a lack of responsiveness in situations which I didn't think were reasonable/warranted. But that is an argument you lose every time. And I know many others in similar situations.

I am not saying all jobs are like that or even most. Sounds like yours isn't. But mine is and experience tells me I am not alone. So the notion of "people did fine without phones 40 years ago at Cedar Point and no one died" or everyone is posting on Facebook anyways which is a waste of time (I actually view it as a waste of time at all times which is a major reason I have next to no social media footprint) isn't universally applicable. And as I said earlier, if you are in a competitive market with an increasing numbers of people who are essentially connected to their phones, I would suggest doing everything you can to not separate them if you are seeking to grow attendance.

Ryan -- Policy as you describe still isn't a mandatory locker one. I am sure there are people with phones in their pockets that would never be detected via a sight scan. And threatening paying customers with misdemeanors sounds like CP had a "how can we take a bad policy and make it worse" brainstorming session.

GoBucks, I respect your work ethic, but you sure sound like you can use a vacation or at least a day off! I would bet that your situation is very unique and that 99% of the other guests in line have the day off and don't need to respond like you do. Like I said, most people I see with a phone while waiting in line are just playing and using it for recreational purposes.

LOL. Thanks Pete. Just took a vacation earlier this month. Did spend a little time working though. If nothing else I look through emails because if I don't I can come back to the office after a week with 700+ emails to go through which makes returning to work even more difficult. I do not set my schedule; my clients do. I know a lot of people who are in similar situations (and many of us to go CP). Though just like your experience, my anecdotes are not data.

But even if we assume you are correct (or that its far less than 1% who have very time sensitive needs for a phone). There are increasing numbers of people (mainly younger generation) who tell you they would "die" without their phones. Everyone knows that isn't true. But you make it less likely that people will want to visit when you separate them from that which they deal very important. And just like I don't win by arguing with my clients about the reasonableness of some of their timing matters, I don't think you win by telling customers your deemed need isn't valid or important (particularly not when they have other entertainment options available).

And for my family, we have different levels of riders (all are tall enough to ride everything so that isn't the issue). As a result, we typically separate for parts of the day and plan meet up times via text/phone. Being without a phone during the line of SV (and no way in the world my daughter or wife are going on that ride), makes meet up times much more difficult. Wait time said 90 minutes but it broke down and will be 2 hours. Or line was otherwise quicker or slower than expected means part of my family spends time waiting for the rest when they could have spent time doing something else. Is someone going to die or will the world stop spinning? No. But you have made the day a little less enjoyable and made it a little less likely we return. Given the different ages of kids in many families, I don't think that is an uncommon situation at all (certainly more people than have my response time issues). And I totally get we didn't have that ability however many years ago when we went to CP. But the reality is we have it now and I don't think you are doing yourself any favors by stating how things were in the past (sounds somewhat Kinzel like to me).

Ultimately, seems to me someone should think outside the box on this one to come up with a better solution. One that allows cell phones in lines and secures them on rides (so you reduce those who sneak them onto the ride which the current system allows). Unfortunately thinking outside the box is something that I do not typically see from Cedar Point.

I remember growing up pre-internet we would go on a family vacation to Florida during Spring Break every year. My dad would have packets of work overnighted to him every day to pick up in the morning at the front desk. Then we would have to go to the FedEx store by 5pm so he could overnight it back. Rinse, lather, and repeat for the vacation. I swore then I would *never* have a career like that and have lived up to it.

To each their own, but If I had a job where I would essentially lose work because I didn’t respond within 15 minutes to something while in line for Steel Vengeance no less... I’d be looking for a new career. Life is too short.

Life is full of choices. Different costs/benefits with each. A lot of benefits with my job. Different people make different choices. Its why there are different flavors of ice cream.

We have different flavors of ice cream not because people needed or wanted different flavors of ice cream but because ice cream companies came to understand that they could manufacture and create desire and, in turn, make people do things they would have otherwise not done.

#facepalm

GoBucks89 said:

And for my family, we have different levels of riders ... As a result, we typically separate for parts of the day and plan meet up times via text/phone. Being without a phone during the line of SV ... makes meet up times much more difficult. Wait time said 90 minutes but it broke down and will be 2 hours. Or line was otherwise quicker or slower than expected means part of my family spends time waiting for the rest when they could have spent time doing something else. Is someone going to die or will the world stop spinning? No. But you have made the day a little less enjoyable and made it a little less likely we return.

Louder for the people in the back!

Some version of what you described has been my argument ever since this policy went into effect. There are perfectly legitimate, non-ADD, non-entertainment reasons to have a phone at the park and in line. Especially 2-hour lines.

I recall the old "meet at the Ferris wheel at X:00 for lunch" system of the pre-cell phone era. A line ends up being longer than you expect, you get stuck on the brake run, whatever the case may be... you show up to the meeting spot a half hour late and everyone wonders where the hell you've been. Today, that can be solved with a simple text message and the folks waiting for you can do something else until you arrive. I have no desire to go back to the "angry family greeting you at the Ferris wheel" era.

We were at the park Wednesday, and SV security asked my friend if the rectangular bulge in her pocket was a phone. She said no, it's just a wallet. Then he asked to see it, so she unzipped the pocket and dug it out. Meanwhile, I with my baggy cargo pants wasn't even questioned, nor was my other friend who had her hands in her jacket pockets. This was early entry, so the line was only back as far as the tunnel entrance, where another employee questioned the same friend about the wallet. She didn't get it out this time, but curtly said she was already checked 10 seconds ago at the entrance.

Y'all will be proud of us though -- without phones, we spent more time in line talking to each other! About what a ridiculous experience we'd just had!

Some friends who rode it later in the day indicated there are now cameras in the queue watching for phones, and they observed someone being removed and forfeiting their place in line. When we were eating lunch we saw security personnel with a German shepherd, and we joked that it must be one of CP's new phone-sniffing dogs.

CoasterMania! 2019...Along with waiving the kid requirement for Wilderness Run, they will also allow phones in the Steel Vengeance queue during ERT. Being an entitled enthusiast has its perks some days.

^Is that true or a joke? My sarcasm meter is not in service at the moment.

Of course it is true! I heard they are even installing charging stations in the queue for the convenience of entitled enthusiasts, only for Coastermania.

OK, now you're just being snarky :P.

Why is it whenever somebody is having a debate or discussion about park policy, somebody has to accuse the side that wants something to change as being "entitled"? I think that word is overused sometimes.

Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion on that. ;)

^Now that's a use of "entitled" I can get behind :).

...charging stations with 100ft long cables to walk back and forth through the cattle pens without unplugging...