Ride - Op Training
I work at the Adventuredome theme park and used to work at the MGM Grand Adventures theme park here in Las Vegas and am interested in possibly working at CP once i graduate in the spring. I was wondering what is the training program like for ride ops. At MGM we had a month of training before the park opened for the season. Every night from 3pm to 8pm we would train on the rides eventually learning all the rides. At Adventuredome you start of at the kids and family style rides, then move up to the bigger rides, where I am now. I was just wondering how does this work at CP since i know you pretty much get only one ride the whole year. Also as for the tests, is it one test for the whole ride (like at MGM or a test for load/unload, controls, and individual positions (like at Adventuredome). Also, how long are the tests and how many hours do u have to train on the ride before you can be certified. At MGM we had have 8 hours of training.
I know its lot of questions, but i was just wondering. Thankx.
I know its lot of questions, but i was just wondering. Thankx.
HA!! Training!!!!!! What is that????!!! My training consisted of: watching 3 (i think) hours of videos. One was on guest kindness and another on disabled guests. it was the dumbest time of my life, but i got paid for it. then i had to be at Camp snoopy by 8:00 am one day, there are 8 rides in camp snoopy. we went around and a half hour later i knew how to run everything but controls at woodstock express. the hardest thing was camp bus because you had to 'park' it. other than that i came in early one morning and for about a half hour just played with woodstock and i got the hand of it in like 10 mins. really easy. from the other rides i've heard they are not very difficult. hope this helps.
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John
Gemini Unball Host 2000
Fascination Host 2000
Camp Snoopy Ride Op 2000
MF Laps-50
www.shoewee.tripod.com
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John
Gemini Unball Host 2000
Fascination Host 2000
Camp Snoopy Ride Op 2000
MF Laps-50
www.shoewee.tripod.com
For the roller coasters, you have to fill out a few checklists that contain all the vital park procedure information - phone extensions for the offices and emergencies, who the managers are, that sort of deal. Then you will have on-the-job training for the ride itself: if you are there before the park opens, you attend a series of lecture/presentations about different topics (IE: special access), and then you will practice on the ride, but there is no set number of hours that you have to work on the ride before running controls. If you are there after the park is open, you will work all the positions as you feel comfortable with them -- IE, you might not do PA your first day, though it usually isn't a big deal anyway. Before you are allowed to run the controls, you have to pass your "visual board" test, which is a multiple choice test about the ride itself - height requirement, what is and is not allowed on the ride, how the safety system operates, etc. It is a really easy test, but you can only get I think it is 2 wrong. Any more than that and you have to take it again, which is no big deal at all. And that's it - you're trained! The first time you run controls you'll probably have someone experienced with you, but it all depends on the crew and how comfortable you feel with it.
When I worked Disaster Transport, I transferred to the ride on June 30th, and I was running controls by July 4th -- no problem at all. When I was on the Iron Dragon, before the park opened, we all did the training stuff together and again, no big deal. They do make sure you know what you are doing, but it's fun too!
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
Don't make me RECOUNT! Take the CP Coaster POLL!
When I worked Disaster Transport, I transferred to the ride on June 30th, and I was running controls by July 4th -- no problem at all. When I was on the Iron Dragon, before the park opened, we all did the training stuff together and again, no big deal. They do make sure you know what you are doing, but it's fun too!
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
Don't make me RECOUNT! Take the CP Coaster POLL!
Hello,
When you get hired for Cedar Point the managers usually put you somewhere. You can be put anywhere from a coaster to the railroad train. If you have had coaster experiance in the past you should let management know when you are interviewed.
Depending on what time you start in the season will depend on your training. If you are there prior to the park opening, you go through training week the week before the park opens. You work usually from like 8 or 9 in the morning M-F. If you start after the park opens you will train with someone who has been there and know what they are doing.
In order for you to work a coaster you have to be able to walk up the lift, with out any troubles. You learn every postion including controls. You cannot do controls until you take your visiual boards. This is a test of about 20-25 multiple choice questions about the ride and different stiuations that might come about while operating it. Your Team Leader gives you the test. This usually happens about a week after you start or when they feel you are ready.
I hope i have answered some of your questions. If ya have any more you can post here or e-mail me at RAPTORBOY00@AOL.COM
John
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Raptor Crew 2000!!!!
The future is riding on us, because you don't need a ticket to ride!!!!
When you get hired for Cedar Point the managers usually put you somewhere. You can be put anywhere from a coaster to the railroad train. If you have had coaster experiance in the past you should let management know when you are interviewed.
Depending on what time you start in the season will depend on your training. If you are there prior to the park opening, you go through training week the week before the park opens. You work usually from like 8 or 9 in the morning M-F. If you start after the park opens you will train with someone who has been there and know what they are doing.
In order for you to work a coaster you have to be able to walk up the lift, with out any troubles. You learn every postion including controls. You cannot do controls until you take your visiual boards. This is a test of about 20-25 multiple choice questions about the ride and different stiuations that might come about while operating it. Your Team Leader gives you the test. This usually happens about a week after you start or when they feel you are ready.
I hope i have answered some of your questions. If ya have any more you can post here or e-mail me at RAPTORBOY00@AOL.COM
John
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Raptor Crew 2000!!!!
The future is riding on us, because you don't need a ticket to ride!!!!
It all seems really easy compared to down here in vegas. Only 25 questions on the test, WOW. Just for the carousel at the adventure dome we have about that many. As for the Camp Bus, we have a ride like that called B.C. Bus that ride can be a pain especially with people who cant fit. Then they get all mad when you tell them the lap bar has to click. .
The one thing i wish we had at my park was a P.A. position. At MGM me and my friend were know for our spiels on the coasters. I think it hypes the crowd up.
As for those videos, were they the IAAPA videos casue I think I saw the exact same ones. They had lots of video from Cedar Point and Worlds of Fun in there.
Anyways, sounds pretty simple and thanks for the info
One more question though. Who makes the decision to add or subtract trains on the coasters, and who does the actual adding?
baddboy
The one thing i wish we had at my park was a P.A. position. At MGM me and my friend were know for our spiels on the coasters. I think it hypes the crowd up.
As for those videos, were they the IAAPA videos casue I think I saw the exact same ones. They had lots of video from Cedar Point and Worlds of Fun in there.
Anyways, sounds pretty simple and thanks for the info
One more question though. Who makes the decision to add or subtract trains on the coasters, and who does the actual adding?
baddboy
The answer to your question of "who makes the decision to add or subtrack trains on the coasters and who does the actual adding"
If the crowd capacity does not justify running 3 Raptor trains then our team leader contacts the park sups to ask if ok if we take off a train.
There were also a couple of occasions that it was the park sups who decided to add/subtract a train.
There were certain ride ops (I never got to learn this trick however) who were trained on doing the transfer of trains.
My "training" was "learn quick and remember everything" The 1st day I did my visual board so got to run controls day 1, the actual loading/unloading training thank goodness for my fellow ride ops (Jason/Dre/Mike S/Chris/Mike S to name a very small few) helping me learn that. As far as the phones went in the control booth-winged that one too since no one told me about them! I never did get a Raptor manual, but after riding it almost 400x in 3 years everything else I kind of picked up just from that!
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??
If the crowd capacity does not justify running 3 Raptor trains then our team leader contacts the park sups to ask if ok if we take off a train.
There were also a couple of occasions that it was the park sups who decided to add/subtract a train.
There were certain ride ops (I never got to learn this trick however) who were trained on doing the transfer of trains.
My "training" was "learn quick and remember everything" The 1st day I did my visual board so got to run controls day 1, the actual loading/unloading training thank goodness for my fellow ride ops (Jason/Dre/Mike S/Chris/Mike S to name a very small few) helping me learn that. As far as the phones went in the control booth-winged that one too since no one told me about them! I never did get a Raptor manual, but after riding it almost 400x in 3 years everything else I kind of picked up just from that!
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??
Most people get trained on how to transfer trains as long as they're at the ride for any decent amount of time, so if you're assigned to a certain ride you will probably learn that ride's transfer procedures (assuming it's one of the rides that has them), probably very early in your employment.
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Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00
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Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00
Certain coasters do not transfer trains on and off on a daily basis, and the ride operators do not know how to do it at all. For both Iron Dragon and Disaster Transport, only the maintenance crew takes care of that, after hours. The coasters that do transfer trains on and off like that are the ones that do it every day (Raptor, Mantis, etc.) when they close the ride.
As for how easy is it to get on a coaster, when you're hired you're usually just put somewhere. If you have coaster experience, they'll probably put you on one then. If not, you can call the Park Operations office about one-two weeks after sending in your application, and when you talk to a manager tell them what you'd like to be on. That worked for me, because I wanted to be on the smaller coasters, but I don't know how it would work for something like Raptor of Millenium Force. Good luck!
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
Don't make me RECOUNT! Take the CP Coaster POLL!
As for how easy is it to get on a coaster, when you're hired you're usually just put somewhere. If you have coaster experience, they'll probably put you on one then. If not, you can call the Park Operations office about one-two weeks after sending in your application, and when you talk to a manager tell them what you'd like to be on. That worked for me, because I wanted to be on the smaller coasters, but I don't know how it would work for something like Raptor of Millenium Force. Good luck!
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
Don't make me RECOUNT! Take the CP Coaster POLL!
When I received my employment agreement last March they had me assigned on SRF
Due to knowing the "right people" in the "right places" I was immediately advised to report to my FAVORITE Raptor the 1st day I reported to work!!
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??
Due to knowing the "right people" in the "right places" I was immediately advised to report to my FAVORITE Raptor the 1st day I reported to work!!
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??
What if you don't know the right people? ;)
All I want is to be an op on any coaster (not DT, Woodstock or JrGemini) or a Power Tower or Demon Drop operator.
All I want is to be an op on any coaster (not DT, Woodstock or JrGemini) or a Power Tower or Demon Drop operator.
Hey, I didn't know any of the "right people" when I first arrived this past season but all I had to do was ask to be placed on Raptor. I first applied for CP @ my college, Ball State. They were on their hiring tour. The woman that took my application wrote on the app that I wanted to work Raptor. She told me to be sure and call the office two weeks after putting my application in in order to make sure they got what I asked for. It wasn't hard at all! I think most people assume that just because the application doesn't specify each individual ride, but rather "RIDES(or something like that)," they think that they don't have an option on which ride they prefer. Ask and ye shall receive!
Sorry, Mantis will stack forever. It's a stand up coaster. However, the crew plays an important part on this matter. I can remember a few times last summer when we were dispatching trains at interval. I think the person at speils has the most important job:Telling the guests to stand up!!
"Will the real Mantis riders please stand up, please stand up"
"Will the real Mantis riders please stand up, please stand up"
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