Ridership.

When do they post that for the rides.

This has the ridership for Milleniuce Force. 2008 is not listed yet. You can look up each ride seperatly. Go to rides, and select ride you want to look up.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/millennium_force/index.cfm

I wonder how they did this year!

I heard they did really well this year.

They were really slow in the beginning of the season. Slower then normal.
Probably because of GAS prices. They did pick up to normal mid season.

To bad gas prices were this low during the summer huh?
I could have made it down there more then i did thats for sure.

I just hope that anyone who analyzes ridership numbers also knows how many cycles were run, how many ride units were operating at any given time, and what the ride uptime statistics were. Because to say that X people rode on a ride during a day or a season or...whatever can be misleading, especially if you are trying to suss a given ride's popularity.

As an example, a few years ago, the Mine Ride got busted down to 2-train operation because of an incident. Ultimately the control system got fixed so that the ride could sort of run three again, but there was apparently some reluctance to go back to 3-train operation because "the ride is only taking 5,000 people per day". Well, of course it was only taking 5,000 people per day...at the interval it was running with two trains, that's all it could physically carry! For an eight hour day, the ride had a 104% utilization rate.

I think that's an important statistic for any ride, because it gives you a better idea of whether the number is where it is because of popularity, or because it is bumping up against its physical limits.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^So I think we can assume a smaller-than-usual number for Wildcat...

^^Wow, Mine Ride down to 2-3 trains. I remember working back in 1981, the Mine Ride typically ran 4-5 trains. The Frontier Lift and Mine Ride use to always have ride total competitions. Back then, the Mine Ride would give over 20,000 rides per day. Frontier Lift (which I worked on) would come in a close second.

Yea, Cedar Point knows all that stuff as far as ride statistics (up-time, down-time, units running, etc.). The public only sees the ridership total number, which can be deceiving if you don't think about the the whole picture. I can assure you this years numbers wont disappoint :)

^ - yes, they know that information.

But are the decision makers smart enough to put it all together when making a decision?

^Good question

I thought this year represented an improvement over the past few years in terms of morale and efficiency. I'm hoping that rumors of more cuts in staffing for next year are not true, but I'm not holding my breath.

Im sure the improvement had a lot to do with Bill Spehn returning. I noticed it as well though.

^That's a big 10-4!:)

Don't get me started on Spehn. Biggest liar to ever walk the Dominator midway.

Someone sounds a bit bitter.

Bill is the best thing to happen to that park in quite a while. He does really well given the dumb decisions still being made by a certain someone above him.

You're really crossing a line there, Mike. I'd consider the guy something between friend and acquaintance and I could really do without that kind of unsubstantiated character assault. You're bitter about GL, fine, we get that. Spehn moved his family and put his life into that place. The outcome doesn't change that.

I heard Spehn wrestled a bear once. I personally saw him wrestle a newspaper.

^^
Doesn't it say something when Employees say negative things about management Jeff?

It depends upon what is said, who is saying it, and the context. I was likely wrong about some things I've said in the past.

That said, after a personal experience and new understanding of how Bill handles the situations that are thrown at him, I have immense personal respect for him. He is about the only person I see as actually earning due respect, and what he's done to get that is very respectable. To understand he was taking an unpopular stance in the defense of his employees was very eye-opening, and knowing that changed my view on a few things.

Now I'll return to lurking, thank you.