Smoking Policy

LOL. U got me, dawg!

Anybody have some water, cause I just got BURNED!

JK No I didn't.

Well, yesterday evening I did witness 2 or 3 people smoking where they shouldn't. I noticed it, and then got over it. The woman trying her hardest to suck down that last half of her cigarette as she walked through the Witches Wheel line with her kid looked real classy. I didn't confront her because as soon as my kids got off we were planning to try our best to get to BlueStreak for one last run before closing. She was simply not worth my time. I did, however, yell at some kids for rocking the horses on Cedar Downs.

Really? You've done the cost analysis on this?

I've stated repeatedly that I have absolutely no idea how much a video surveillance system would cost. Why, do you know? All I know is the McDonald's down the street from them has plenty of cameras inside, including one for the drive-thru. Compare the profit margins of these two places.

Seriously? This seems like a reasonable use of resources to you? I'd much rather CPPD focus on non-trivial matters like, you know, security.

Are people being stabbed, raped, murdered, etc on a daily basis? I hope not. What the F else are they there for then? That's the entire point of their security staff, to enforce Cedar Point's rules. You act like I'm asking for something completely beyond their capabilities. As for how much 20 extra employees would cost, well assuming CP paid them $50,000 yearly for salary and benefits combined, it would cost them a million dollars. Yes, they can afford that.

I always love when someone from outside of a business knows what that business can and cannot afford.

I just love seeing people complain about something like this...

Is the smoke from CP residing in your very lungs now causing you grief and panic

No

Get over it, move on, and enjoy life. You seem too uptight. Go do what adults do or if that's not available to you, go do something relaxing like get a massage, take a day off, ect.

I'm a non-smoker and even I think the rules are a little too strict. If someone is smoking, and it bothers me, I simply move away or walk in another direction. The smoking policy should restrict you from smoking in areas where people are left to stand in your smoke. i.e. (Indoors, in line for rides, on an outdoor patio.) In other words, I don't think smoking should be banned for people walking up and down the midways.

To preface this, I worked in 2010 on maXair.

We were told specifically by TLs, ATLs, and park ops that if we saw anyone smoking in line or when we were coming to and from breaks, that we were to direct them to the nearest designated area, which was between Wicked Twister and Giant Wheel.

Did we catch everyone? No. Is that a reasonable expectation? Of course not. But did we try our hardest to make sure that we caught everyone who had their shirt off, jumped in line, climbed onto the handrails, or were smoking. In fact, my crew took pride in making sure that everyone followed the rules.

Maybe they're a little more lax now than when I worked. I'm not sure. All I know is that as an employee, I was specifically told to look for these things and to enforce them.

As a former security officer and head of security at a major concert venue, I may be able to offer a little first-hand experience in this matter. We had designated smoking sections throughout the venue, but constantly people would light up inside stairwells, bathrooms,, and inside the bowl.

With isolated incidents (like at many athletic events), it's fairly easy to enforce the 'smoke only within designated areas' policy. Most guests were non-smokers, and it was easy to pick out the ones who were lighting up where they weren't supposed to. That being said, for me to eject someone for violating our smoking policy, they would have to really piss me off. Quite frankly, unless they were a repeat offender, or were getting irate with me (and I was bored) then we could escalate things a bit further.

However, during concerts, things change drastically. Because smoking is pretty rampant, we tend to disregard our policy and try to focus on large matters, like fights, domestic abuse, and other issues that come with the territory. I can imagine Cedar Point is the same way. Would I love to enforce every single policy 100% of the time? Yes. Is it realistic? Absolutely not.

And for those of you that will say "oh, you should just hire more people and place cameras everywhere", you have to realize the cost of that. First off, plain clothes security is for people with guns, not park security. Secondly, you have to consider the cost to find and hire X number of employees, train them, equip them, and oh yea, pay them. And cameras only create more issues. You have to hire more people to watch the cameras, as well as installing the infrastructure to support it (which is massive, and not something you can just buy off the shelf). After hiring the people to watch the cameras, you have to invest in a reliable system to contact your people on the ground with an issue. We are on a budget, people.

They're not going to make that significant of an investment for something that is essentially a non-issue. Plain and simple.

The parking lot looked absolutely horrible when we left last night. Trash all over the place. Should they install cameras to catch every person who throws trash beside their car before they leave, take a photo of their license plate and mail them a littering ticket? I don't see the point in it just like I don't see the point in security cameras to catch people smoking in line. I am not obsessed enough about some people not follwing rules to live in a constantly monitored police state.

Back in the 90s I saw some woman pull her pants down an urinate in the parking lot. Real class, I tell ya!!!

This entire topic boils down to respect. Rules are in place at the park and it is up to the patron to have respect to abide them.

It is also against Cedar Fair policy to take photos and video's on rides. Just take a look at Youtube to see how many folks follow that rule! Who is assigned to that fun project to go through Google and Youtube to find the users of those who posted the proof and ban them from the park?

Speed Limits are also posted on roads and highways. Daily, I see drivers not respecting this, and there are not enough enforcement officers around to pull them over and slap them with a ticket. Same goes with Cedar Fair.

Thank god there's a lack of officers...I enjoy breaking that rule :P hit 120 the other day having fun, winning

thedevariouseffect said:
Thank god there's a lack of officers...I enjoy breaking that rule :P hit 120 the other day having fun, winning

I refuse to speed in Ohio. The cops seem to hide in trees along US2 and are cloaked on the turnpike. But as soon as I cross the MI Border, my foot subconsciously accelerates back to the normal 80mph MI mock speedlimit.

darkrider68 said:
Back in the 90s I saw some woman pull her pants down an urinate in the parking lot. Real class, I tell ya!!!

There are enough people at the park seriously lacking class to fill an entire thread on their own. I'm a bit on the redneckish side in a Jeff Foxworthy sort of way but some people out there are just...wow.

Where I'm at it's not toooo bad, I know where they sit & stuff..Plus the one time I got pulled over for speeding, mil ID, done deal :P

thedevariouseffect said:
Thank god there's a lack of officers...I enjoy breaking that rule :P hit 120 the other day having fun, winning

Truckin' on the Kinzel Speedway?

I don't speed because I'm the wife of a paramedic and I know from almost 20 years of dinner time conversation what happens to the human body when suddenly stopped at high speeds.

Lol I'm medical in the military, I see alot of what happens to the body..

But going fast is fun from time to time, especially racing :D

Paisley said:
I don't speed because I'm the wife of a paramedic and I know from almost 20 years of dinner time conversation what happens to the human body when suddenly stopped at high speeds.

Those macabre old driver's ed movies they showed us back in high school still stick with me. That's why I don't speed.

On cameras in the park, I think CP already has a lot of cameras in the park that are monitored by CPPD. Also many of the games and retail locations have cameras, don't know if they are monitored or if the video is just logged for playback if needed.

On speeding, I highly recommend a navigation app for your smartphone called Waze. Not only do you get free navigation, but users enter location of things like police, accidents and other hazards as they are driving and everyone running the app is warned. I use it all the time and I've been warned of police locations countless times and also helped others by marking police that haven't been marked yet. There is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from ratting out a police speed trap and warning others.