Water Main Break

ThePointGuru said:
Yes, many large businesses continue to operate without water every day...

None of which host 30,000 people and 2,000 employees for more than 12 straight hours, feed them, and deposit their excrement all day. Seriously, you're being a troll and you have no idea how a theme park is run.

Hi, SuperStew! I'm willing to cut a business reacting to an unfolding disaster in real time more slack then I'm willing to cut an Internet poster who has the benefit of hindsight.

Do you think this special offer will cause an increase in crowd levels this week? I know you can't give an exact answer, but I'm just asking for opinions. I plan to go Wednesday this week. My gut tells me just slightly increased, but the biggest impact will be next weekend. If anybody goes tomorrow or Tuesday, post your observations here. I'll be checking the cams as well.

It's a good thing some of you aren't the General Manager of an amusement park......good lord.

I was in the park the other day when this went down and thought they handled the situation (and continue to handle it) beautifully. It sucks it happened and it's unfortunate that there were, undoubtedly, people who traveled for a one time trip. But there was nothing more that the park could have done than what they already HAVE done.

The fact that they gave out free tickets, reimbursements for hotels, tickets, etc AND are giving out deals to those affected while having lost a HUGE chunk of revenue during this whole process....is nothing short of amazing.

I can only assume you have never experienced a water main break before. It is a huge pain; but, you can still manage to function. As most people know, any time a water main breaks the water may be contaminated. You can still use the water if you still have some pressure. You just can't drink it, brush your teeth or clean food with it. For those purposes you use bottled water, you have clean water brought in or you boil it. The park could have done all those things to continue to operate restaurants and make sure guest where properly hydrated.

The biggest problem is if there is little or no water pressure. That is when fire could be an issue and guest staying overnight in a hotel is a bad idea. As I have state numerous times, many businesses remain open without water and it is not a fire or safety issue. If it was then I'm sure no employee would ever be allowed to walk into or work in a storage building. Sure the park may not have been able to get as many port-a-pots as they needed, which would have lead to long lines but since when is that something new at Cedar Point (maybe they could have sold fast passes to use the port-a-pot). I can appreciate how much work would have been involved in keeping the park open; but, it could have been done and still keep everyone healthy and safe. Management just choose not to work that hard.

The issue is that no matter what it is (people stuck on Windseeker for hours a few years ago, a huge traffic jam on Columbus Day, or a broken water main) the park is never at fault.
It's the city of Sandusky, the ride manufacturer, or the local road system that is at fault.

If Cedar Fair builds out their flagship property in a location that doesn't support it in return it is due to the inability of management to use their considerable clout with local planners to get the infrastructure they depend on to do business. The same goes for attractions they purchase that are not reliable or have ongoing issues.

As I have been told by others, no one is forcing you to do business in that location - if you don't like it - build your flagship elsewhere.

Your logic sure is fool proof.

[someone] What should we do sir?
[management] Let's keep the park open.
[someone] What about the risk of infection from unsanitary conditions?
[management] Just exhaust our entire shipment of bottled water and use them in place of those things we would normally use pressured, clean water for.
[someone] What about the risk of fires?
[management] Don't worry, that won't happen, we're an outdoor venue. Which reminds me, call the local port a potty company and tell them to bring all the port a potties they have.
[someone] But sir, the pipe could be fixed and everything could be ready to go in a day or 2.....why not just close the park for 2 days and accept the loss of revenue? We could even reimburse everyone who came today and offer special deals to make up for this incident we had no control over.
[management] No, that would make us look lazy.

::rolls eyes::

And why on Gods green Earth are you still on here Steve? I'm trying to muster every bit of logic that could be attained to reach a conclusion in which you are on a Cedar Point forum for reasons OTHER than to complain and be negative. We get it, Cedar Point is at fault for everything you want them to be at fault for. You obviously don't enjoy going there anymore and they obviously poop in your cereal every morning.

Jeff said:

None of which host 30,000 people and 2,000 employees for more than 12 straight hours, feed them, and deposit their excrement all day. Seriously, you're being a troll and you have no idea how a theme park is run.

Respectfully, this isn't just a theme park issue. Water main breaks effect communities every day including public schools, colleges and universities. They all have remained open in the past. School cafeterias still fed students, universities did not evacuate their dorms, and businesses still continued to operate without closing their doors. I can appreciate the massive amount of work which would have been required to keep the park open; but, to say they had no choice is clearly a falsehood. A more accurate statement would be that the park was completely unprepared to deal with the circumstances. It was just easier to ruin 10's of thousands of peoples vacation plans than to try to play catch up for a scenario which they could have avoided with better planning.

You're right, SteveH.

https://imgflip.com/i/9fb2o

Of course I'm right. After all, that's what they basically did with Geauga Lake isn't it?

SteveH said:
The issue is that no matter what it is (people stuck on Windseeker for hours a few years ago, a huge traffic jam on Columbus Day, or a broken water main) the park is never at fault.
It's the city of Sandusky, the ride manufacturer, or the local road system that is at fault.

If Cedar Fair builds out their flagship property in a location that doesn't support it in return it is due to the inability of management to use their considerable clout with local planners to get the infrastructure they depend on to do business. The same goes for attractions they purchase that are not reliable or have ongoing issues.

As I have been told by others, no one is forcing you to do business in that location - if you don't like it - build your flagship elsewhere.

I am so thankful there is at least one other poster here that makes sense and doesn't let other fan boys enthusiasm for the park cloud real issues of poor judgment and mismanagement by park management.

I am a huge Cedar Point fan and it is a wonderful place. That doesn't mean we should always excuse lack of effort to please the customer or unfriendly customer policies.

When people questioned the park's ability to handle the crowds for Columbus Day weekend people were whining that they should have stopped letting people in the park. Now people are whining they should have stayed open with no water.

To whoever asked about the Breakers refund, I was told if you paid by credit card, that Friday night would automatically be refunded in the next couple of days.

The way they handled the situation shows that they had a plan in place if something happened that required the park to close. Yes, there was a little confusion at first, but virtually all management type people were out in the park doing damage control. Yes, if they really wanted to, they could have a way in place to keep the park open, but they would have had to spend ridiculous amounts of money, for what results in a once a decade event. There would be no way what so ever to justify that kind of expense to the shareholders. What they did was the best choice that could have been made.

As far as untreated Lake Erie water goes, it would be fine for flushing toilets, and fire suppression, but it could not be used for drinking or food preparation.

Water main breaks happen all the time, true. And businesses and schools close all the time on account of it. There's no way, given the choice, that I would eat at a restaurant, work in a building, or use the toilet at a place that didn't have water.
To think that fire at an amusement park affects only hotels is ridiculous. History shows that amusement parks have been entirely consumed by fire in a matter of hours. Seriously, by nature they're like fire magnets and the threat is taken very seriously by all parks everywhere. I can only imagine what you'd be saying if the evil park allowed thousands of customers to be put at risk like that.
Free bottled water for everyone? Seriously? Closing the park was the only safe and sane decision that could be made, and this argument is stupid.

I thought gurus were supposed to be wise.

ThePointGuru said:
I am so thankful there is at least one other poster here that makes sense and doesn't let other fan boys enthusiasm for the park cloud real issues of poor judgment and mismanagement by park management.

I am a huge Cedar Point fan and it is a wonderful place. That doesn't mean we should always excuse lack of effort to please the customer or unfriendly customer policies.

And the 2 of you can go live in that imaginary world where everything happens just the way you want it or think it should. If the park really fouls up, everyone is usually on the same page and quick to point out a fault......fanboy or not. The idea we're all kissing their behind is a foolish notion.

It just seems you 2 (or at least one of you) want every problem to be a result of poor planning or lack of competence on the parks end and follow with some real "out there" ideas. This isn't a perfect world and Cedar Point will slip up here and there and experience things they may not be ready for. But I always look at how they handle the issue after it's known. In my eyes, they're excelling at this moment. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

^^^^ Sadly, there will always be some people who complain. They evidently don't want to turn away guests and risk upsetting them, but they can't run the park without water. From what I've seen, they handled this quite well. Hopefully the off season sees some serious infrastructure upgrades, at least in the water supply system.

In my opinion, after the park made the decision to close, they did a great job with closing down the park in an orderly fashion. Where, I feel, they could have done a better job is not opening the park for early entry. This led to a lot of confusion and frustrated people who were unable to use the restrooms and people who were in the park already wanting their money back. According to the Sandusky Register, the break occurred between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

I agree with everyone who stated the break was beyond the control of the park. However, how they choose to management the situation is in their control and opening an amusement park without public restrooms and running water may not have been the correct call. Kudos to the employees working in guest services and most of the front line employees who were passing out water and talking to guests as they left the park. They did a fabulous job with an unprecedented situation.

ThePointGuru said:
I am so thankful there is at least one other poster here that makes sense and doesn't let other fan boys enthusiasm for the park cloud real issues of poor judgment and mismanagement by park management.

I think the real problem here is that you're trying to convince everyone to jump on your bandwagon, and it's not working. You're not convincing the masses, and they're not convincing you. We're at a stalemate.

So, the real question is, how much longer are you going to continue bitching like this when you know it's not going to go anywhere?

noggin said:
Hi, SuperStew! I'm willing to cut a business reacting to an unfolding disaster in real time more slack then I'm willing to cut an Internet poster who has the benefit of hindsight.

Hi back, Noggin !! "Disaster" ?!?! Not sure I'd go quite that far - but hey, whatever you want to label it.

Okay, well then just for Sh**s and giggles (pardon the partial pun) and playing devil's advocate, of course ... In light of the tremendous tragedy that was unfolding, you don't think there was any possible scenario where CP could have done something like:

*over whatever pa system is in use*

"Ladies and Gentlemen - We apologize for the inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we will not have any running water today. As a result, all indoor facilities including restrooms, restaurants, theaters, and souvenir shops will be closed; however, for anyone who wants to participate, we're still offering our incredible line-up of coasters and rides. To alleviate some of the problems, we have set up porta-potties in the back of the park. In addition, we'll be offering bottled water, soda and snacks from various free-strolling venders. For those who DO NOT see this is an option, you may come to guest relations by (2 pm) and receive a full refund or ticket for another day. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience."

Is this a plausible scenario ?? Not sure. I tend to think they could have pulled it off. "Roughing it" for a few hours certainly wouldn't have been the end of the world, and if you were to ask people who got screwed whether they would have stayed and dealt with it or not, I'd be willing to bet a lot of them would have ... This is all predicated on the "safety first" requirement for sure !

As far as the "unsanitary" argument ?? Lots of Germ-X perhaps ?? Pine Sol ?? Clorox ?? lol Most Portables have some sort of disease killing agent that would have prevented the masses from getting deathly ill.

Seriously, are we all that fragile ?? Most of us have been to places (fairs, carnivals, festivals, flea markets, concerts ect.) where for the better part of the day, we had to 'adapt' to less than ideal conditions (no running water; no bathrooms; no Lysol to spray; no home cooked meal; maybe even no fire extinguisher). So there's no doubt it can be done, and, in a relatively "safe" manner.

Now, having said all of that, the park probably made the right call in closing, if for no other reason than that was the easiest fix.

While that scenario is in the realm of possibility, you just can't anticipate how every single person would handle it. Or even how well it would have truly played out. It seems to me it would have been far to risky to attempt. You can't, realistically, paint every park guest to handle it the way you might. Would there have been people "fine" with that kind of scenario? Perhaps.....but there's still that possibility for massive failure and backlash.

So yes, the best option would be to close the park completely and handle it they way that have been. Though I wouldn't necessarily say it was the "easiest" way out. More like the safest option at the moment.