Why I'm Mad At Cedar Point

My comments about the operations folks were more in keeping with the full-time folks. I agree that the front line kids need to do their jobs...but even then I am having a little empathy for them. Just imagine for a minute the number of times they are having to stop larger people to ask them to sit in the test seat.

"I don't need to sit in that seat."

"Well, yes, I think it might be a good idea so you don't have to wait in line for nothing."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No, I said no such thing but we value your time."

"No, you are calling me fat and I don't have to take it."

(2 hours later on the platform)

"I'm sorry ma'am but you will not be able to ride."

"What? I waited in that line for nothing? Why didn't someone tell me I might not be able to ride?"

"Did you sit in the tester seat out front?"

"Tester seat? I didn't see any tester seat."

As for me thinking the belt thing is illogical, I still do. But I will admit that I am no expert. Listen, just because noone had been thrown from MF before doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. Nobody was thrown from Superman and died before May so I am sure they didn't anticipate that either.

The belts themselves seem about the same length as before, they just have been moved to fit over the hips/thighs more than over the waist/stomach. This makes it a little tougher for most people, especially women, to get the belt around.

Ladybug-Thanks for the compliment. I would love to work at the park again in some way. Although I can’t blame you for wanting to make holiday world your favorite park (it’s mine too I went there twice last year and I live 6 hours away ;)) I hope Cedar Point can sort through these issues and you can enjoy the park again..

Wahoo-I know my letter is far from perfection. The main problem is they seem to be doing nothing to help the issue by saying “hey, we know and care, we’re trying to make things better.” We don’t know if the park is working with Intamin, but if they aren’t they sure should be. Even if it’s just informal discussion like, “hey over the end off-season lets change some things so we can our guest who used to able to ride back on.” Right now these restrictions seem set in stone forever, and that attitude will alienate some guest forever

Thanks Joe. That may work to my advantage, as I have a large beer belly, and that caused the tightness last year.

If I cannot ride, sobeit. Cedar Point has always provided me with a sense of happiness over the years, due to the positive energy of the people in that days attendence. I have never left the park unhappy, and if I cannot ride a ride I have ridden many times, I'll still have fun. I am still hoping I get a second Atkins "whoosh", and it won't be an issue.

I have been kicked off the WT before, and I feel eveyone's embarassment in the situation on the MF. I was lucky, as I heard about the size restrictions on the Bob and Tom show last month, and called Cedar Point right away, and the next day I was dieting.

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sieve72 said:OK. ladybug, i'd like to say i'm sorry you were to fat to ride force....Any ways, its your fault your fat and your anowing....

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First off all i can say is you are such a JERK!!! I really dont think you could sink any lower than that. I think you need to keep your mouth shut. Being a jerk and being tactful about it is fine but acting like that is extremely stupid. Second off i think you need to back to elementary to learn how to spell annoying any fourteen year old should know how to spell it. On the other hand, a fourteen year old should also know how to treat people without being a jerk about it. Ladybug, i appologize for sieve72 being such a jerk. Now back to your regular programing :) *** Edited 6/11/2004 5:54:14 PM UTC by Guy with a name***

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Chief Wahoo said:
As for me thinking the belt thing is illogical, I still do. But I will admit that I am no expert. Listen, just because noone had been thrown from MF before doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. Nobody was thrown from Superman and died before May so I am sure they didn't anticipate that either.

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But you don't need to be an expert to know that's not an apples-to-apples comparison. It's not as simple as a "the coffee is hot" kind of thing, but when you have seat belts that vary in length by 11 inches, I fail to see the mystery in New England. It's not even remotely possible to imagine that if the guy that got tossed at SFNE tried to board MF last year that he wouldn't have been able to ride.

The victim's brother even said that he was turned away from SFNE last year. It just baffles me. Out of all of the employees that were working the platform that day (he used the exit as a disabilaty transfer), no one told him that he was too big to ride. They did tell him that he had to sit in front due to his extreme size. WAKE UP SFNE employees! Intamin: Wake up and recognize that CP employees know what they are doing! You are giving your best customer a bad reputation! *** Edited 6/13/2004 12:09:04 AM UTC by CurrentlyDownDueToFillInTheBlank***

I don't know why Itamin is working so hard to cover their ass. Half the GP doesn't even realize companies like Itamin exist and think that the park just designs and owns all it's own rides. It's not like the family of the man that died are honestly going to go out of their way to sue a company in Sweden that they have no knowledge of when they can just as easily stay happily at home suing the pants off of Six Flags.

heck, that family is gonna sue the pants off everyone.

but SF will be top of the list. easier to sue in your own country than go international....

Swiss, Swiss, Swiss.

Intamin, of Wollerau, Switzerland, is responsible for SMROD (Superman, Ride of Death).

Not Sweden *** Edited 6/14/2004 2:49:01 PM UTC by Boatman***

My coasterbuddy and I rode on opening day. It was a tight fit for her, but she was allowed to ride.

What I'm afraid of is she will be asked to try the test seat on our next visit and will come across the same scenario as William Crise's wife where they tell her she cannot ride based upon that person's discretion.

Then what? We aren't talking about someone who could ride last year and not this year. This is someone who lost an additional 20 pounds over the winter, was able to ride on opening day, and may not be able to ride on our next trip due to the "discretion" of someone standing by the test seat.

I certainly sympathize with the crew having to deal with these issues, but I would feel better if I knew there was more consistency...and from what I'm reading, there is very little.

I don't know how you would get more consistency short of stationing the same person at the test seat 24/7 and requiring EVERY person in line to try out the test seat.

You know, the belts on the test seat and in the trains are not going to be consistent themselves. When they get wet they are going to shrink some and when they dry out they will contract.

For the minority that says they will not be back to the point I would like you to know you will NOT be missed!!! More rides for the people that know where to find the world's greatest amusement park.

If anything, more weight added to the train would make it go faster, and (I'm just guessing) 40 pounds more wouldn't inflict any damage on the wheels.

Cedar Point King, that was really rude.

havent you seen that these people are HURT and humiliated by the place they LOVE?? cant you see they would rather stay away then go through THAT again?

no, probably not. youre probably thin with no butt or thighs. geeze, dude. have a little sympathy.

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Chief Wahoo said:
When they get wet they are going to shrink some and when they dry out they will contract.

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I think you meant to say they will expand when they dry out, although I would think they would stretch when wet and then shrink back once they dry out again (or maybe I have it backward)

John

John, you may be right. I was a little confused when I wrote it but the point is the same. The belts themselves by their very nature will not be consistent given certain weather conditions. Now, we are not talking any serious deviations but it might be just enough to mean trouble.

As for Cedar Point King's sentiments, I can almost assure you that Cedar Point officials are upset about this situation and I am quite certain they won't be happy if someone chooses not to come back to the park because of this.

Everyone deserved to be able to ride what they want to, but unfortunently, that's just not able to happen.

Chief, another way to get more consistency would be to do what was mentioned elsewhere in this forum and mark the belts. Stitch a line or something at the one inch mark on all seats (test seat included) so that there is no judegement call involved. I would like to see a better solution, such as retrofitting the trains with the TTD seats, but for now just marking one inch would be an improvement.

Hey, that is a GREAT idea! Of course, I had it two weeks ago but it doesn't make it less great. I thought I read somewhere that the marking is actually in the works.

I also heard that this might be done, and I hope you're right. I knew someone else had that idea first, but I did not want to go through 2 weeks worth of posts to figure it out.