Cedar Point Boardwalk preview

I’ve noticed over decades how ride operators are “less in charge” than in the old days. I think it’s generational, youth today just don’t know how to communicate and/or are afraid to speak. Back in the 1970’s-1990’s ride ops were in control, directing you what to do, where to go, asking how many were in your group, buddying up single riders, telling guests to move quickly, etc. You don’t see much of that at all anymore and it’s a shame because it did work to keep things moving efficiently.

I don't think your conclusion follows from your observation. Maybe it's that more automation has taken away that responsibility or that liability concerns have changed company policy about what you can/should say to guests.

Gunkey Monkey:
I think it’s generational, youth today just don’t know how to communicate and/or are afraid to speak.

I think there also is a change in clientele and people's authority. If you go back 20-30 years in school, the teacher was in charge. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. That is not necessarily the case today in school. That same respect to authority / responsibility to listen to others flows over to ride ops as well.

Case in point, signage is pretty clear about no cell phones on most rides. On our park visit last weekend, ride op gave the spiel before each ride about no cell phones out during the ride. (Ride was a flat ride.) On each running of the ride, ride op had to inform those on board that the ride would stop if the cell phone that was pulled out was not put away. Each of the three times while the family waited ride op had to do this, as each ride, someone took out their phone.

I may have a fuzzy memory of the past, but I don't ever remember quite this level of need for operator interaction.

I think that's a terrible generalization about "youth." And really, any sentence that we start with "kids today" is probably not about the kids.

Yeah, I think it's not a case of "kids these days" but rather the ride ops today having far less authority to make decisions while dealing with things like cell phones, loose item bins and safety gates that weren't a thing back in the heydey of CP ops.

None of these things excuse 5 minute dispatches on Gemini or Blue Streak, but I also understand the days of a Blue Streak op riding the running board while checking restraints on a moving train or the old school Arrow pedal dance on Corkscrew are gone regardless of park policies, IROC, the work ethic of the ops, etc.

This was submitted as news, but it doesn't really add much aside from going into pricing and such: Akron Beacon Journal on the Grand Pavilion.

Listen, I was an 80s-90s ride operator and while we arguably had more "authority", I'm not sure that was a great idea. I saw some things (and admittedly did some things) that are rightly shocking and unacceptable today.

I walked under the Big Dipper, while the ride was operating, to retrieve loose items. I watched a ride operator jump on the back of a coaster as it was leaving the station and jump off from a pretty good height before it hit the chain lift.

And, I got in some pretty good arguments with guests over the years about rules, height requirements, etc. Would I have done any of that if I was being videotaped or if I thought I was at risk of being assaulted? Probably not. This is a different time. When people feel free to smart mouth police officers the service industry is screwed.

I remember my brother telling me about a friend that was a ride op at Busch Gardens Williamsburg years ago who after park closing would take a lap or two on Big Bad Wolf standing up in the back of the car while bear hugging this vertical post:

Irresponsible as hell, but I'd have probably tried it when I was young and stupid.

Stand up ride on BBW > Not using seat belt in a car?

Stand-up ride on BBW > Stand-up ride on any Stand-up coaster

We regularly rode the Double Loop at Geauga Lake while holding the restraint up over our heads. Actually, I would pull it down after the loops because I wasn't sure I wouldn't get thrown out during the helix lateral forces.

The airtime in the front seat of Double Loop when you'd hit the top of the hill and start the helix was made the restraint far more necessary than the loops.

Man, I loved that ride.

Efficient ops still happen when the operators are prepared to be assertive. Olympia Looping with five trains running has 25 seconds between trains – operations are amazing to watch.

Jeff:

It's not a buffet... you pay for a plate and that's it. But yeah, it's on par with the great stuff they have at Farmhouse.

Looks like a new Cedar Fair thing, they just built one at Canada's Wonderland. Food service area looks identical to the one at Cedar Point and same concept where you're served a plate of food with some choices on the sides. The rest of it looks more like a ski lodge cafeteria seating, with a bar and deck upstairs.

Yes, I talked to the food VP (I forget her actual title) at the media day, and yes, rolling this sort of thing out broadly has been in the works for many years. And it makes a lot of sense to me, because you can make better stuff when you do it in volume.

When I worked at CP we would ride the last Blue Streak train of the night, hold the lap bar slightly up then at the top of the lift we’d put it all the way up and stand for the entire ride with our feet hooked under the seat in front of us and our arms over and in front the locked lap bar to hold ourselves in. Past those first two airtime hills it was easy peasy. We were so afraid of getting caught then fired but did it anyway. Funny we weren’t afraid of getting killed…

I remember crew members from X-Flight during the Worlds of Adventure days talking about how they'd catch maintenance riding without the vest restraints.

Walt S:

Each of the three times while the family waited ride op had to do this, as each ride, someone took out their phone.

I was doing a night ride on Wild Thing last year and the guy in front of me took out his phone on the lift, and I told him that he needs to put it away or they would stop the ride and they left it out anyway. This was also the second straight cycle this happened as well, and the operator had already said “do not take out your phone or we will stop the ride” I find it especially annoying all of the onlookers in the station are like “OMG, why is the ride broken we’re all going to die!” And I have to explain that some idiot took out there phone.

P.S. Sorry for the mini rant.

I still always laugh at the wild ends of the spectrum on cell phones and loose articles. Cedar Fair parks will stop the ride, have a ride op climb the lift, take the phone, and often times have security waiting at the platform to escort the guest out of the park for the year. Disney parks will tell you to pile all your s**t in the ride vehicle and ask if you got a good photo as you take selfies and terrible POV video.