X Marks The Spiizot
Do CP ops have it easy? Sure, they have better staffing which makes it easier to work quickly. Do they still move quickly? HELL YEAH! I find that most....and let me stress...MOST SF parks are way understaffed and yet still don't light a fire under their ass. It drives me nuts to go to a park where there's only 2 ops checking restraints, and both are moving like they have all the time in the world (SFWOA, SFMM, SFStL). At the same time, I've seen some amazing ops at other parks that move quickly (SFGAM, SFOT). And it doesn't bug me half as much that it takes a few seconds longer to dispatch. The employees are working hard, something that doesn't seem to be an important trait at the other SF parks. Raging Bull's ops were awesome last time I was there, managing to run 3 trains with minimal stacking (2 sec or so).
Now for some of the other stuff I read.
It seems to me that the SFOG worker seems to think that ride ops at Cedar Point don't check restraints. Every member of the crew fills every position during some point. That person sitting in the A/C booth spends most of the day outside checking restraints with everyone else. However, they never leave the control panel to do so. This seems logical to me, I wouldn't want to be the one that has a guest walk by and hit a button, causing possible injury to me and guests.
A CP employee would not be able to check an entire inverted train quickly cuz they're not used to it? How is checking 3-4 rows different in the technical aspect from checking all 8. THey will be slower than when they were checking all 8, but they still will get it done just as quickly. In fact, I remember doing all 8 from time to time at Raptor (unload 3 taking care of special access, unload 2 gone due to rotation or something) and we could still hit interval with all 3 trains on the track. You just have to make sure you're hustling.
Oh, one more thing. You shouldn't have to buy your crew gifts or food for them to like you. Whoever it was that said that back a page or two.
All in all, I applaud SF ops that work hard and do their job. And you'll never hear me complain about dispatches being slower on those rides. THey are doing all they can. However, why criticize CP employee's because their employer wants to make it easier on them? If put in your situation, I don't think they'd suddenly become incompetent.
Kyle
-Raptor Crew-
2000-01
X Marks The Spiizot said:But if u take 2 Cedar Point attendants and 2 SF attendants and race them to see who gets higher capacity and most dispatches, I guarantee the 2 Six Flags attendants would win!!! Because 2 CP attendants who are not used to checking a whole train with just 2 people would not go that fast, and the 2 SF attendants who are used to it because they usually check half the train every day for about 4 hours or more, depending on the day, would win.
I think you're a little misinformed. When I worked on CCMR, where we had to press the pedals down and put the bar down on top of overweight or tall people who may or may not fit, and sometimes we've got 1 person doing the whole train if we've rotated or something. We also had a short interval and 3 trains running, and we did just fine thankyouverymuch. Just because the CP employees don't HAVE to move that quickly every day doesn't mean they can't if given the chance. I've done a whole side on MF by myself, including the gate and dispatch buttons, on numerous occasions, and can go just as fast as the two ops on the other side, so NYAH!
Joe "then this one time the same short girl was at MF yelling at people that they couldn't pick their own row! WTF!" C.
;););)
I have been part of the X crew for about 5 months now, and yea we are understaffed at times, but what can we do? People take the day off, are sick, or get sent to another ride because they are understaffed. Why the hell do you guys care on how we do our job if you are just a guest(visitor)?? Since there are probably open positions at your nearest theme park(SFMM has a lot people) then maybe you should get a job there, and see what the hell its like to work there. You are a visitor, not a worker, so shut the hell up, have a good time, and come back if you want too.
P.S. Only to people who bash...
Lnknprk4eva03 said:
Why the hell do you guys care on how we do our job if you are just a guest(visitor)??
Perhaps because you ride-ops not doing your job well causes people to wait in line even longer?
-Nate
It doesn't impress me that someone can check a large number of restraints in a short period of time. A lot people can do it with a little practice. I like to see enthusiasm. It's hard to work hard with lazy, *****y, or otherwise parasitic crewmates, managers, supervisors, or guests. It's impressive for someone to remain enthusiastic under those conditions.
2. I know who lurks in here. Pfft! I don't care, I'm still working. Yea I apologize about my cursing, but its people with stupid point of views that piss me off. If you are a ride operator, you have freely anything to say about judging one. If you are not, literally, shut up. But I can't stop ignorant people.
3. "I have been part of the X crew for about 5 months now, and yea we are understaffed at times, but what can we do? People take the day off, are sick, or get sent to another ride because they are understaffed"
Did I once complain about understaffing?? In fact, we love understaffing. It helps us concentrate more on the ride and saftey than socializing with eachother. Also, we typically get more hours when we are. I didn't complain about understaffing, I basically just stated why we were/are understaffed. If we are understaffed, we just shut down the ride and scatter who evers there to other rides. No biggie.
4. I don't know about other rides. I've been working at SFMM for almost a year now, and have only been to two. I started out at Deja Vu. When it closed, i was transfered to X. I have no idea how other rides work on their speed of dispatching trains, and frankly, I don't care because i'm not there, and its not my ride to worry about. You all complain that we don't check harnesses correctly or its not fast enough. How we check harnesses is mandated by the state. We are to check harnesses at the right speed and right way. Sure if you know what your doing you can check at a faster pace, but, at the same time, we arent allowed to check at a fast pace. Like i said, maybe at other rides you can, but from what i've worked with, you can't. Deja Vu, you have a restraint, and 2 saftey belts to worry about. At X, that restraint might look easy to check, but its a process. You have to help people in, check the restraints, wait till everyones done, rotate the seats, check the seats again, wait again till everyones done, then you can dispatch the train. Its not easy people. Its exhausting after about 3 hours. And especially in the summer. X has the hottest station in the park. It can reach up to 100 in there. Sure there are wallfans, but they circulate the same air thats inside of the station. We get no water. We have to walk all the way down to the bottom of the bridge to the Panda Expres for the nearest water fountain. Bring our own water? We can't, its not allowed. They provide us with drinking fountain facilities so thats ok with OSHA.
I work for pleasure and for the money. I love what I do. Im 18, I like coasters, and I have 3 year old child to support. So both are for me. I plan on working there for some more time, despitw weird and idiotic people. Thank you, and thats all I have to say...for now :)
Lnknprk4eva03 said:
1. I actually love what I do. How many people can tell you that they worked at the most important coaster in your park, possibly the U.S?Not many.
What, exactly, makes X any more "important" than any other coaster in the country? What makes it any more important than any other coaster at SFMM? The answer is "nothing." One ride is not more important than another, certainly not in your guest's eyes. Is Goliath Jr. your "least important" ride? Try telling that to parents with small children.
I just leave while they are talking. I don't pay any attention to them. They start to talk to me and finish talking to the train or the all. I literally ignore them.
Then you're literally a piss-poor ride-op. A good ride op is speedy, enthusiastic, and realizes it's the guests - not the ride - who are important. The best ride op is the one who is open to guest questions, and deals with guest complaints in a polite, professional manner. Apparently, that's not you.
How we check harnesses is mandated by the state. We are to check harnesses at the right speed and right way.
The speed at which restraints are checked is not mandated. That's BS.
We get no water. We have to walk all the way down to the bottom of the bridge to the Panda Expres for the nearest water fountain. Bring our own water? We can't, its not allowed.
You need to contact your Supervisor or HR department if that's true. I've never been to a SF park where the ride crews didn't have access to water coolers. At most parks, Supervisors are very good about keeping coolers full, and making sure their crews have water. If that's not the case at SFMM, then it's clear why that park is generally referred to as having some of the worst ops in the chain.
-Nate
Legendary said:Yeah, what Nat said. But I don't think the kiddie-ride ride-ops are all that great at CP -- once I was there and there was this little short girl ride op working the kiddie choo choo train. She was sitting down *riding* it! Talk about lazy.Joe "then this one time the same short girl was at MF yelling at people that they couldn't pick their own row! WTF!" C.
oh Joe...
Oh...Joe...
Hey, remember that time your lap bar hurt you on MF. WHO DID THAT??? ^_^
coasterdude318 said:
A good ride op is speedy, enthusiastic, and realizes it's the guests - not the ride - who are important. The best ride op is the one who is open to guest questions, and deals with guest complaints in a polite, professional manner.
The entire reason ride ops are hired and paid to do their job is because of safety. The second most important job of a ride op is the efficient operation of their ride(s). Efficiency isn't to be confused with speed. Some rides have complex requirements that take a longer time to completely check, others only require a simple tug. Checking the restraints too quickly for the ride will cause some steps to be missed and thus isn't safe. Just because you can check restraints very quickly doesn't necessarily mean that you should. I'm not saying that guests aren't important, they simply arn't as important as safety and efficiency.
That water situation is extremely bothersome. I have worked for Six Flags for several years and was promoted to a Foreman's position after my first 6 months. On the safety checklist that a ride in-charge must complete twice a day, there is a section that says that each ride must have an individual water cooler, adn that it must eb re-filled at least twice a day. If it isn;'t, and we sign that part of the checklist, we can be terminated immediately for a safety viloation. Definately find a way to contact your supervisor or or someone about getting that resolved.
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