Rides or service?

I know coasters are almost everyone's main focus, but how much importance is placed on service and other areas of the park?  I have seen lots of people posting problems with employees  or service, and I know that can prevent people from going back.  But what about a park with not many rides, but really friendly people or a great atmosphere?  Would that make an impression?

Also, how important are other areas of the park such as the food, the shops, or the games to your experience? 

Just wondering, thanks.

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-Robin
"Lighten up while you still can, don't even try to understand..."

Food is very important to me. I eat a lot, and i'm very picky about what i like. i usually never waste my monney playing games, as i don't like carting the prizes around all day and i'm not very good at them anyways. shops are a little important, because i always want a good souvenir.

I think your question could be taken either as a remark on what the GP finds important, or on what enthusiasts find important.

There's a reason why WDW is the most popular park in the world, and it ain't Space Mountain. In addition to being a coasterbuzzer, i'm also a Disney nut. I am an annual passholder and I go at least twice a year.  It's the whole ambience that brings me back. The themed hotels are actually my favorite part of the experience. My favorite part of going to Disney is actually selecting what restaurants I will visit during my trip. I actually think that a huge coaster would be out of context in WDW. Adding ToT and RRC made it just that much more fun to go to MGM, but I still went there before that.

So, to me, coasters are great, but a great park is more important. If BGW and WDW can be great parks with 4 coasters, then that should tell you something.

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Doesn't it seem as though morons always have the caps lock on?

I'm a rides only type of guy.  I have never bought any type of souvenir (even pictures) at any park other than a Disney park.  I only play games when it's raining and then it's only arcade games and not prize games (although I do like Fascination every now and then).  Food doesn't really matter to me because when I'm at a park.  I pretty much eat hot dogs exclusively, and while there are differences between the parks and their dogs it's still pretty hard to mess up a hot dog bad enough that some (or a lot) of mustard is unable to fix   As far as the service goes, as long as the employees are friendly and the rides are being run somewhere in the vacinity of capacity, I'm happy.  So I guess I'm rather easy to please when it comes to parks, I also really don't care about theming most of the time.

*** This post was edited by Incidentalist on 12/6/2001. ***

To the public at large, you bet it takes a variety of things. Rides are more marketing tools than anything else, in my opinion. Guest experience is a big deal. Islands of Adventure was amazing visually, sure, but what makes me want to go back? The way that everyone there was so cool. I had a nice chat with some of the Dragons ride ops, food servers and even the bartenders. Not a single thing bothered me there. I don't even get that at Cedar Point (though when you go dozens of times every year, I suppose you're playing the odds in that case).

Rides pull us freaks in, but it's the service that keeps bringing us back. Just ask the folks at Holiday World.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

I see Jeff beat me to it. If you don't think service can make the difference in a park with a...shall we say...less well developed ride package, then you haven't been watching what your fellow CoasterBuzzers are saying about Holiday World.

Amusement parks are an entertainment business. As such, they depend not just on the hardware, but on the total experience. From the moment you walk into the park until the moment you leave, you expect to be entertained, to be satisfied, and to receive the experience you expected. This means service in all areas has to be good. Because if you are hassled, aggravated, poorly treated, if you have to put up with bad or inept service, it detracts from your enjoyment of the day. It causes you to not have as much fun. And if you're not having fun, what's the point?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The craziness is lately I've always been concentrated on how clean parks are.  So I would say keeping the park squeaky clean means a lot too.
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Just wait till next year!

This should answer the question right here:  I like being at Knott's more than Magic Mountain.

One word...KNOEBELS!  I know I talk endlessly about this park...but if you have gone there you know why.  For a season I had the fortune of working there, and it was the best summer of my life!

As for the point of this...think of it this way: PA Dutch making real funnel cake, the AMAZING Cesari's Pizza (rated best park pizza what 12 years now?), Old Mill homemade ice cream, Mrs. T's peirogies (a PA must), and don't forget the Dippin' Dots!  You also have the Alamo, an eatery that the locals go to instead of McD's.  Very friendly workers, beautiful natural landscaping, and great rides, though lacking the number of coasters of other parks.

Now take for instance the Great Mistake (oops...Escape!).  No real honourable mentions in the food category other than the Dippin Dots, A great roller coaster, very unfriendly staff (especially on Cannonball Express) who does not seem to understand that rides can be run fast and effieciently, and an overal lack of morale throught the parks emplyees.  I do like this park, and it has great potential; I just hope Six Flags gives us in upstate NY a makeover like Riverside got.

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New for 2002 - Dippin' Dot flavored Dippin' Dots!

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Phly the Pheonix

I love the coasters, but I also require good service, especially friendly and capable employees. Nothing ruins my day more than rude and slow moving employees. Friendly employees who are upbeat and happy (and I KNOW how hard that can be with all they have to deal with) make my riding more enjoyable than those who look and act like they are doing you a favor just by being there.

Games are not my thing because I'd rather not spend $10-$20 for a prize I can buy for half the cost at a department store. Food is a priority since I generally spend all day at a park and need to eat.

Above all, cleanliness! Nothing bothers me more (especially being female) than to walk into a smelly, dirty bathroom with no t-paper. Or to see sticky, gooey, food covered tables and counters when I want to eat.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dea

I am a rides guy. I rarely interact with employees while at a park, so I don't even notice if they're nice or not. It's definately better if they are nice, though. I didn't notice anything special about the CP employees, nor did I notice anything poor about the SFWOA employees.

I don't eat all that much at the parks either. Most of my park trips are to SFNE for several hours at a time. Although, while at SFGAdv., I thought the food at "Wok and Roll" was awesome.

Give me good rides and I could care less about the rest.

Lodging is important.  I always consider it a big plus when a park has a hotel or campground adjacent to the park.  I prefer to be able to walk to the park (or take a shuttle) rather than drive through traffic snarls, pay a parking fee, and then at the end of the day when I'm exhasted, wait in line to get out of the parking lot.  CP, PKI and PKD have good lodging facilities.  SFWoA has terrible lodging facilities.

Food is also important.  I feel that every park should have some time of unique food item.  I fear that CP is losing on this take.  They seem to be rapidly losing their unique items such as fresh made taffy and their Q chicken.  I love skyline chili's chili cheese dogs at PKI.  ut the rest of the food lacks.  PKD needs some work on their food as does MA.  SF parks seem to go entirely with chains and their food has no notability whatsoever. 

 
Lights at night.  I love all the colored lights at parks during the evening. 

Shaded rest spots and airconditioned entertainment venues.  Most parks do well with this.  However, of particular note is MA.  No shade to rest in and no air conditioned entertainment venues.
*** This post was edited by PointMan on 12/7/2001. ***

*** This post was edited by PointMan on 12/7/2001. ***

*** This post was edited by PointMan on 12/7/2001. ***

Not to turn this into a park bashing thread, but my two biggest complaints for MA were the lack of (or hard to find) bathroom facilities and the food. To a lesser degree was the cramped midway by the log flume (the line for it extended out onto the midway and it was hard to get by). I didn't notice the lack of shade since it was a cooler, cloudy day. These are things that Cedar Fair will likely resolve.

The employees seemed friendly enough, especially the ride ops at ST, although I was suprised that a maintenance mechanic and the female ride op working the controls were playing around together on Wolverine Wildcat. That made me uneasy as I expect ride ops to be watching the controls for any possible problems.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dea

I harken back to Walt's quote:  "You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dreams a reality."

If any of you went to Universal Florida when it first opened, the attractions were outstanding but the employees were terrible.  Many of them were people who were let go at Disney.  Universal, in my opinion, recognized the problem and within a year or two things were up to par.

They didn't make the same mistake with IOA.  That park, in my opinion, opened with the whole package - and Disney stood up and took notice.

Service matters. This is indisputable, but without somethign to back it up you're still lacking. Sure Holiday World has great service, but they didn't get on the map and noticed for it until after they built 'Raven'. IoA, at the end of the day, still has 5 incredible rides to back up the visuals and the service. Without something to offer, how you present it means rather little.

All the same, I'd rather have efficient employees than friendly ones, given the choice.

As far as WW goes, btw, with a one-train op, there's quite a bit of dead-time working the switch, as it were. After about two hours of working on it, you can tell how the train is doing by sound, as it isn't visible for much of the course. (I have worked Wolverine Wildcat before, for what it's worth)

wahoo: You sure they didnt make that same mistake? When I went to IOA in June of 2000, I very politely asked one of the workers: "Excuse me, where is the nearest toilet?"...and he laughed directly in my face. He *did* point it out to me (themed to the Sub-Mariner) but to this day I still wonder what the (radio edit) was so funny...

I think Jeff NAILED it with "it's the service that keeps bringing us back".  Sure, I'll go back to MegaParks, Inc. and even have a good time for the most part.  But I return to SF parks for the new rides, I return to HW for the "same old people".  Paula, this does NOT mean anyone at HW is old, only that your folks are always the same, fast, friendly, and helpful...

I hear the argument of "I go for the rides and don't interact with the employees", but I don't really buy it.  Customer relations starts with a guest's first contact and ends when they've left the parking lot.  Parks that do this RIGHT get repeat business WITHOUT having to spend $10-20M annually to bring in the latest steel coasters.  They'll always get a good word from me! 

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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

You know RGW, I'm one of those "dont interact with the employees" type of folks. IMO, the people working there should sort of blend into the background. The occasional "funny ride op spiel" is okay, but I'll admitt, I was a bit 'frightened' by the over the top "Can I hold anything for you sir?" attention given @ Holiday World. I grew up in the inner sanctum of Chicago and currently live in the "bad" quadrant of DC. I'm not used to people "so willing" to be helpful. In fact, it reminds me a lot of being in a department store with pushy salepeople. Just leave me the hell alone until I require your service.

That didnt quite come out how I intended as the Holiday World experience was an overall very pleasant one. But *that* level of service is not what I'm looking for. I dont need to be pampered (just respected).
lata,
jeremy
--who in response to the "WWF Themepark" thread will be quoting WWF catchphrases in his sig today.
Loved by some. Hated by many. Respected by ALL! The Undertaker

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A Nigerian Muslim sharia court sentences a pregnant woman found guilty of adultery to be stoned to death, but only after she has finished weaning her baby.
This is known in some parts of the Muslim world as compassionate conservatism

Ok lets see here.  Jeff said somehting like coasters are what bring people in and guest service is what brings them back.  I agree somewhat.  But by you saying that, I don't expect anyone will ever see you at say SFWoA again?  You have a VERY strong dislike for the park which is your opinion that I respect.  However, you can't tell me you will never visit there again when they build newer,bigger and better coasters.  I know you, along with others, will go just for that coaster.  I think this mainly applies to families (which give parks more $$$ than enthusiasts) not to coaster enthusiasts. 

As for which is better to me?  I take coasters but thats me now, it may change later down the rode when I have a family.  Guest service is a big factor in whether guests will come back.  I've had bad experiences with employees at SFWoA, PKI, and CP.  Not at kennywood though, which I'll only come back to for it's nostalgic atmosphere, it's metamorphisized (is that even a word)coaster, and it's classic woodies.  I can care less if an employee is rude b/c the ride will be the same.

Of course I'll go back there, I'm an enthusiast. However, last year I went to Cedar Point (one hour) and Kings Island (three hours) more than I went to Six Flags (40 minutes). To add to that, the sum total of in-park spending I did at Six Flags was one beer, and that was on someone else! I also never spent more than four hours in the park. Why? Well, waiting in line on a day when the park is empty is no fun, waiting for indifferent servers to give you franchise fast food ain't my thing and pay-per-visit parking isn't worth it, voucher strips or not. That doesn't even get into the generally unpleasant disposition of people at the park.

I don't hate the park, and I wish people would stop implying that I did. I'm just pissed that a park with such great rides is so poorly run.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"