Why does barf = "minor technical difficulties"?

Over analyzing and over criticizing at its finest... :)

SFMMAddict said:
We'll just have to agree to disagree about the rudeness. What troubles me is that the 2nd half of your post implies that if you have been on the site long enough, it is ok to be nasty to people because the nasty comments get responses.

Dude, get over it. It's not OK to be nasty people, and he's not being nasty. If you can't deal with people disagreeing with you, you should really avoid the Interwebs at all costs.

AFR= Accidental Fecal Release
AUR= Accidental Urine Release (Guessing here because I have never heard this one used. CP just uses AFR for any bodily fluid).

Ewwww! Seriously? Jeff's right, I would be inclined to freak out a little. :(

This was refered to "BBP incidents" (blood born pathegens) where I worked, and had a rather involved cleanup protocall, as per the county's health laws. It often befuddled would be patrons when we had to don haz mat suits and gloves and use a multi step cleaning procedure to take care of either a protein spill or a the results of a toddler not being able to "hold it" untill the ride was over.

Then there was last year at Dorney, when those of us witnessed a gentleman on Revolution lose his lunch as the ride was stopping. Yes, plain as day, we all saw, and only 2 people left the line. The ride was shut down for a good 15-20 minutes, the crew did their Merry Maids imitation, and re-opened the ride with the offending arm and its opposite closed to riders. I am assuming this would be for sanitary reasons(yes dummy). I just wonder what the procedure was later on. Did a special task force come out with industrial sanitizer later on or after hours? That was my then 7 year old daughters first witness of possible results while riding and it didn't phase her in the least. She was getting her first pendulum ride ever barf or no barf!! :)

Tom

Mamoosh said:
Regardless if it's "technical difficulties" or "barf" when the announcement goes out that there will be a "temporary delay" everyone single person in line immediately makes a decision on how long they're willing to wait. That includes you, me, Jeff, and everyone here on Cbuzz. Some will wait longer than others but we all have own own breaking points.

I would agree with what you have said about this if they were being clear that it would be a very short "temporary delay". The part I don't agree with is that they announce "technical difficuties", which could mean anything from a 5 min. delay all the way up to the ride doesn't reopen at all. If they were clear right off the bat, that the ride would only be delayed for a few minutes, nobody would have to wonder if they should leave or not and their personal breaking point would not even be a factor in the decision.

^Dude, it's the official response from any employee to the customer. It has been that way for years.

Doesn't matter what the situation is. The employees are instructed to answer with that response.

Get over it and move on.

Let's say the employees go ahead and say "it's going to be about five minutes and we'll be back up and running". Something comes up, and a half-hour later the ride's still not open. Would you rather be one of the operators of that ride, or the person in GR having to deal with dozens of unhappy, complaining patrons...? "Minor technical difficulties" encompasses a WIDE array of issues from a ride reset to a seatbelt that got twisted to cleaning up someone's lunch. All theoretically would suggest that the ride will re-open shortly....and parks are pretty sensible overall when it comes time to actually CLOSE the ride when they know it's going to be an extended period. Almost always, I end up waiting 5-10 minutes, watching the station clear out of guests (that already waited a half-hour or more), then getting in two rides in quick succession before the ride reopens. Still not exactly sure how BTMRR went from a walk-on at reopen to a half-hour line while we got in our first of those two laps...that time my system failed me, LOL.

Yeah, I have to agree with Gator. When a ride goes down for any reason, I'm pretty sure the general rule of thumb is not to promise (or even suggest) a designated amount of time for closure/reopening. Guests go from slightly put out to extremely angry when they make decisions based on information that ends up being wrong that way.

It's not that I don't see your point at all, SFMMAddict. It's just that I don't think it's actionable. Parks do what they have to do in any given situation. Your best bet, as has been suggested, is to gauge for yourself what is going on and stick around or not accordingly. Should everyone else leave the line and the delay is a short one, it's a win for you.

I understand all of your points and that the parks are basically protecting themselves by using the most generic statement they can if anything unexpected happens. What would your opinion be if they said "technical difficulties" under almost all circumstances but had a different statement, for things such as barf, twisted seatbelts, etc, when they knew that nothing else was wrong with the ride? For example, the ride has been working perfectly all day, and they stop it for 5 mins to untwist a seatbelt, or do a cleanup.

Chitown, yes I know that is the official response and that the employees are instructed to say it. I am not blaming the employees at all. I just think that some situations could benefit from an alternate statement.

You still fail to grasp the concept that it doesn't matter what the announcement is. People's reactions are going to be the same: "Let's wait X minutes and if the ride isn't open we'll leave the line."

When I worked at Knott's, we were strictly FORBIDDEN by our superiors to use anything other than "temporary delay in the operation of this attraction" for ANYTHING. Regardless of whether it's having to load a handicapped rider, clean up puke, malfunction, etc.

It's because the choice of wording that our guests would hear may possibly alter their perception of the attraction, its safety, the level of enjoyment they experience in a negative way.

^That last paragraph was one of the most concise well-worded explanations posssible. And it's precisely why I'd instruct staff to do the same....

LdScotsman said:good 15-20 minutes, the crew did their Merry Maids imitation, and re-opened the ride with the offending arm and its opposite closed to riders. I am assuming this would be for sanitary reasons(yes dummy). I just wonder what the procedure was later on. Did a special task force come out with industrial sanitizer later on or after hours?

I think it's already sanitized, they just run a few cycles empty to air-dry the seats. Generally, the people waiting for that seat (assuming coasters) are happy to wait the extra cycles. Trust me, I've been there... "thanks, but I think I'll wait for the other train" :)

^That last paragraph was one of the most concise well-worded explanations posssible. And it's precisely why I'd instruct staff to do the same....

It was nuts, for sure. I remember my first few days on the job, trying to think quickly on my toes, I delivered the spiel "this attraction is currently experiencing down time."

After my shift, a mid-level supervisor had a one-on-one talk about it with me. Like, that's how serious it was. LOL.

Apparently, "technical difficulties" is even worse than "down-time."

^^^^^ Lets forget the talk about whether any different explanations should be used for a minute. There have been good points made on both sides.

Are you saying that "the ride is delayed due to technical difficulties" and "the ride will be running again in 5 mins." would get the same reaction from the people in line? I know they cannot use the 2nd comment. I am just talking theory this time.

The bottom line is, you are reaching for the parks to give definitive reasons why a ride is down.

That is never going to happen.

^^...and how do you think guests will feel when it is announced that "the ride will be open in 5 mins" and the ride doesn't open as promised?

You keep saying you understand our points...but then you keep asking the same question phrased a different ways. Obviously you still fail to grasp what we're telling you.

You stated that:

it doesn't matter what the announcement is. People's reactions are going to be the same:

Your response didn't answer my question question and ignored the fact that I was asking a theoretical question. I'll ask again. Are you saying that "the ride is delayed due to technical difficulties" and "the ride will be running again in 5 mins." would get the same reaction from the people in line? If they said "in 5 mins" and it didn't happen, I know people would be upset, but that is a separate issue from what I asked you.

You still fail to see what myself and others have said.

Parks give the same panned response because if they went into detail, people would take the response in different ways.

The "down for technical difficulties" covers their butt and people just know the ride is down.

The only time parks take a different stance on this, is if they know the ride will be down for the whole day.