Water Main

CPJim123 said:

If I were Cedar Point I would but all the "amusement tax" money they collect in escrow until the City of Sandusky fixes this problem permanently. This would get the city's attention. I was there in 2014 AND last night.

Nothing is permanent.

Yes I agree, it was their attitude when we complained that we spent so much money for things that were not running/open, I just expected for a partial refund when we paid full price for services they didn't have. It didn't help that I've got a friend from Florida that thinks she knows it all and the park should be run like Disney. I had no idea she was so overweight, she only was able to ride Gatekeeper, Raptor and Valravn and got pissed off that she couldn't ride the others, bad situation and not the parks fault. We are on our way to Kings Island but I have a feeling she's going to run into the same situation with not fitting on the rides. My husband and I will go back next year by OURSELVES and have learned a valuable lesson.

Planning on coming tomorrow for most of the day and buying fast lane pass's. I know the park and Soak City are open on Monday and see on the live web cam the coasters going, but is everything up and running fully or should I perhaps adjust plans for Tuesday or Wednesday?

Everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

So Pete, did you hit any kayakers while shooting that video? :)

Ha ha, no I didn't but the video was actually shot by my friends on a Sea Doo and I was following behind. At the very end if the video you can just get a glimpse of my boat in the distance. I had my boat anchored and we were taking turns riding a couple Sea Doo jet skis in the calm water, using my boat as a "party platform".

Pete said:
...I had my boat anchored and we were taking turns riding a couple Sea Doo jet skis in the calm water, using my boat as a "party platform".

Forget RMC Mean Streak. That should be CP's next addition!

harmony29 said:

...I just expected for a partial refund when we paid full price for services they didn't have.

You said earlier today you received a refund, not a partial refund. And why should the park reimburse you for the full price of your visit when you got to enjoy some of the park's attractions?

harmony29 said:
It didn't help that I've got a friend from Florida that thinks she knows it all and the park should be run like Disney. I had no idea she was so overweight, she only was able to ride Gatekeeper, Raptor and Valravn and got pissed off that she couldn't ride the others, bad situation and not the parks fault. We are on our way to Kings Island but I have a feeling she's going to run into the same situation with not fitting on the rides. My husband and I will go back next year by OURSELVES and have learned a valuable lesson.

I just want to point out you will have less problems with the friend at Kings Island. There will be rides they will not be capable of riding like the drop tower. But overall it should go smoother, the rides are more forgiving of people of size.

Back to the topic at hand. This water main break shows why the park needs the new water tower. I wonder how long it will be able to keep the park and hotels open if or when this happens after it is finished.

[qte]
ha rmony29 said:
We get into the park only to find more than half the restaurants were closed and most of the drink locations. We left and got a refund. So disappointing.

I wasn't in the park for the entire day but I don't understand what your beef is. Everything seems pretty normal to me. I had no trouble finding a food location to use my meal plan, bought a soft drink and received water glasses at different food stands. All the rides and games seem open and people are having a good time.

The reason is we stayed maybe 2 hours. Guest services tried to say everything was running fine BEFORE we even walked in the gates, I never would have even gone in had I known every drink station was closed, over half the restaurants. I did not get to enjoy anything, I have a disability and have a hard time walking, so having to walk half way across the park for a drink k pretty tough on me. I rode ONE rude. I wouldn't call that enjoying the day. I have nothing against cedar point, I just feel they handled this entire situation poorly, especially considering this happened in 2014, you would think they might have learned how to handle a crisis like this. It was the rude attitude I encountered with staff that had me upset. When you plan a once a year trip, save for months and pay for fast pass, dining, drink bottle AND stayed at an o site property that cost a ton more, just so we could have early admission, you're going to be upset the way everything combined was handled. I don't think I was at all rude on here, just stated my experience, so why are you being sarcastic back? I was not the only one upset today, guest services was packed with unhappy people. I've never in my 30 years of going to the park have seen this many people upset. This was my first time staying at a Cedar Point property and expected a bit better handling of things. I only got a refund after complaining two different times and refusing to leave the office until someone tried to make something better.

That's what I say, I know it was not Cedar Point's fault that the water main broke but it's definitely a problem and they need to be able to handle customer service. We were at the park at 10a, everything was not openand running, I just wanted to be able to experience the full day and probably would have just come back another day without my soon to be former friend. Yeah Kings Island is more forgiving on rides for people bigger and I actually agree with cedar point in being overly careful in making sure people are secure. Oh do t have to worry about drop tower, she hates those things lol. My husband and I h e already decided we will go back next year alone and never travel with someone else again.

I was not being sarcastic at all, I go to the park much more than you apparently and I found things to be completely normal except for a few minor food locations in Frontier Town being closed. My experience today was so different from yours that I really didn't understand why you were so disappointed. I'm sure guest services meant all RIDES are running fine, which is what people come to CP for. If closed drink locations spoils your day, to each their own. I bet most guests could not care less about that however.

I'm sorry Pete, I wasn't referring to you, it was a post above that. I know you go to the park a lot, I only wish I could but since I moved from Michigan to Kentuckyi can't as it's a lot longer drive and we don't have a car, we had to rent one. I should have just kept the Motel 6 reservation and spent a lot less money, we wanted to get early admission since we don't have or can afford season passes. I apologize it's been a very long day and I truly don't mean to come across rude, I love this forum and the park.

harmony29 said:

It was the rude attitude I encountered with staff that had me upset. When you plan a once a year trip, save for months and pay for fast pass, dining, drink bottle AND stayed at an o site property that cost a ton more, just so we could have early admission, you're going to be upset the way everything combined was handled.

You know, given your tone here (especially compared with Pete's tone and experience of the same day), I'm going to go out on a limb and say that your negative attitude may be a part of the reason you encountered "rude" staff.

I mean...

I only got a refund after complaining two different times and refusing to leave the office until someone tried to make something better.

...come back another day without my soon to be former friend.

We stayed on property specifically to have early entry and there was none. We inquired at the front desk and had a rude employee that said there was nothing they could do.

Wait, inquired about what exactly? Whether they could reinstate Early Entry even though they made the tough-but-necessary decision to suspend it for one day? Did you refuse to leave the office until they reinstated it?

We get into the park only to find more than half the restaurants were closed and most of the drink locations.

The reason is we stayed maybe 2 hours. Guest services tried to say everything was running fine BEFORE we even walked in the gates, I never would have even gone in had I known every drink station was closed, over half the restaurants.

This must have been your first trip to an amusement park... Even on a perfectly normal operating day, it's absolutely normal (in my experience anyway) that not every food and drink stand will be open and serving food/drink at 10:00:00AM or even 11:30AM. There will be a few open, but considering that even on the busiest of HW Saturdays the park doesn't get packed until several hours after opening, it doesn't make sense that every food and drink stand would be open right away.

So while I can understand that it was a frustrating experience, I feel like the "ruined day" is more on you than them. Rather than roll with the disappointment of the water main break and make the best of your day (because, hey, stuff happens), you had confrontational encounters with employees in your multiple visits to Guest Services, spent a measly 2 hours in the park before throwing in the towel, and are in the process of unfriending someone who's traveling with you. At least some of that experience is on you. Most of it, in my opinion.

Oh, and a heads up... King's Island doesn't open every single food and drink location right at park opening either. So you should either plan ahead and bring water, or just save yourself some time and head straight to Guest Services to complain before going into the park.

It was a guest like that who would give us the best break room stories back when I worked in parks.

I never understood folks who would "refuse" to leave until there was compensation. And sadly, where I worked, too many low level managers would give into the rude folks just to get them to leave.

What DJ said. Reading harmony's posts I got the same impression. And wondered what that inquiry was about.

Cartwright said:

I never understood folks who would "refuse" to leave until there was compensation. And sadly, where I worked, too many low level managers would give into the rude folks just to get them to leave.

While frustrating, those low level managers are probably doing the right thing. Someone who is willing to publicly throw a temper tantrum - and let's be clear... "I'm not going anywhere until I get a refund/something for free" is absolutely a temper tantrum - likely doesn't have the decorum to know when to quit said tantrum. So you can either deal with an awful, disruptive, entitled adult-child, or you can satiate them and get them to go away.

It's sad, because you're encouraging that behavior (just as giving in to a child's tantrum teaches the child that tantrum = I gets what I wants), but on a customer service level, it rarely makes sense to dig in your heels as a matter of principle, even though doing so might be more personally satisfying.

This is why I would suck at customer service at that level. :-)

^^That there. I often deal with people at the theater that I would like to tell off (you picked the day and time and clicked yes when asked to confirm the day and time, so it's your fault you bought the wrong day and time) but accommodate in the interests of good customer service. (The folks who acknowledge they made a mistake I don't mind; it's the folks that claim they don't know how the computer messed up their order that get me.)

When I was later in low level management, never once did I "cave" for an adult temper tantrum. I never told them off, I never raised my voice, and always was polite. I simply stated there was nothing that could be done because of said situation, and because of the way you are speaking to me, I could not currently be of assistance to them. I would tell them if they lowered their voice and spoke calmly and without profanity, I would be more than happy to look into the situation again.