Apollo's Chariot
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
Boo... AC Ops has gone down the crap chute... I would have told them it's on the spieler button panel. Bottom right I think. Says "Lift Music" or something like that. It's been over 8 years since I have been in that control booth.
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Saw a post on Facebook last month of the AC Ops team using the spieler mic to sing karaoke to the riders...
On another note, Apollo has been flying the past two weekends. They have only been running two trains, and it appears the trims are off. The ride is fantastic and insane.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? As a kid, I loved it when they would sing something during the ride ( I will never forget the Oscar Mayer guy from the swings), but when I did that once, the supervisors got complaints about me. Not that it was bad singing, just that it was "unprofessional."
I specifically didn't say it was good or bad because I don't know how I feel about it. Part of me likes to see happy workers; but my gut feeling is that I prefer the ride ops be focused on running the ride rather than entertaining riders.
And if I had to choose between singing and the normal lift music; I'd choose the lift music.
And if I had to choose between singing and the normal lift music; I'd choose the lift music.
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My Operations priorities.
1. Safety
2. Speed
3. Service/Smiles
4. Entertainment
If a team can do all four, I am most likely to enjoy my time at a park. I will say that it is a good team if they can do the first three though, which is why I did not enjoy the one time I went to Dollywood and I don't plan on going back, but that's a rant for another thread.
1. Safety
2. Speed
3. Service/Smiles
4. Entertainment
If a team can do all four, I am most likely to enjoy my time at a park. I will say that it is a good team if they can do the first three though, which is why I did not enjoy the one time I went to Dollywood and I don't plan on going back, but that's a rant for another thread.
Call me a stick in the mud but god, I can't stand it when the ride ops try to entertain guests with their own material—it makes Busch Gardens Williamsburg feel much sloppier and considerably less "buttoned-up" than its theme park siblings elsewhere. In my opinion, one the real main differences between BGW and a "themed amusement park" like Kings Dominion is that sense of refinement and polish—the theme of the park being carried through every moment of the experience—that includes the music and spiels in the station, the lift and brake music, etc.
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Totally wrong for this thread, but apropos to this discussion... my favorite theme spiels are on the High in the Sky Seuss Trolly Train Ride.
Sorry for that off-topic interruption.
Sorry for that off-topic interruption.
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They shouldn’t have the option to turn off the ride music or the auto announcements. How it’s 2019 and they have reprogrammed all of that to be automatic is amazing.
I generally agree, though I always made an exception for late-night BBW rides. The ride ops there brought some good material.
I think they should have the option (as in leave the buttons there), but should not be allowed to turn it off. You need to be able to turn it off for shutdowns, especially with a train on the lift, but the area supervisors should be able to write up employees for not playing the automatic spiels and music during normal operation.
Most of the spiels are automatic, triggered by the location of the train or position of the gates in the station, but the lift music is an on/off button next to all the other spiels.
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Then you must have hated the original crew then. Majority of us loved to be at controls and put our own spin on the spiel. I did it one morning when August Busch came through, smiles from everyone.
I always liked to deliver the regular automatic spiels myself, felt it added an extra level of professionalism and I felt that guests were more likely to listen when someone is actually speaking vs the automated recording. I think Zachary's point was that he doesn't like it when crews don't say anything over the mics but stuff that isn't pertinent to the ride or adds to the theming.
So happy to see this discussion! I personally think pre-recordings for entering and exiting the ride and lift hill music are there to keep the theming immersive. I also don't mind it if the ride ops put their personal spin on things- asking riders if they are excited or getting them to cheer when they arrive back is one thing- but ride ops at AC push the envelope. During one visit this summer the ride op at the controls was using the mic to actively flirt/playfully tease another ride op. Do as you wish on your little phones, but I didn't sign up to be in the audience of a painfully awkward reality dating show. I can't honestly think of the last time I heard "Enjoy your voyage to the sun on the wings of Apollo's Chariot". I'm not sure why, but AC staff seems to be the worst at this, considering I don't think I've ever ridden Verbolten and not heard a girl with a German accent at some point. Why the huge difference all in one park?
I also understand how monotonous ride ops jobs can be and how hearing the same thing probably can get annoying. I work with kids and on some days I do the same activity or read the same book 15 times, but it's my jobs to be just as engaging and excited about it at the end of the day as it is in the beginning, because this is what gets my kids into it!
I also understand how monotonous ride ops jobs can be and how hearing the same thing probably can get annoying. I work with kids and on some days I do the same activity or read the same book 15 times, but it's my jobs to be just as engaging and excited about it at the end of the day as it is in the beginning, because this is what gets my kids into it!
Verbolten's system will cancel the automatic spiels if any mic is used. Therefore, the only manual spiels that are allowed are shutdown related or special (fireworks) ones. Also, having two loading stations complicates things when two trains don't arrive or leave at the same time. AC, Griffon, and Alpie for example allow the mics to be louder than the automatic spiels, so operators can talk all day and not mess anything up. Either way, sounds like the Area 4 supervisors needs to reign in the AC crew. The power of the GR complaint is pretty great, wink wink.
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This exactly.
Like most things, it's a spectrum. If controls is super passionate about the ride and they want to do their own version of the themed spiel, you won't see me have a problem with that at all! The context provided by "Enjoy your voyage to the sun on the wings of Apollo's Chariot" is crucial to telling the story of the coaster though. As long as the information from that spiel is conveyed in a professional manner every couple of dispatches, I don't care who is saying it. My issue arises when ops decide that thematic elements of the ride are "boring" or "annoying" or whatever else.
Also, yes, over this summer, a few Apollo ops have been particularly bad. I've heard inappropriate, sexual humor, I've heard complaints over the loudspeaker about fellow ride ops, I've heard bitching about previous guests, I've heard jokes about Fortnight—just countless cringy examples that make me feel like I'm at a Six Flags park, not Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
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If I was there for that I would have marched up to controls, called 3222 and B-Called 155 myself. UNACCEPTABLE!
Seriously, as a former supervisor, I probably would have done that, or at least called some people I know that still work there as area and group supervisors. And if I was their supervisor, they would not be working there by the end of the day.
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Maybe my thinking is a bit too simplistic here, but have a sensor every so many feet on the track, and one on the Zero Car, Middle Car, Tail Car. All three train sensors must pass over the track sensor. As long as it’s moving over them the track keeps playing. Then if the ride breaks down or the lift stops, the music stops.
And I know this wasn’t in your post but, ride ops that are turning the music off because it’s annoying to them are selfish. Just like doing their own spiels because they get tired of the recorded ones are selfish. I’m sorry but those things aren’t about the team member. Those things are for the enjoyment of the guests and team members that don’t feel that way are asshats. (Pardon my language) I’m tired of park employees doing something for their convenience and ignoring who the park is for.
So playing the lift hill music and recorded spiels shouldn’t be an option. It should have to happen automatically because it for the guests not the team members.