Season pass holder files class action suit against Worlds of Adventure for FastLane program

Can anyone do the math here for me. You have 500 passes sold multiply by 5 gives you 2500 people in front of you between 5 coasters, that means each coaster has 500 each day divide that by 9hrs you get 56 people ahead of you an hour. I know they all dont dispurse evenly to each coaster why use your pass at a fast moving lane or a kiddie coaster. But if a ride has a 200 ride per hour limit thats only 20 mins added on to a non fass pass user. Now thats all in a perfect world should it come out like that.
Can anyone help me on my #'s if they are wrong.

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Army rangers lead the way

I have a problem with all of these systems but at least the other ones I have encountered (Disney and IOA) were implemented to improve ride capacity and reduce waiting for the quests. The Six Flags system was inplemented entirely as a money-making scheme. Typical corporate America philosophy. I hope they lose this lawsuit.

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"Looks like you've been missing quite a bit of work lately"
"Well, I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob."

I'd like someone to explain to me how FL diminishes your season pass? A pass does NOT guarantee a ride on anything. It gets you into the park - period. So how does the FL dimish that? If a pass did guarantee a ride then you better sue the park everytime a ride is not operating. Good luck with that!

If you don't like the FL, don't buy it. Personally, I love it. I never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride at SFGAm using it. I also used them at SFWoA and, while the FL wait for X-Flight was about 40 minutes, it was a heck of a lot better than the 3 hours everyone else was waiting.

And to those who say that "once everyone buys one the FL queues will be longer than the regular queues" - wake up. They sell a limited number so everyone can't buy one. They sell 2000 at SFGAm and I was told that's about what they sell at SFWoA (not the listed 500).

I like FL and plan on supporting. Would I like it more if it was free - heck yeah! But it's not so I live with it. No one is forcing me to buy one but I figure my time is worth something, too.

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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

Is this part of that "Full employment for Lawyers" program that I heard about a while back? heheheeh This whole lawsuit is laughable!

I would love to arguement that they are trying to make. Are they saying that this is breech of contract? False Pretenses? What? Regardless of whether one like it or not, what legal basis is there for a suit. Someone tell me that before rallying around another frivoluos lawsuit.
jeremy
--put up or shut up!

WHAT A DUMBA** ! Anyone that would sue six flags over something so STUPID has no life and way to much time on their hands. this is dumb as that lady sueing mcdonlads becuase she spilled hot coffee on her lap. i agree there could be more perks with the season pass but to sue over it is just wrong.

It's not the lawsuit I'm rallying behind, it's the fact that a SF customer would have to go to such an extreme measure to let SF know that the fastpass does not work, and is nothing more than greed. How about building higher capacity coasters, and then running max trains daily, instead of being cheap and inefficient? How about a single riders line? How about well trained, hustling ride ops who are paid decently? How about more flatrides and family attractions to take away from the lines. Why must *we* pay for SF to be cheap and lazy? What good is a damn fast pass when your running 1-2 trains on Superman?
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I'd like a tall CCI out and back, and a grande nonfat Latte to go please!


*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 8/8/2001. *** *** This post was edited by DWeaver on 8/8/2001. ***

I knew this was going to happen. On half of me says that the person is doing something about this Fastlane pass. The other have of me says, "Can't he just buy a Fastlane pass and quit complaining?"

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"Duff Man Says... Ohhhhh Yaaaaa!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)

Six Flags is trying to capitalize off of how much money someone would pay to do something. I really don't think there is anything legally wrong with this. A fastpass system can be a good thing if it really does not effect the length for the people waiting in the regular line. Based on what I've read, SFWOA is not the greatest with ride capacity. I participated in the program at Disney in Orlando. The program worked pretty well, while keeping the regular line time not outrageous (plus it was free too!). The fastpass idea can work, but it should not appear at all parks.

Let's look at this from a park-goer's view:
At least with Disney's system you still have to wait (albeit virtually), plus everyone can use it if they choose. Even Disney's E-Ride nights take place after normal park hours so regular, full price paying customers aren't affected by the people who have the luxury of paying for ERT. While there might not be anything illegal about the way Six Flags works this program, it sure stinks to me.

How many people have to cut in front of you before it is unfair? 1000? 5000? 10000? Of course the answer is one. Once Six Flags allows even one person to come up the exit ramp and cut in front of me it is unfair, no matter what they paid. What's next? They close certain rides except for upgraded ticket holders? Will that be fair?

OK- now let's look at it from the Six Flags' standpoint:
Six Flags can not provide an excellent level of customer service with this in place. Why? It creates a division in their patrons where one class is treated differently than the other. You would think Six Flags would want everyone to feel like they are the most important guest they have. That is no longer possible with this system. Regular patrons are made to feel less important than fast lane users. Maybe customer service is not a priority for them. It sure makes it hard for them to say it is with this park condonded line-jumping going on.

*** This post was edited by Camel@Work on 8/8/2001. ***

But someone please answer this question for me. What is the value of fastpass, when you don't run your ride at full capacity? Your still waiting for 1 train to cycle before you can do anything. So you've got pissed off people in line, only to have people with more cash cut in front of you. How idiotic is that?

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I'd like a tall CCI out and back, and a grande nonfat Latte to go please!

Another fine example of someone willing to sue someone else for something so small and that it probably would not affect them in any way. I suppose she is sueing for emotional damages it caused when she felt that her season pass was devalued. I mean come on a season pass cost 50 bucks if you are smart about buying one at the right place.

The first time that I witnessed a head of the line priveledge system was at universal and although i was not pleased someone gets ahead of me in line when i have been waiting, I also have the attitude that if those people will pay the money than let it be. If any system works correctly than you might wait a few more minutes but than again it brings more people to the park and in some cases when paid for brings more money into the park, wich in turn will lead to improvements.
It will deffinately not change my mind about amusement parks if they want to make an extra buck or so to improve there park by charging people who are not patient enough to wait in lines. I am patient enough and would wait for ever in a line to get one ride on almost any coaster that I have not been on...However if I had the extra money at the time I may also consider using a fastlane sytem. If I had a season pass I would just come back a different day when I knew the lines are not that long.

I mean think about it all the SF parks will let you in with a season pass from almost any other SF park of wich i think the average price is may 55-60 dollars if bought smart. Do you really think that a season pass would be that low if the park didn't have a way of getting your money ie....Parking fees, FastLane, Food Prices, Souvenirs, The season pass is just a thing that sounds like a good deal to get you back in the park to spend money. This is how a park makes most of its money off of a season pass.

If you don't want to spend the money that they charge to visit a park than get another hobbie. Complaining about it is going to do absolutely no good after all a park is going to charge whatever they think they need to make money for there investors and continue to draw people to the park year after year to add rides and such to keep everybody happy. FastPass/Fast Lane are ways to get more people to the park and increase revenue wich may keep the overall ticket prices and parking cheaper or prevent them from having to raise the price to make money.

So if someone has more money they want to pump into the park to get ahead of me in line, or I could do the same if i had the few extra dollars if i didn't feel like waiting in line and thought it was worth the few dollars than good job SF. Just let me know that the new coaster you are getting next year is partly due to the money raised my the system and I will be glad to do either of my options.

It is not illegal because it is available to everybody and for a reasonable price IMO. Regular Admission, Discounted Admission, and Season Pass Holders. This does not mean that a Season pass is not worth what it once was.


*** This post was edited by T-Wolf on 8/8/2001. ***

I agree that fastlane is a waste of time.they should also consider opening the regular line when no more fastlane passes are available for the ride in question.for example 2 face at SFA,the fastlane passes were already gone for this ride by the time we tried to get them.however the fastlane seat was still blocked.now don't you think they should open the seat when there are no more passes available for the ride in question? it sure would ease capacity and make the line move much quicker.I sure hope the plaintiff wins thier case and this whole fastlane system will be a thing of the past.

No one has answered my question. I don't think you can, and THAT'S the biggest problem with "fastpass". It doesn't help lines move faster, it makes them worse and more frustrating. I don't think people would mind so much if the capacity issues were improved.
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I'd like a tall CCI out and back, and a grande nonfat Latte to go please!

But I will say that any system has flaws in response to Batwing and some people that have posted against it.
If the system is done properly than it is a good idea.

okay, the lawsuit was just plain stupid. how does fastlane diminish a season pass? it doesn't. i see the fastlane system as a way for a park to make more money. sure, i wouldn't like people cutting in front of me whether it was line jumping or with the fastlane, however more money means better improvements and possibly more rides. and would more rides make the people happy? absolutely.

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Vortex rules!!!! (still)

I support Fastlane passes. a) it gets other people out of line who would be waiting in line with you b) it's better for families who don't want to wait with the "riff-raff" c) it makes better use of my time when I've used it (once at SFA and once at SFGAdv.) In fact 2 Hostyl and I saved 45 minutes last week because someone handed us two tickets for Nitro. We were able to ride both Chiller and Pendulum again because of that. I should got angry why? Both of the programs I described though were free.

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Batwing-Bow Down

Good for him/her. Because of the Fastpass system, I only got to ride 3 coasters in 8 hours at SFWoA.

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Go to it! I hope WOA gets taken for as much as possible.

I like SFGAm's FastLane like it is. They could add it to Batman and Viper though :)

But anyway...it's obviously not perfect, and I imagine they will refine it - that IS why it is different at each park - to see which works best. I don't mind paying extra, because I am getting someting extra (DUH! stupid whiners).

I wouldn't care if they dropped it all together either...I enjoyed parks before the Fastlane, and I'd still enjoy them if they didn't have it.

They should give it free to Season Pass holders and screw the rest of you. ;)

Now as long as they don't change SFGAm's system to one of the other systems I've been hearing horror stories about.

DWeaver: How can you say that FASTLANE doesnt work? Obviously, it does. The purpose of a fastlane is to allow the person holding one to experience the attractions without waiting in the line. That's it. That's all.

Disney's FASTPASS on the other hand, is designed to spread out people in the park. That works as well. Splash Mountain which used to have a 5min wait in the evenings, now has a 45min wait. Why? Because the FASTPASSes got people to ride later in the day.

And while I would tend to agree with you on the singles riders line option. I do not agree that adding more attraction or running at max efficiency will reduce lines to the point where a person can do all the rides.

Take Cedar Point for example. They have a ton of rides, very efficient operations and speedy staff. Yet and still, it is hard to ride all their major attractions, especially for a family with medium aged (8-16) kids. When you think like a non-fanatic, most people have at least some modicum of leisure associated with a day @ the park. CP on a summer saturday can easily have hour long lines for the major rides. That means to experience Power Tower (UP and DOWN), Millie, Magnum, Raptor, Mantis, Mean Streak, Disaster Transport you've already spent 8 hours in line. Figure in walking, eating, bathroom time, and the other 8 coasters I didnt mention and is there really time to do everything?

For some people paying a few extra dollars (or grabbing a free pass) to save an extra hour or two would really be worth it.

I agree that parks like SFWoA need to address other issues before resorting to a line-avoidance system. But for places like Disney, I think it was the best thing they could have done. YOU offer up a better solution.
jeremy
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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01