2009 Golden Tickets

I can canoodle with all of you...at once.

Once the Old Mill is restored?

That's hot... ;)

Not even the gold Bot gets you that kind of access! For that level of service, you need the newest most exclusive plan...now introducing thePlatinumBot ;)

Is CB turning into an incestuous circle jerk? What has happened to CoasterBuzz?

LostKause said:

It's you an me against the world, Demon. :-P

Nah, it's you and me and Holidayworld, CFair, Kennywood, a bunch of places and a bunch of people :) Especially my mom. It's good to have mom on our side, trust me! I mean, it is bad, but to not fill the trains and blah blah blah, the advertising, etc. It's pathetic.

Darn CF and their lack of Q-bots. When will they join the current decade?

I also like Taylor Swift but not Beyonce. How did that make it into this topic?

CF will be on the phone with Lo-Q the second Kinzel pulls out of the parking lot for the last time.

I will be anxiously awaiting that day.

Unfortunately I think he can walk to work. His house is in the parking lot.

Which is the primary reason CP doesn't have any parking lot coasters....

Is this DK's last year? Or is he here thru 2011?

I'm pretty sure he's there through 2012. I seem to remember the mention of staying on for 6 additional years to guide the Paramount Purchase through, along with their integration to Cedar Fair.

Jeff said:
Unfortunately I think he can walk to work. His house is in the parking lot.

With a home value in the 1.5 million dollar range, would this be considered VIP parking? ;)

I've resisted long enough. I really try not to do this, but since we are already talking about it at length...

Remember, the only reason parks are adding Lo-Scam technology is to make more money. They don't care that it pisses people off, just so profits go up. I would like to think that CF sees this as a good reason to not provide the scam to everyone.

The biggest amusement park rule had to be fiddled with in order to make it happen. Line jumping had to be redefined. I am not as easily conditioned as some of you are. Pay-to-cut schemes make the park less accomidating for those who either go to the park on a budget, or are against line jumping (whether or not they have the ability to pay for the privelige of line jumping). It's not a fun day at the park when people are constantly jumping in front of you.

I got a scambot one time at SFGAdv, and it was the last time I went to the park back in '06, I believe. I felt like crap cutting in front of everyone. I haven't visited SF park since then because they rent way too many bots, and let way too many people cut.

Limit the experience, make it more exclusive by making it much more expensive, and I'd be more for it. Less people cutting the line is better than more people cutting the line. I had less of a problem with pay-to-cut at BGW for this very reason.

Admission to a park used to include unlimited use of all the rides and attractions. Now it is limited, because you have to pay to bypass the lines that become longer because people are paying to bypass the lines. Pay-to-cut was at first seen as a way to fix the problem of long lines, but it make the lines even longer, and that's why it is a scam.

LostKause said:

Remember, the only reason parks are adding Lo-Scam technology is to make more money.

Thank you, captain obvious. :)

For the record, that's pretty much the reason parks do anything.

I agree with LK. Make it more exclusive so the people who are willing to pay anything are happy. That way it limits the number of people using it. And, in turn fewer people are pissed at the world about having people cut them in line.

I almost never shell out the money for the bots when I'm traveling around to different parks. But, thank goodness I decided to do it in Spain at the 2 bigger parks. It may be the only time I ever get to those parks and because I had the bots, I was able to enjoy the whole park instead of just riding the coasters and waiting in line all day. I'm glad I had the experience of using bots in that situation. If I'm ever in a place I know I might never get to go again, I'd probably pay quite a bit more than they were charging just to make sure I get to have a good overall experience at the park.

That is generally the only situation in which I will shell out for it.

I know we've had this conversation a million times, but I think you guys overestimate the negatives and totally forget about the positives of having such a system.

Not everyone who goes and doesn't get a Q-bot is pissed or unhappy. Quite the opposite actually...and everyone who gets on seems to be happy (except, LK).

I believe that in the end there is a net gain in customer satisfaction with the system in place. I suppose there's no way we'll ever know.

Although the fact that VQ systems have been around for just about a decade now and more parks add them each year (and Disney's new Dumbo queue will be supposedly 100% VQ according to those in the know - no FOL, but the potential is there and you get the point) is probably a pretty good indicator of how this sort of thing is received.

It's not going anywhere guys...if anything, it's coming to a park near you in the future.

I guess I am in the minority on this site when it comes to Q-bot, I don't like the concept of "pay-to-play" and it is line jumping for a price. Now if parks want to implement a system that is fair and usable by every park guest, ala Disney, then so be it, I can accept that because it is not based on "how much you can pay." I think Q-bot, in its current form at parks like Six Flags, is a form of financial discrimination, plain and simple.

Whether Cedar Fair implements this ever is anyone's guess. If Jack does happen to become the new CEO, I don't think he has ever spoken publicly on the topic to give anyone an indication of how he would do things differently than Dick. Maybe I am wrong but my gut tells me if Cedar Fair did anything it would be an effort more along the lines of Disney where all parks guests have access to the system, not simply those who have a "golden ticket."

mlnem4s said:
I think Q-bot, in its current form at parks like Six Flags, is a form of financial discrimination, plain and simple.

So you don't think that's happening at the gate in the first place?

Or in a park that offers both pay-per-ride and ride-all-day plans?

Or places like Disney that do extra things like open some parks later and close some parks early to people who aren't resort guests (and have paid them a lot more money - in part for the longer park hours).

Or anywhere that money is exchanged for goods and services - especially mutliple levels of goods or service?

Now if parks want to implement a system that is fair and usable by every park guest, ala Disney, then so be it, I can accept that because it is not based on "how much you can pay."

But it's based on timing. What if I can't get to any given FastPass machine before they run out? Then I was 'discriminated' against based on time and random factors like crowds and interest in a given ride's FastPasses.

Why is that an acceptable decider but money isn't? Q-bot is usable by any guest that wants to buy into it the same as Disney's system is usable by anyone who gets to a FastPass machine before they run out.