Amusement parks offer ways to skip lines, for free or for a fee

I think such an analysis would speak more about how few customers actually bother to complain about something they don't like, based on the number of homicidal glares I got last year using pay-to-cut at Kennywood.

You sure they weren't lustful glares? They can kind of be mistaken for homicidal sometimes.

^^It's just 'cuz they're not used to it. Within a year or two, it will just become normal.

The question isn't whether or not the haters complain, it's whether or not they come back. So far, there's no indication they're not returning, homicidal glares or no.

So the new business model for amusement parks is to jack up profits as much as possible by stripping away as much courtesy and convenience as they can get away with, so long as the customer doesn't stop coming?

Oh, and Vater: trust me. That last time someone glared at me in lust, I think I was in my mid-twenties. ;)

Ensign Smith said:
...stripping away as much courtesy and convenience as they can get away with...

That's a pretty hyperbolic view, no?

Well, it is the Internet. Duh. ;)

Ensign Smith said:
So the new business model for amusement parks is to jack up profits as much as possible by stripping away as much courtesy and convenience as they can get away with...

Of course, as someone who uses VQ, I see it as adding a courtesy and creating more convenience to my visit.

On other days, as someone who isn't using VQ, I don't see any meaningful change in the level of convenience or courtesy.

And that leads me to another point - for all of us who are pro-VQ, it's not like we're not ok with being on the other side of the fence too.

Does anyone here use VQ every time they go to the park? Or even a majority of the time? Half the time? Hell, even more than once or twice a year?

It's not just "I don't care" as far as other guests are concerned. I'm one of those other guests at least 10 or 12 times for every one time I use VQ. I don't have a problem with it from either side*.

I think sometimes that fact is lost in the discussion.

_________________________________________________________

*Which makes me entirely non-hypocritical and totally a better person with a more valid argument. :)

Bingo.

Another way to look at it: as one who is not at all opposed to VQ, I don't want to use it. That is, I don't want to have to hand over 50 bucks if I don't have to. Therefore, I try and hit parks during the week when crowds are lighter.

Now, read the above paragraph, but substitute 'is not at all opposed to' with 'abhors' and it's no less valid.

Lord Gonchar said:
Of course, as someone who uses VQ, I see it as adding a courtesy and creating more convenience to my visit.

...at the expense of the courtesy for and convenience of others' visits, of course.

based on the number of homicidal glares I got last year using pay-to-cut at Kennywood.

Strangely, you'd think 'burghers would be more tolerant, not less. After all, this is the place in which the "Pittsburgh Left" is not only accepted, it is *expected*. On the other hand, it's also the place where the "parking chair" is moved by someone else only on penalty of death.

A place of contradictions, that 'burgh.

Ensign Smith said:
So the new business model for amusement parks is to jack up profits as much as possible by stripping away as much courtesy and convenience as they can get away with, so long as the customer doesn't stop coming?

Thats not just the business model for amusement parks. Its the model for business in general (particularly for profit entities). And its not new.

^GoBucks89 - It *is* somewhat new....not in terms of months and years but decades. Time was that there WAS such a thing as "small business owners", people who grew business slowly over time, by treating customers fairly, with the intention of passing saisd business along to their kid(s). Now, it seems VERY rare to see anyone concerned about anything beyond the next quarterly report/distribution to shareholders....

^I am, gator! "How much FUN did YOU have at (fill in the blank)."

I'm not interested in stocks, etc., I am clueless about that stuff.

Ensign Smith said:
...at the expense of the courtesy for and convenience of others' visits, of course.

Sure, to some small degree.

But then we'd have to guess the net result is a wash at worst. And the habits of park visitors seem to comfirm it.

I'm sure the parks are keenly aware of the effects. As much as anyone tries to argue the downside, if it were there then the park would kill it in an instant. (see CP's FreeWay)

And that's not to say nobody gets pissed or that customers aren't lost. But the ratio of those people compared to the number who are happier and compared to the additional revenue is obviously something the parks that use VQ/FOL must see as positive.

^LOL Billy - I was referring to the CEO/COO/CFO crowd....that next quarterly dividend to shareholders - seems WAY more important to them than if their customers are satisfied and will refer the business to friends, neighbors, and relatives....

I'm starting to think much of my dislike towards pay to cut systems is b/c I have seen them implemented stoopidly. Can't say I'm for pay to cut, but I now understand the use of them a little more. Ahhhh... that feels like a little better ground for me, not too extreme ;) The waters are warm but not too hot.

For the record I'm very pro pay to cut. It helps fund my hobbies. Having said that, I've never payed to cut. Ever.

I'd pay to cut...

but I haven't saved enough on my insurance yet..