Cashless system coming to Waldameer

Nice. Sounds similar to the wristband system Morey's uses.

As a business owner, you have to love the information a system like that can give you about your guests. As a guest you gotta love the convenience. Win/win.

This is how you do a small park in NW PA. (CLP, I'm looking in your direction)

The Moosh agrees!

I'm amused how big parks haven't implemented this outside of Orlando, yet great little parks like this have.

If Gonch likes it, it can only mean it's evil, sinister, AND nefarious. ;)

Somehow this must have something to do with people cutting in front of other people, but for the life of me I haven't figured it out yet. ;)

2010 Flying Swing Ride has been canceled/postponed as well.

Actually, I like the idea of a system like this. The convieance alone, and the fact that no one really gets any more screwed than anyone else, more than makes up for the big-brotherness implications that it may or may not support.

It's the pay-up-frontness of buying tokens at an arcade, and the convenience of using a credit/debit card. For that reason, I suspect that it may be more profitable, because with paying up front, some people's "eyes are bigger than their belly", and they may buy more credits, or whatever, than they actually need or can use. I'm okay with that.

I am surprised they are opting for a card instead of a wristband. With the waterpark, you would think a wristband would be more convenient.

Only issue I have with this is the same one I have with Arcades and Carnivals. They create a cost ratio that most people wont take the time to figure out.

Before, you know the true value of your $5 bill when you make a purchase. Now your $5 is equivalent to 24 tokens (arbitrary example).

Ok. Now my food or game costs 18 tokens/credits. Well many people wont take the time in calculating the value of that and blindly go in for another $5 worth of (token/wristband) value so they can partake in another one. In this fashion they can to the customer, arbitrarily raise the value and some wont see, until its too late the actual value they put into the item/ride. Also leaves you with potentially wasted token/credits if you leave the site and never come back.

Benefits them.. Not necessarily the Patron.

Btw.. Link for site is defunct.

This one works:

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100214/NEWS02/302139877

Been to a couple diferent places with variations on a cashless system. Schlitterbahn has a system with wristbands containing various denominations of plastic tabs, which you remove and hand to the vendors and such - but everyone also acepts cash. Santa's Workshop has a really weird system where they accumulate your admission, along with any in-park purchases (food, beverage, souvies) on a card you receive at park entry - and then they charge you to EXIT the park.

As I've said with regards to Vegas (and international travel destinations) - once you've gotten away from cash, tokens or chips or whatnot really encourage additional expenditures...in short, this is a fantastic business decision for Waldy!

^My only problem with the Schliterbahn method is that while they have tags that are worth $1 each, they do not price themselves so that everything is in $1 increments (heck I even would take $.25 increments) so the wristband purchase invariably leaves the consumer holding pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters afterward.

^Perhaps I got a lower-value wristband than you did? I seem to remember having a little change here and there, but I'm almost positive I had some increment of either $.25 or $.50. Of course, that was a few years' back (prob '04) - Jill and I stayed on-site at last year's event, so we didn't bother with the wristbands.

I'm taking the early line at a 10% increase in per-caps. ;)

Touchdown , At Sclitterbahn Kansas City they use Bar Code Wristbands for the Admissions and Purchases if you desire to put money on the wristband. So they already are implementing this system. No tabs on our wristbands here in KC!

^Much better, but to me their is only one Schlitterbahn. The other parks might be great, but none will approach the original in New Braunfels, at least until they think about making some more river runs like they have in their old section there.

I can see it now... a midway littered with used cards. A few kids will probable pick some up to look for unused value. But for the most part they will get tossed anywhere just like the local gas station $.05 discount cards. I would hope they are reloadable. Being a ticket/wristband park I can undewrstand the effort to cut down on free rides. I will admit that I did it once when they were busy to see if its possible. It was.
Waldameer will also offer 5000 season passes this year. I could ride the RF2
everyday but I doubt I would spend more than 2 hrs a day there.

john peck said:
2010 Flying Swing Ride has been canceled/postponed as well.

The park announced it for 2011.

This sounds just like Indiana Beach to me. It's not confusing because $1 = 1 Wally Dollar, so its an equivalent system. Its especially nice in arcades, because you don't have to tote around millions of tickets and tokens, its all on the card.

Way to go! These small parks keep innovating, and I love it!

My summer in Erie is complete, and more cost effective! I cannot imagine the amount of money I spent on random Ravine Flyer and Thunder River stops last year in addition to my several day visits. I've been dying for a season pass with the addition of Ravine Flyer II. AND why hasn't anyone began guessing what the next major thrill ride will be in three years that was mentioned in the small article about the Swings next year. My guess is something in the range of giant flats like a frisbee or swingshot sort of ride.

Where is the information about passes? I didn't see anything on their site.

-Sam