Fast Lane is now Officially "The Flash Pass"
If I - or anyone else - wants to pay for better service (skip lines, stay in nicer hotels, better meals...) then so be it. Who are you to say I shouldn't? It's a capitalist society, and if you don't like it, tough sh*t! If you don't like it, or (perhaps) are too cheap to pay for the service, there are three choices.
1) Sit in the line and complain about it (which obviously you're quite talented at... Like it's really going to get you anywhere...)
2) Stop going to the parks... (Which actually would be a blessing! Less people in line = No reason for Flash pass!)
3) Get over it.
Now seriously... What are you really going to do?
If I was too cheap to get a Flash pass I'd just sit in the line, watch movies on my ipod, and make the best of it... But I guess that's just me.
If you can watch movies on your ipod in line, you have enough money for Flashpass, and therefore would not be watching movies on your ipod in line! (WTF!)
:)
-Tambo
I got Three Gold Q-Bots so IIIiii wouldn't have to wait in line at alllll. I made MMmy driver go and fetch a wait time for me because, quite frankly IIiii don't feel I should have to do it myselllf.
One time a peasent tried to start a "friendly" conversation with me while IIiii was being carried to Nitro. I tried to ignore him, but he just kept smiling and talking. It looked as if he hadn't been to the dentist in months, and he wore one of those hideous T-shirts and sandles.
IIiii can't wait until SF raises their priiices high enough that only people like MMMmmeee can come to the park and not be bothered by these kinds of people. I find being in the same place as thhhem repulsive, at best.
Daddy tells me that WWWwweee will enslave them all someday and we won't have to put up with them. IIii wish that day would come sooon, because they are disgusting and pathetic, and don't deserve to breath the same air that IIIiii do.
I got Three Gold Q-Bots so IIIiii wouldn't have to wait in line at alllll.
Oh my God, that's friggin' brilliant!
Anyone ever get multiple Q-bots and try playing the system that way?
Bah, as I sit here thinking about it before I hit the 'submit' button, I guess SF already has this figured out/regulated.
It'd take 3 or 4 standard q-bots to equal the time savings of a Gold - in which case the Gold would just be cheaper in the first place and for the price of two Gold Q-bots, you could just do the VIP thing and skip lines altogether.
Screw it. Someone just needs to tell that whiney fictional kid to buy a VIP package and be done with it.
Figure it out already, people. Nobody's changing anybody else's minds here. SF will keep the system in place, and probably keep adding more bells and whistles-- and dollars-- to the cost, and as it gets too expensive for more and more people in here, they'll start P&M-ing too (once they're no longer the special, privileged ones). And the people who don't like it or think it's fair will continue to whine and complain.
Wish the damn parks would open already so you could all just run and stand in line (real or virtual). Just be nice as you're trampling over each other. :)
Funny how all you Q-berts are so sick of this discussion but can't help but chime in within half an hour of anybody's post in this thread.
Ironic post of the year goes to....
Seriously though, did anyone actually say they were sick of the discussion? I'd go back and check but I'm sick of ths discussion. :)
And it's Q-bot (like robot). Q-bert was that f'd up game from the 80's that was a b*tch to play because you had to move diagonally.
And I missed replying to Dex's post within a half hour by exactly 45 seconds. I'm such a slacker. Sorry guys, I was busy counting the piles of money I use to spoil my kids.
In the end though, if this site and thread are representative of how people feel about Flashpass, then a handful of people feel strongly that it is unfair, a handful feel strongly that it's fair and most don't care either way.
I suspect that applies to the folks actually in the park as well.
EDIT - Spelling. Maybe I should invest some q-bot money in typing classes. :)
*** Edited 3/29/2006 5:42:53 AM UTC by Lord Gonchar***
I'll lower my guard a little and say that Gonch has one of the most profound points in this topic in his post above. I'll go ahead and agree that there are people who feel strongly for and against Q-bot, and then there are people who don't give a crap. The profound part is that it probably describes what opinions the park guest have as well, so this is not a discussion one can "win". I have learned a lot about why people tolerate Q-Bot's system. I may not like the reasons, but that's life...
I guess I have to accept that I'm a no good, empty pocket, unwelcome, loser of a SF park guest. I'll just deal with it. Maybe I'll write a song about it and become even more famous than I already am. lol
And as promised in another thread...SF has done a lot to improve their operations lately. I think they have the potential to win the Golden Ticket.
Comments like:
"I guess I have to accept that I'm a no good, empty pocket, unwelcome, loser of a SF park guest."
"...some people with money forget that we are all people with feelings and desires. Some of them let money describe who they are."
And the whole satire bit you wrote above all seem to me that this is you projecting these stereotypes onto all of us - yourself included.
No one here looks at you that way and no one here who is pro-Flash Pass is the uppity stereotype either. I think everyone's been very kind concerning the money thing.
I don't think anyone who approves and/or uses q-bot looks down on those that don't or thinks better of themselves for using it.
I think it's kind of sucky that a few of you guys see it that way. Obviously there will be people who can't afford it. There'll be people that can but refuse for whatever reason. Hell, they're even be people that really can't afford it but drop the cash anyway. And just because someone can and does spend the extra cash on it doesn't make them 'rich' or 'uppity' or 'better than others' or whatever.
Granted, I have a lot of fun running with the stereotype, but I think it's pretty clear that all I say is so far tongue-in-cheek that it can't possibly be taken seriously. If you knew how much like that I'm not, you'd probably crap yourself. Hell, if you knew my family's yearly income (more specifically, the lack thereof), you'd probably crap yourself. :)
One thing I'll never fault people for is doing well in life and subsequently reaping the rewards. Regardless of how well I've been doing at any given time in my life I've never looked at those above or below me financially with any cort of contempt because of their financial situation. Heck, I could write you a list 5 pages long of things I wish I could do, but can't because I simply can't afford to. I don't complain. I don't hate those that can. I either accept that it'll never be or strive to put myself in a favorable situation and make it happen. It's all good. As much as RGB likes to think it'll hit the point where I (or anyone) can no longer justify the cost and will complain, he's only half right. I have plenty of things I can't justify the cost of, but I'll never complain. So if in this weird theoretical future SF truly does price me out of thier plans, I'll walk away. No harm done and if I want it bad enough it gives me something to aim for. SF isn't wrong for pricing their product as they see fit and those who buy into it aren't wrong for being able to justify the cost in their personal situation. To say so just sounds like sour grapes.
Where I will fault people is exactly at that point. If you don't have the money or have the money but can't see the value don't paint yourself with the "Oh poor me" brush or worse yet don't paint others with the "you're a pompous ass" brush.
There's always going to be people better off than you and people worse off than you. Sure, you have your issues with the parks and prices, but like others have said, what about that guy who can't even afford the park in the first place? Yeah, I often get a q-bot at the park, but I wouldn't drop the money on the gold q-bot. Plenty of people do. More power to them. I'd love to. Heck, I'd love to pull a VIP visit. I can't. It doesn't make the people who can and do wrong for doing so and it doesn't make SF wrong for offering it.
But yeah, I think this thread is totally representative of the general park population. How many people use these forums? Thousands. How many have cared enough to add a comment to this thread? Two dozen maybe. How many keep coming back for more? Like 6 of us. :)
I think that's probably the same percentage of park guests that feel likewise.
Ah... the good old days of video games. Either two buttons, or a button and a joystick. I'm too old, and the manual dexterity is not what it used to be, to play the games today.
"What a drag it is getting old."
-We now return you to your previous program.-
:)
-Tambo
I suspect that will place their competition at a distinct advantage. Heck, they may even be able to claim shorter lines for general admission.
I love the attempts to minimize the issue to whiny enthusiasts not understanding the have/ and have not realities. As if we're a bunch of socialists experiencing capitalism for the first time. Folks can use their money to buy the park for the day- that's not an issue. It is not a class issue. Its a question as to whether it is smart or ethical to subtract access from those who have already paid for it.
How is that horse doing Tambo? *** Edited 3/29/2006 2:41:00 PM UTC by rc-madness***
Time is money.
Hersheypark, my home park, doesn't offer Q-bot or any other type of "virtual queue" sort of thing (though a news story I heard a year or so ago didn't rule out that sometime in the future). IF they would offer it, I probably would not use it. Why? I get there a few times a season. I have a season pass and I don't mind going for a few hours on a weekday evening when the crowds are light. If I go past the park and see a mass of humanity, packed tightly against each other, sweating in each other's personal space, I say "Oh well... Better luck next time" and drive home.
HOWEVER...
Great Adventure is a 3 hour drive. I don't have the time to get there that often (work schedule and all) and I certainly can't drive there on an evening afterwork (Well, I could... but it would only give me an hour of time before closing... so...) If I go there and it is packed, I have two choices.... 1) Spend 8 hours at the park and stand in lines for hours and get 6 or 7 rides, having to come back again to catch things that I may have missed.... 2) get a Gold Q-bot and maximize my time.
With coming back another day, I don't have to shell out for a Q-bot... but I do have to spend the turnpike tolls, fuel, parking (not admission since I have a season pass), and (most importantly) ANOTHER VACATION DAY. I also have the aggrivation of standing in the lines and then not knowing how crowded the park will be on my return visit.
By using a Q-bot I save my time, my aggrivation, and I don't burn another vacation day going to Great Adventure. My only cost is the Q-bot and the parking.
For me, I'll spend that extra cash to maximize my time. Of course, this theory is only good as long as Six Flags passes (got mine at SFA) are insanely cheap... in other words, I don't expect it to last that much longer.
When I was at Great Adventure last season, I was standing in line and saw the Q-boters come up the exit ramps and get their "special treatment". Did it pee me off? In a way. Not because they were getting that special treatment... but because I realized that I had only myself to blame because I was too cheap that morning to buy a Q-bot.
So, on my next trip, believe me, I'm going to pony up the cash and get one of those things. The convienence is worth it to me.
You still get to ride the same ride, and the people who use the q-bots have still waited the same amount of time you have, they've just been off eating lunch or something instead of standing in a line. In essence, they've been in front of you the whole time, but their place is being held by a computer instead of themselves.
I really don't think the public is going to get in some giant uproar over it, and I don't think the news is going to care enough to run a story on how Six Flags offers the option of virtual queuing for a small fee.
-josh
My whole plan this season is to see how many days that I go to Great Adventure and don't need a Q-bot. Even the first day I go and the park is busy as they get I will try it without a Q-bot this season. Why to see if they are operationally better than they have been. If not, I will buy the Q-bot on busy days and let my money spent save me my valuable time.
Edit since I just read the previous post. If the news in the Philadelphia area ran a story about Q-bot at Great Adventure I bet more people would use it. It would be more like free advertizing for SF than a negative piece for them. *** Edited 3/29/2006 3:35:00 PM UTC by dragonoffrost***
And whoever said I was sick of this discussion? I'll replay it over and over in my mind while I wait in the cheapskate line.
(yeah, I ripped that off from Carlin, then paraphrased)
Q-bert paints a good visual, I guess. Of one jumping quickly past others to get ahead and avoid being touched.
Lord Gonchar said:(yeah, I ripped that off from Carlin, then paraphrased)
Perhaps you hadn't heard the news? Imitation is no longer the highest form of flattery....now, thievery is! ;)
:)
rc-madness said:
How is that horse doing Tambo?
"Sniff-Sniff"
Is that glue I smell? Or perhaps some low-grade dog food?
:)
-Tambo
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