Girl, 7, denied trick-or-treating at Six Flags Over Texas due to height

i was denied entry to the trick or treat trail at geauga lake last year... why can't i enjoy trick-or-treating?...

// argument
*** This post was edited by SFDL_Dude 10/26/2006 9:27:07 AM ***

I have not read all these posts. I don't have to. I know Gonch has this taken care of... The parks need limits. Life is not fair...nor can it ever be. The kid learned a better lesson than those who freely got the candy. They should thank Six Flags.

Once you allow 1 "7" year old in despite her being over the clearly marked height restriction you open up a large can of worms.

Next you'll have another parent complaining, then another, then another about how their kid was too tall and couldn't go in, but you let that kid. Soon you'll have a line for all the kids short enough and another for the too tall kids whose parents piss and moan about it. I'm not condoning this behavior by parents, but I'm not blind to the country around me.

Rules are rules. The height restrictions are most likely to keep older kids out. Remember............kids do not have ID's with age generally! If a tall 7 year old can participate in something that is height restricted, what stops a 12 year old from claiming they are 7............like said above, amusement parks generally use height rules. Even for admission prices.

Short kids are constatantly disappointed because they are not tall enough to ride certain rides. Deal with it. It is up to the parents to find them something else to do in place of what they cannot do and make them feel GOOD about it. In this case, that tall kid can ride a lot more rides than kids that are shorter. That should definitely over ride any feelings of disappointment from not gettting some candy.

My niece is short. She has not been able to ride certain rides. She may be a little disappointed, but we find something else to do and she gets over it..........quickly. I also remind her that she will be glad she is tiny when she grows up to make her feel good.

This whole story is just a perfect example of media whoring.

Another thing to think about.

SFOT's Fright Fest has been running for 14 of 17 days as of the date of this incident.

Do you really think this is the first girl in that time who is probably age appropriate but too tall to participate? Where are the stories about all the other kids who wanted candy, but were too tall?

I'm betting they saw the 54" or less sign and said, "Crap. Well, let's go do something else."

Probably....The Boo Hill haunted house at CP has the exact same 54” policy, yet we haven’t heard any complaints about it and it’s been going for 5+ years.I wonder how Hershey handles these grey areas with age. Take a tall kid who’s under the age limit, but looks 14-15 what do they do? Most kids don’t exactly carry ID’s. While an age limit would be more logical for non-ride attraction such as a haunted house, it seems like it would be harder to enforce.
*** This post was edited by Joe E. 10/26/2006 12:32:42 PM ***

Just because you can rationalize one of Six Flag's unpopular decisions, doesn't cause these monthly, or weekly complaints to disappear from the headlines. I guess if you are advocating for the downfall of this company you'd say, keep up the good work, (or bad work as it may be). If the company was smart they would grade success by keeping complaints out of the headlines any way they can, since a bad reputation can't be what they are gunning for.

It doesn't take much to establish a public reputation. All it takes is a couple of jokes from Jay Leno and the public thinks of cockroaches when ever Six Flags is mentioned. Isn't there somebody in the company being paid to pay attention to this stuff?

Are those of you who are playing devil's advocate suggesting Six Flags shouldn't have apologized? If so; are you then suggesting Six Flags needs to focus less on guest relations? Again, if it happened in any other park chain, the press wouldn't have been interested. Six Flags is establishing a reputation, and that's why this incident is news.*** This post was edited by rc-madness 10/26/2006 1:14:16 PM ***

I don't think anyone is discussing it like you're trying to. It's not a SF thing. Does everything have to turn into a 'Six Flags Sucks' post for you? We get it, you're not a fan of the chain and hate what they do.

But even still look at the responses again - the person who dealt with the problem posted. The employees at the attraction handled it exactly like they should have. Once everyone realized this was an exceptional case, the family was offered a solution, but refused. On top of that you have folks from CP mentioning that they enforce the same policies without incident.

Really, who do you think the problem lies with here?

I'd make the same comment if this happened at ANY park.

*** This post was edited by Lord Gonchar 10/26/2006 1:13:52 PM ***

First off, you're not reading or understanding my post Gonch.

Secondly, I don't have a problem with you including your perspective on the matter. I don't need you to understand how my perspective is on topic, but I would appreciate being allowed to express it.

Third, I've said many times I'm a fan of the parks, just not the management, nor park liquidation which is what happens when park chains are billions in debt. In my opinion the company's reputation factors into that equation.

Forth, if you wish to outline this discussion for us Gonch, feel free to referee all you want if you feel so inclined. I'm trusting the rest here can make up their own minds on whether or not my post is worthy of a response. I already got your response so I guess I have that.

Well then perhaps it's time to add an intermediate maze for the kids who are too big for the kiddie maze,yet too small for the adult maze?

Think about it from a ride perspective,we have kiddie coasters for those who aren't tall enough to ride the adult coasters & then we have junior/family coasters<mine trains,spinners etc.> for those who can't quite ride the adult coasters yet but are too big for the kiddie coasters.

Denying the guest in question access to the maze was bad enough,but then to get called on it & allow her access but no candy like the other guests is just plain wrong & borders on discrimination IMHO....it may not seem like much to us enthusiasts but to the GP such action leaves an overall bad impression & makes them less likely to patronize the park in the future & even worse than that is negative word of mouth attention the park wil get by this family telling others of their experience.

In response to MikeWhy:

In a world where common sense is becoming less common (both in staff and customer), I can't understand why people are arguing that *anything* is obvious.

And if something isn't obvious there ought to be a guideline for it...like, say, a rule.

There should be a rule and some kind of cutoff for age or height, no denying that, but maybe 54" isn't it. Half the kids I'll be handing candy to next Tuesday will be taller than that. The logic that kids tall enough to ride big coasters aren't interested in trick or treating is way off.

Where I live, kids will trick or treat until they're in 8th or 9th grade, then it becomes a kiddy thing they're no longer interested in doing. Then they become adults and everyone wants to dress up again. Go figure.

When I look at this, the answer is indeed obvious. Many things in today's world are not, but this one seems very obvious to me. They should have put customer relations first and let her do the trick-or-treating. As someone above wisely said, if this has been Holiday World, they would have taken one look at the little girl and let her go. I have no doubt in my mind about this...

SFWOA did the same thing with my younest daughter a few years ago. Based on height vs. age, she was denied. I looked at my kid and said: Well, you said you wanted to be treated like an adult. Welcome to my world, no candy for me either....
hard to believe that was 4 years ago and she was twelve. The closer she gets to being an adult, the less she wants to. :)

There is a big difference between 12 and 7 though.

Since kids don't carry state-issued ID cards, how about we just implant a chip in everyone, when they're born, that carries their date of birth?

That way, age COULD be used instead of antiquated height measurements that MIGHT have been effective 20-30 years ago in determining "maturity" for ride safety... :)

Hey, let's hear it for the "pre-born"! ;)

^ Hey G, need you to speak a little louder, couldn't hear what ya said... ;)