Guest behavior and ridiculous park policies

not sure if there has been a thread about this, i did a search and i think i have an original idea..i think..and i hope that i posted this in the right place, if not forgive me for being new here but you guys seem like an awesome community and i wanna hear what you have to say so..

I have just one question for you all, parks have regulations and code of conduct clearly placed however some theme park guest still do some of the..oddest things i've ever seen what's some of the things youve seen at a park that you find notable it can be good, bad, funny or stupid whats a notable thing you've seen someone do?

Also on a slightly more edumacated side note, what are some guest policies that you find ridiculous and would change?

Park: Six Flags Great Adventure

While in the station of El Toro i noticed someone hid their hat from the operators and proceeded to put it back on once reaching the lift from the station gates of the last row i could see the train going down the first drop with the same person's hat still intact, he came back to the station and yelled at the operator about losing his hat and demanded reimbursment.

I dont have a particular rule/policy i cannot stand but i would love to hear what you guys come up with

once again sorry if this is in the wrong area and i look forward to being a part of the forums in the future :)

Welcome, TPM!

I was at Hersheypark last Tuesday evening, and saw something not so much odd, but sort of ticked me off. I was getting in line for Lightning Racer behind 2 teenage girls, and one of them ran back toward the ride entrance to leave her glasses with someone. This led to them getting separated by several people in the queue. When the second girl caught up, she asked those of us in between if she could move up with her friend. Nobody objected. I figured they were riding together, so it wasn't like somebody was losing a seat.

Anyway, within seconds, another girl came up and said she wanted to catch up with her friends, who were in front of these two girls. Again, everybody let her through, until she got to these two girls-- who wouldn't budge. Eventually, they begrudgingly let her through. I'm thinking, wow, of all the people to be bothered by line jumping.

In general, I don't have a problem with park policies being ridiculous. I'm more bothered by policies that are inconsistently applied, so you don't know what to expect each time you go.

I got one that stands above all in terms of guests ignorance to rules: SMOKING IN LINE!

I understand smoking tends to be a hot topic in society, but it has been proven overwhelmingly that smoking causes health problems. A person legally smoking is personal choice, but when others are in close confinement waiting for attractions, it is very rude to put others including children in harms way of digusting smells and long-term health effects. I know one smoke won't kill you, but it's the principle behind the rules as well as the healthy enjoyment of others. If you can't wait an hour or two at the very most between smokes, you need to grow up.

Bottom Line: Smoking in line is ingorant to others whom wish to breathe fresh air and live healthy lives.

RatherGoodBear: Are you aware that Hersheypark is the only park I can think of where queue jumping is *not* categorically forbidden? Their posted policy reads, "Rude and deliberate line jumping that inconveniences other guests may result in dismissal from Hersheypark without compensation." In other words, I guess certain forms of line jumping are permitted provided the queue jumper is polite and doesn't inconvenience other guests. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

"Oh, gee...I'm terribly sorry but I'm in a bit of a rush. If it isn't too much trouble I'm just going to dodge past you here so I can get on with the rest of the day."

(Polite line jumping.)

I guess I could see a gray area in this sort of thing. Things that are technically jumping, even though they don't involve cutting off other people. I'm specifically thinking of short-cutting from a ride exit past the first set of queues on some rides when the lines simply aren't there.

Yes, there is that, also some instances where one member of a group has to briefly leave a queue and then re-join, or groups picking up stragglers just inside the queue entrance...lots of general people-shuffling kinds of things that are technically verboten in a zero-tolerance park but that are seldom going to result in any complaints.

The less common but more annoying, "Scuse me scuse me scuse me scuse me", shoving past people and muscling up to the front of the line is still prohibited.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

A couple times recently I've seen adults "send" their children running into line so they could get ahead of other groups, then having the parents do the old "excuse me,our child is way up there in line". I love that, it shows SUCH great parenting... :)

...and I don't let them by :) Being a big guy AND a martial arts black belt gives me enough intimidation factor to stop just about anyone from getting by. ;) I just tell them politely, but firmly, that their child is welcome to join them in the back of the line or that they can ride separately. It's their choice.

I will at times look the other way if I'm close to the front and a kid is legitimately trying to get up with his or her friends, but otherwise I don't usually budge.

Speaking of the line jumping rule, has anyoone ever witnessed someone being escorted out of a park for line-jumping>?

I think twice at Dorney (I am not 100% sure they were kicked out but it looked like it). One time the kid cut the line and the guard sent him to the end of the line. He tried to cut again a few minutes later and the guard took him out of line and I didn't see him return. The 2nd time, a group cut another group and security was called. There was an argument and the cutters cursed at the other group in front of the guards and they were removed from the line and had to go with the guards.

I hate when parks don't enforce the line cutting. At Great Adventure you can get away with it very easily. Twice I have seen people reported to guards for cutting and both times neither group of cutters got in trouble and were allowed to stay in line. And I have seen people smoking in line and guards just walk right past them not saying a word.

I just thought it was ironic that the only people who didn't let the second girl pass by without a fuss was the first girl who jumped the line and her friend.

On another visit to HP either last year or two years ago, two guys tried to catch up to their friends in the queue for Great Bear. A security guard just happened to see them through the fence from the walkway. He told them to go to the back of the line, or else their entire group would have to leave the line. You never saw 2 guys abandoned by their "friends" so quickly. They made it clear they weren't going to be tossed out of line on their friends' account.

At Knoebels I saw a group of teens get tossed of the Italian Trapeze because they were holding onto and pushing each other's swings, even after being told to stop. The op stopped the ride in mid-cycle and said through the mike "everyone please remain seated, the ride is not over. Except you four, get off. Now!" Everyone standing around that cluster of rides and food stands saw and heard the whole thing. The teens were escorted away by security (who were at the exit by the time the ride was stopped), but I don't know if they were ejected from the park.

I too hate policies that are not consistent. Cedar Fair re-ride policy is one that I don't understand. There are some rides that you can jump back on and others that you have to go around even if the station is 100% empty of guests.

That's probably my least favorite CF policy. I hate not being allowed to re-ride at Dorney and it is such a waste of time to walk through the empty queue with a train is going out 3/4 empty. A couple of years ago someone told me they were at some event with ERT and even during ERT they weren't allowed to re-ride.

I don't agree with the re-ride policy either. I always thought that they wanted accurate counts through the turnstile thing-a-ma-jigger, but that still wouldn't explain VIP'rs walking through the exits and not being counted. Or am I reading to much into them counter things?

Corkscrew, I believe that VIP's may be counted separately, at least at some parks. Cedar Point, for example, takes counting riders very seriously, for some reason.

YoshiFan said:
I hate when parks don't enforce the line cutting. At Great Adventure you can get away with it very easily.

Especially if you pay the park about $35. :)

Corkscrew Follies said:
I don't agree with the re-ride policy either. I always thought that they wanted accurate counts through the turnstile thing-a-ma-jigger, but that still wouldn't explain VIP'rs walking through the exits and not being counted. Or am I reading to much into them counter things?

The reason I've been given pretty consistantly on the no re-ride is it's for medical reasons or that it's an insurance related policy. Supposedly some people don't realize they're not feeling well until they stand up. So the walk around is kind of a breather to make sure the individual is ready for another ride. Not sure of the science behind that but it's what I've always been told.

For what it's worth the crew member that has to tell you about the policy would much rather just recheck you and send the train rather than have to close the restraints on a bunch of empty seats.

Here is a policy that I am wondering about from Schlitterbahn. On the back of my Season Pass there it says Diving in pools for lost property or not turning in found property to park personnel and the use of goggles or similar eyewear for locating property in pools is prohibited. I wonder what made them have to put those rules on the back of my season pass card?

Probably because they were having issues with season pass holders coming through for the purpose of retrieving others' lost property.

Do they permit goggles for the purpose of seeing? Best waterpark-related investment I ever made was a pair of optically-corrective goggles...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.