Hersheypark Goes Mobile

So now Hershey has a mobile page to access with your phone for the latest park info.

http://mobile.hersheypark.com

Showtimes. Closed rides. What's happening in the park. The info you'd expect to be able to get on your phone.

(Where's that thread on CB about using cell phones as a information device in the parks? Some of us got it. :) )

I was disappointed last week that the one Universal Orlando put up was not being used. That said, they do have new electronic signage throughout the parks now with wait times.

I think it's exciting because it's just the start.

More and more parks will do this and the info, delivery and interaction will get more and more sophisticated.

It's your first glimpse of the future. :)

Not sure this is all that useful, "Coal Cracker
Shorter wait times first thing in the morning and right after dinner."

The show times and hours is useful though.

The closed rides is very useful too...as long as it's constantly updated throughout the day.

The silly tips like the Coal Cracker thing could be useful (or at least seem like it) to someone who doesn't visit parks a lot.

Like I said, I think it's just the very beginning. As more places use this and more people get hip to it, it'll get more and more useful.

Right now it's the 'early adopters' that will make it happen - like any new tech or idea.

How long did it take Qbots and Flashpasses to catch on? I see it taking slightly longer than those because you have to use your own equipment and use your own initiative to actually utilize it.

But the cost to the park to get a system like this going is minimal.

Interesting that parks are doing this the same time at least one chain is prohibiting all loose items in their queues. Will both of these trends become the rule at all parks?

Can't see people refreshing their screens too often with their phones stowed away in those temp lockers. Guess it will be a good thing for people with cargo shorts.

BTW Gonch,I don't know if your thread title was supposed to be a Who reference, but that was the first thing I thought of when I read it. *** Edited 6/14/2008 2:06:56 AM UTC by RatherGoodBear***

No, it wasn't meant to be a Who reference, but I'll gladly take the credit. :)

You actually bring up a great point with the phones/lockers thing and made me think of something quite profound...

What does SF make you do with your Q-bot device when you ride? :)

Ok, how hard did I laugh when I read the thing about the mobile phones being useless due to being stored in the lockers? Hehehehehe....this is an all pervasive topic! LOL

Just what we need! More peeps walking around looking at their phones and not where they are walking. Then they cuss you out like you did something wrong when they walked right into you.

I would like to see parks ban cell phones. Going to the park should be about getting away from everyday life. How did we ever enjoy our day at the park in the old days before cell phones?

It is a lot better than Twitter.

So how does this work?

Do I have to access the internet on my phone, and then type in the website address from there?

I don't see how that is more convenient than Twitter...

You are exactly right.

I like twitter better because I do not have an internet plan for my phone, but I do have text messaging. In addition, if there is some sort of announcement to be made, I will know immediately with twitter.

"If the wait time is long try the Sidewinder or sooperdooperLooper."

I'd be interested to see if this sort of thing in the future could actually make people consider rides they otherwise wouldn't have. In a park with a massive ride collection obviously most guests are only going to ride a handful so it would be interesting to see if something like this really could direct people over to something like Looper and even out lines.

That is an interesting point. I think it would be a beneficial side effect. I wonder what the ROI potential is on this and whether Cedar Fair and Six Flags would jump on board. Perhaps Six Flags could add some sort of advertising to help them out.

I don't want a flood of text messages being sent to me when I may only be interested in the wait times for Roller Coaster 1. That is why a static site is better than Twitter.

I'm with Neuski.

Put the info there and let me get what I need. Don't flood me with info - much of which I don't need.

Have your cake and eat it too then, Gonch. ;)

But why should a park use only one thing to distribute this kind of information? One of the biggest problems I have out there are companies starting new websites or services that are identical to an already existing one. For instance, each TV network distributes their shows online themselves, rather than let the viewer say, I want to use Hulu, or maybe I will buy it from iTunes.

Hershey should be using this, Twitter and anything else people are using to get their messages out there. IMO!