New Restrictive Ride Policy at Great Adventure

If they're not sending you through metal detectors or patting you down, then there's a simple solution: put the crap in your pockets before you get in line, and don't pull it back out until you're off of the ride.

kpjb said:

If they're not sending you through metal detectors or patting you down, then there's a simple solution: put the crap in your pockets before you get in line, and don't pull it back out until you're off of the ride.

I know that legally GA can use metal detectors or wands.

I don't think a Line Attendant or Security Guard can "touch" anyone.

Also,what would metal detectors or "wanding" at ride entrances do to wait times ?

^^ I got the impression from the original post that the crap was in their pockets and they were told to go empty the pocket into a locker. When you have stuff in your cargo pockets it shows. If I was carrying things that were small enough to not make my cargo pocket bulge enough to be noticeable I probably wouldn't need cargo pockets in the first place.

Seems like no matter what pants I wear I always have a bulge. I guess some things are just impossible to to hide.

Should have seen that one coming, just what my husband would have said....

I guess they must have just implemented this in the past week or so, as I wasn’t given any trouble about having things in my pocket on opening day. I’m not a frequent complainer − I can’t remember the last time I went to Guest Relations − but I’ll definitely go voice my displeasure if/when I encounter this new policy.

Whew! Just when I thought coaster enthusiasts might run out of new material for complaining. But seriously...I bet they close by the end of the summer.

I'm sure. And there it will be. A brand new, shiny hotel... all for nothing. The irony is dizzying.

Maybe we should start a campaign for Pepsi to pay for lockers for everyone.

1. The policy is understandable on extreme rides. Just because some people are responsible to secure items in their pockets, the ones that aren't ruin it for everyone.

2. However, it would be excellent customer service to provide some kind of complimentary locker system. Actually allowing nothing to be carried into ride lines speeds up operations.

3. Six Flags is one of the worst at any kind of customer service. They just don't seem to care enough even to answer email questions. So they probably don't care that they make anyone mad with an inconsistent policy or back-handed pay-to-ride schemes like the lockers.

4. Six Flags sell their passes cheap, so thus they nickel and dime with things like this to make up for it.

5. Low quality experiences is why Six Flags disappeared from my annual park trips a couple years ago.

If you're going to go by the screen name of Super7, I expect two more bullet points out of you.

Probably the reason for the asterisk after the 7.

Sometimes I think these parks are going out of their way to annoy their customers and are in a fight with the airlines to see who can abuse their customers more and still get away with it.

The problem with a restrictive policy like this is not so much about wanting to keep crap off of the rides; persistent bad behavior and resulting incidents makes that necessary. It's about what it does to the customers as a result. On the one hand, this is a solved problem: some of us have come up with ways of carrying our stuff so that it presents no danger to anyone. Some parks have very accommodating policies as well; for instance, I have a belt-bag for my camera that can ride almost any ride without interfering with the restraint, which is the standard for most rides in most parks.

But to say that you have to empty your pockets to ride, then put all your stuff into a locker, which if the ride breaks down is going to demand more money from you to get your wallet out, is a system that is asking for trouble. Furthermore, a lot of the crap that people carry with them (okay, we're mostly talking about cell phones here) is to keep them occupied *while they are waiting in line*.

It seems to me that this is another area where Holiday World is the only park I have been to that seems to have even dabbled in providing the *right* solution. And no, I am not talking about the somewhat-secured bins on the platform or the free lockers they used to have on the platform. I'm talking about what they did for Pilgrims Plunge and for Mammoth. In both of those cases, there is an area *in the queue, just before the boarding area* with crap-storage bins. You wait in line for an hour, carrying all of your crap with you, then before you enter the station, and before you get into the boarding shotgun, you step out of line, put your stuff in a bin or locker, then step back into line. Ten minutes later you get off the ride, and you remove your stuff from the back side of the bin on your way away from the ride. Putting the lockers and stuff-intercept into the right place would avoid holding up the boarding process, avoid separating people from their crap until it is absolutely necessary to do so, and require a lot fewer lockers or bins for the process.

All that said, I do think it is unreasonable to ask anyone to leave his wallet behind if he's carrying it in a pocket. And if you demand that people leave their expensive toys behind, hiding behind a $20 liability limit is a very bad idea. Take those locker fees and buy some damn insurance, or the smart customer will be unwilling to leave the $400 phone and $1200 camera behind...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Oh Great Adventure. The park that has enabled us to have ugly bright orange restraints and several other obnoxiously slow dispatch "issues."

When Six Flags was thinking about getting rid of Magic Mountain a few years ago, I was hoping Cedar Fair would get it. Same goes with Great Adventure. I've never been a Cedar Fair fanboy (well, at least in over 20 years), but they sure know how to operate a big thrill park. Imagine those big parks, but run more like a CF park!?

We would probably lose a few classic rides and some trees (winky), but think about the top-notch operations. For whatever it's worth, season passes wouldn't be $70 anymore, that might help.

I haven't been to Great Adventure in over a decade, and no plans of going back soon. Oddly, my home park is SF Great America, and as bad as it can be, I still feel it's the best run park in the chain. And what a great ride variety!

I got to see this new policy in effect yesterday. El Toro and Kingda Ka each had two employees stationed at the ride entrances: the usual line greeter whose responsibilities have been expanded to include enforcing the new policy, plus a security guard whose sole job is to enforce the policy. I use the term “enforce” loosely, however, as all they really do is tell everyone that everything, especially keys and phones, must be removed from one’s pockets. I walked right by without saying a word to them, and they did not try to stop me to ask about by bulging pockets.

I still saw someone whip out a phone on Kingda Ka, so obviously the new policy does nothing to improve rider safety. Rule abiding park-goers are inconvenienced, while troublemakers are still able to sneak by with their phones. Unfortunately, I think it’s just a matter of time until they start using metal detectors at the ride entrances. Other parks (Universal Orlando, Morey’s, Playland’s Castaway Cove) already do this, but of course the difference is that those parks don’t charge you to store your stuff.

Sometimes I think these parks are going out of their way to annoy their customers and are in a fight with the airlines to see who can abuse their customers more and still get away with it.

Seriously, if you feel that way, you're doing parks wrong or something.

In over 30 park visits last year I never ever felt anything like that. And I went to SFMM.

Some if someone has a different opinion than you do, they must be doing it wrong? Can't be they just have a different opinion? How can you be so sure you aren't the one doing it wrong (assuming there is an absolute right and wrong way to experience the world - which btw, I don't think there is)?

I use a small zippered leather pouch for my pass, ID, etc. It has a key ring that I attach to my belt loop with a D-ring.

Sent an inquiry to Great Adventure if they would consider this "loose" since it is attached and would I be able to ride with it. Got a call from Richard at the park last Sat. and he left a message stating that if I feel it is secure then I can ride with it.

Hope to visit this park for the first time in early June so will see what happens.

GoBucks89 said:
Some if someone has a different opinion than you do, they must be doing it wrong? Can't be they just have a different opinion? How can you be so sure you aren't the one doing it wrong (assuming there is an absolute right and wrong way to experience the world - which btw, I don't think there is)?

If you feel parks (plural) are doing all they can to annoy you, and it's a constant problem that you have, yes. I feel you have issues beyond an opinion of not liking a policy.

You know how I know I'm not doing my hobby wrong? Because I enjoy it when I participate.

SHIVERINGTIMBERS said:

I use a small zippered leather pouch for my pass, ID, etc. It has a key ring that I attach to my belt loop with a D-ring.

Sent an inquiry to Great Adventure if they would consider this "loose" since it is attached and would I be able to ride with it. Got a call from Richard at the park last Sat. and he left a message stating that if I feel it is secure then I can ride with it.

Hope to visit this park for the first time in early June so will see what happens.

Hope you saved that message.