New Restrictive Ride Policy at Great Adventure

You probably better get Richard to go around with you all day, too.

Shivering Timbers got a better response than I did. I got an email from the park apologizing for the delay and saying that they would refer my inquiry to their ride team. Have heard nothing further. Maybe, b/c I wrote them a long narrative, this is too complicated for them to deal with. What Mr. Six said about no-one noticing his bulging pockets is interesting, as my bulging pockets are what immediately caught the attention of the guard at Ka. There's so much junk in my pockets - wallet, phone, camera, car keys, phone charger, sunscreen, medication, lipstick, etc. - that it would be difficult to miss. (Had to start carrying a charger b/c Ka used to kill the battery of my phone.)

The issue of wallets really kills me. Both Ka and Toro now have signs posted saying no wallets (in addition to all of the other no-no's). All of my cargo pants and shorts are of the exact same manufacture and design, with 3 zipper pockets in front and 1 in back. My wallet always goes in the back pocket. Ergo, I am always sitting on my wallet when I ride either one of those - or anything else in the park - and no coaster I've ever ridden (with the exception of Phoenix at Knoebels) has enough airtime to lift me out of my seat far enough for my wallet to escape were it not in a secure pocket.

Now that I think about it, Morey's Piers had this policy at The Great Nor'easter when I visited a few years back. I'm pretty sure the guy standing at the entrance had a wand. It was unnerving that I had to leave my wallet in a locker. I had all my money in there. If I lose that, my trip is ruined. Also, my iPod is as prized as a possession to me as some of you with your iPhones. I wouldn't have been able to easily afford to buy myself another iPod, especially while on vacation. I use that thing constantly for everything.

I wasn't happy about it, but I wanted to ride, so I did it. I think the locker was free, but I can't recall for sure.

I carry a small purse with me to parks because I don't want to take my wallet and phone with me on rides, plus I NEED sunscreen or I'll fry like bacon. If the lockers cost money and are timed, I'll put mostly everything in the locker, keep a little paper money out, secure that in a zip pocket, and then ride everything I can in that time window. Usually because (at Great Adventure) I Flashpass, I can ride everything on one side of the park that I want to ride, grab my locked up valuables, and move on to the next section. Before I figured this out, I spent about 13 dollars on lockers, but I've got it down to 3-4 dollars.

However, that's after spending how much on a Flashpass, so...I guess some of this depends on where in the park you want to have your money taken. I choose what I feel optimizes my experience because I don't get to go to GrAdv much anymore.

Also, even with zippered pockets, I worry that my cell phone will get jostled or bent on rides, so there's that. I don't want to take too much money or a credit card on the rides because if I lose it, I might not be getting home. Stranger things have happened on rides than a zipper coming undone or a Velcro patch ripping open, so I just don't do it. Yeah, it sucks to have to pay the money for the lockers, but I'd rather not be stranded or broken hearted (my phone refuses to update, I can't seem to get it to sync to the cloud, etc., so I'd lose SO many pictures and songs). I'd also rather not be the one who knocks someone unconscious if these objects flew out of my pocket. Not worrying about these things makes for a better experience for me as well, but everyone is different.

It does seem to me, however, that this new "system" is their way of enforcing a cash grab we've been complaining about for years, as well as them doing the bare minimum to look like they're concerned about previous incidents. My cynical enthusiast guess is that they got sued for the teeth thing on Toro and this is the response.

RideMan said:

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...

You sure you don't have those numbers backward? :)

LostKause said:

I think the locker was free, but I can't recall for sure.

One of my non-American friends said that a) the locker wasn't free, and b) the system didn't accept non-US credit cards. As he was there on his own he wasn't able to ride.

That really sucks. Couldn't he have gone to the ATM and pulled out some cash?

Not sure if they've changed it since, but the last time I was there Nor'Easter's lockers were free for something like the first 20 minutes. They still required a credit card however, which I assume would automatically be charged if you retrieved your stuff after the free 20 minutes.

Mr. Six said:

Not sure if they've changed it since, but the last time I was there Nor'Easter's lockers were free for something like the first 20 minutes. They still required a credit card however, which I assume would automatically be charged if you retrieved your stuff after the free 20 minutes.

Hmm, perhaps I got a slightly garbled version of the reality. I do know that an international credit card wasn't accepted making it impossible for my friend to ride.

This is utter BS. I'm honestly surprised they haven't gotten swamped with complaints and pulled this moronic policy. I sincerely hope it doesn't spread across the industry like a toxic plague.

Let us not forget that Six Flags will gladly let you waltz up to El Toro with your Flash Pass clipped to your pants, or let you wear VR on a coaster or drop tower (including S:TR and Medusa, both of similar intensity to El Toro.)

Safety matters to Six Flags*.

* If creating "safety" policies makes them money. Otherwise, screw "safety"!

[URL][IMG]GigaG's point about being able to ride El Toro or Ka with a Flash Pass is a good one that hadn't even occurred to me when I started this thread, maybe b/c I never get a Flash Pass at my home park. However, I did get one at Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Saturday in order to maximize my experience at a park I visit only once or twice a year and I must say that the chances of the Flash Pass coming loose far exceed the chances of anything in my zipper pockets coming loose. In fact I was so conscious of that thing hanging from my belt and so protective of it that on every ride I made sure it was either tucked between my legs under the lap bar or in some other position where it wouldn't move. Allowing Flash Passes on extreme thrill rides while excluding secured personal items is the height of absurdity. (Pic of me with my Flash Pass outside Iron Rattler.) [image=[/URL]]

I've been to great adventure a few times since this "policy" came into effect. The gentleman sitting next to me on one of my Kingda Ka rides took out his phone while we were on the transfer track waiting, despite my warning that he could be ejected from the park for multiple years (5 according to ride operators).

I don't have a huge problem with this, however it does suck I have to wait in line at a locker to give money to the park and like other posters have said before, I almost lost a FlashPass on The Joker at Discovery Kingdom.

Something I had not thought of before this weekend when it comes to not being able to take something on a ride with you or storing it in a bin immediately available to you when the ride is over...I met up with a high school friend and her son at Cedar Point yesterday. First ride we went on together she was getting ready to hand a few things to her son to put in the bin but I was wearing my riding shorts and my denim jacket which both have velcro pockets that I installed myself just for riding coasters so I offered to just put the stuff in my pocket. Later I realized one of the items was her epi auto-injector for her allergy to bee stings. It occurred to me that this isn't something you would want to put in a locker that you would have to walk any distance to before and after you ride. This is something that needs to be immediately available to you when you get off the ride. I wonder what the policy on items like these would be for these two rides. Would they force someone to put their epipen in a locker to be able to ride even if they had a secure pocket?

Paisley said:

This is something that needs to be immediately available to you when you get off the ride. I wonder what the policy on items like these would be for these two rides. Would they force someone to put their epipen in a locker to be able to ride even if they had a secure pocket?

I believe Epi-Pens are okay, and if they aren't they should be.

Equally frustrating, last season when I went to SFMM. When I went to ride X, they forced me to buy a locker for my souvenir sports cup that came with my dining pass. Every other ride at SFGAm, SFStl and SFMM that I rode I was able to keep the souvenir cup on the platform, but at X the only way I was allowed to ride was if I bought a locker.

Meanwhile every train that comes in and out of the station people are leaving shoes all over the place while they ride the ride. It was ok for them to leave shoes all over the platform but not the cups like every other ride.

This wouldn't have been a problem had I been able to get my meal pass drink without the souvenir cup. Then I wouldn't have to carry it around, but they make me carry it around if I want to get what I paid for. So I shouldn't have to pay for a locker every time I want to ride a ride.

I am in Singapore this week for work.

I had a free day on Sunday, and I was going to go to Universal Studios – then I remembered that they use metal detectors at the entrances to the big coasters – and I decided to go to a movie instead.

Richard Bannister said:

I am in Singapore this week for work.

I had a free day on Sunday, and I was going to go to Universal Studios – then I remembered that they use metal detectors at the entrances to the big coasters – and I decided to go to a movie instead.

Oh, come on it's not that bad. One policy I don't understand is WDW's metal detectors at park entrances. Only certain people are selected to go through them, like myself, every time, because I'm brown. Really classy Disney.

I don't know when you last visited, but they are not optional anymore. I also doubt very much that you were racially profiled, because me and my alabaster looking 7-year-old went through them pretty much every time.

Jaiden said:

Oh, come on it's not that bad.

You're entitled to your opinion.

Personally I think the policy to be a complete pain in the ass. It takes away half the fun of going to a park when you have to be wanded before every ride – and then have to go queue for a locker because you accidentally left one Singapore dollar in a zipped back pocket (true story).

It's worth calling out that they still have a thirty second recorded loop in the BSG queue telling you about the definitions of loose objects (repeated in three languages) despite the fact that they've wanded you on the way in.

I like to enjoy parks. I do not enjoy what the Universal experience has become.

Jaiden said: One policy I don't understand is WDW's metal detectors at park entrances. Only certain people are selected to go through them...

Actually, everybody knows Disney only sends the poor people through.