No re-entry at Sux Flags this Year
We should wait and see what happens during the season.
Also great adventure will be getting an onsite hotel next year.
I do not think this no reentry policy will last that long because of the upcoming hotel if it still is being built.
gadvs ticket policy is still not clear yet . We are not sure if it still includes the safari admission. IF it does this would apply as a mutlipark ticket and be excluded from this new rule.
Most of the other sf parks have one gate right?
At Philadelphia Flyer games they don't let you go out any door to pollute your lungs as was so nicely said above. They make you go out of two sets of doors and stand in what I would call a pen. It's an area with railings marking the area and security standing there to make sure no one goes out of the area or comes in those doors without the re-entry pass and their ticket. Talk about making someone feel like a second class citizen?
This whole no re-entry thing I feel is now getting over blown as most sites have had it there and taken it down. Seems to me like Six Flags is trying to think of things and testing them out on the web or are just making ghost pages that are being published for a little bit to see that they are standard then removing them and hiding them in case the decision to run with this policy is made.
A day at the park is what you make it!
Better yet, Have a Snyder Mascott outside the park. The Mascott says you can't re-enter. I say I can! BLAM!
sorry folks, the moose in front should have told you.
Honestly, I suspect it's another case of enthusiasts not understanding the GP's wants and needs.
Which is why I'll ask again: how many guests actually leave and re-enter your average theme park in a single day?
I'm not looking for "I see it all the time." I'm looking for actual data.
For example, I belong to a site run by a former WDW Guest Services/VIP Cast Member. He often states that based on numbers he saw as a CM, very few people leave/re-enter at WDW---people enter a park mid-to-late morning, they stay until they can't take it any more, and then they leave. Most people don't even hop.
I have a sneaking suspicion that, for most single-gate theme parks, the set of people leaving and re-entering is small, and that most of those that do, it'd be inconvenient not to be able to, but probably not a deal-breaker. I also have a sneaking suspicion that most (as in "nearly all") parkgoers don't stay from O-C. They get there late and/or leave early. I don't have any data to back this up, though it's at least possible. After all, when's the best time to ride? The first hour, and the last hour.
Separately-gated but adjacent theme/water parks are probably the biggest exception, but even there, the water park is often a heck of a lot smaller than the theme park is; clearly not everyone is hopping between them. As a combo passholder at CP, I buy a stash of ride-n-slides to use to bring guests with me. Even then, about half of the time we never visit the waterpark, despite the fact that I always suggest it to get out of the heat.
As a parent with young kids, I generally have two "visit patterns": if I am staying overnight, I usually take a mid-day break to cool off and get away, to return in the evening. It would suck not to be able to do that.
If I'm only making a day-visit, we get there early, and stay until mid-to-late afternoon, and then go home. Any later, and we're all just death-marching from ride to ride rather than having any fun. For day visits, it's nice to be able to duck out to stash/retrieve things, but I could live without it if I have to. When the kids were younger, we kept "stuff" (diapers, snacks, etc.) in a backpack that often just ended up sitting in the wagon/stroller out of the way somewhere while we were on a ride and couldn't bring it with us. Would have sucked if someone stole it, but the total cost to replace the whole shebang brand new might have been about $50. Now that they're older, we only bring in what we can each carry in a cargo pocket/fanny pack. (Unlike Gonch's family, we're dorks.)
*** Edited 1/12/2006 7:54:31 PM UTC by Brian Noble***
Fanny packs would be back in style if this is enforced...lol!
"Sir, fanny pack sales are up 800% due to Six Flags' new policy."
Fierce Pancake said:
SFAW already has a no re-entry policy.
<zing!>
Classic.
Hobbes: "What's the point of attaching a number to everything you do?"
Calvin: "If your numbers go up, it means you're having more fun."
Brian Noble said:
I'm not looking for "I see it all the time." I'm looking for actual data.
I work for a major North American Theme Park. 10-20%.
And not that you needed a reminder, but 10% of, oh lets say, 25,000 guests on a weekend at your average Six Flags is 2,500 pissed off people.
Guests who leave the park and get pissed off that they can't come back may not come back for a year or so...(assuming they do come back ever).
But if they DON'T come back, how do you measure that? SF have had declining attendance for a while now (IIRC), it will just look like the same trend continuing.
Seriously, how do you measure how many people don't come to your park? I guess if the parks are already overcrowded then its not a problem, but I have my doubts that SF are in this position generally speaking. And if they *are* generally overcrowded, how in the heck are they losing money?
The biggest issue I see is with a park like SFGAdv letting *some* people re-enter while telling others they can't. That's going to cause a ton of confusion and frustration.
It will be a nuthouse at first and for much of the 2006 season, but as I said in a previous post, if this actually happens at these parks I don't think it's a "toss it out and see what happens" sort of thing. This is an attempt by these guys to start changing the way the game is played.
By 2007 it'll be old hat.
Sorry, having a crystal ball moment there...;)
Also, working that job taught me that no matter how many signs you have pointing something out, there's still going to be plenty of people who are too ignorant to notice them. Can you imagine the fight from someone who went to their car and needed to come back in and find their group/family? I would not want to be the employee dealing with that, although I admit it might be amusing to watch.
-Chris
CP Admissions and Screamsters 2005
I work for a major North American Theme Park. 10-20%.
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Presumably, not all of these people *need* to go out to the car. Some are "gee maybe I should get/stash my sweater/sunglasses/whatever." Yes, it would be a bummer not to be able to leave and come back, but would it ruin their day?
If, for most of these people, the issue is convenience and not necessity, then no re-entry may not be the end of the world. Annoying perhaps, but there are precious few other venues that allow re-entry, and so in some sense people's expectations have already been lowered.
So, what's necessity?
There's medication. We probably need GregLeg's opinion on this, as IIRC he is a diabetic. My recollection is that he carries everything he needs with him and/or to an in-park first-aid station, rather than leaving stuff in the car.
There's "kid equipment"---diapers, etc. But, most parents of young children travel through theme parks like an army on the move: large strollers packed to the gills with crap.
I'm not sure what else is necessity.
There's certainly a lot of convenience issues, too. One convenience is stashing/retreiving. But, I'm guessing even most of us could live without stash/retreive if we really had to. Likely, most of us would probably go in light, and every once in a while might rent a locker for our 56 pounds of photo equipment.
The GP doesn't have 56 pounds of photo equipment.
One convenience is getting out of hot/wet weather for a bit. I don't have a good answer for this one, because I can't think of any park that has enough air-conditioned and/or covered space.
Finally, there's leaving the park to eat cheap. I'm not sure if Six Flags cares if they lose those customers, becase they are contributing to the problem---people who purchase cheap season passes and make multiple visits without generating any other income.
In other words, a significant portion of the enthusiast community.
I'm with Gonch on this---if they really go through with it, I suspect it alone won't cause many people to decide not to (re-)visit Six Flags, particularly if they correct other customer service issues. Judging by the public comments of management, that might actually happen.
*** Edited 1/13/2006 3:08:35 PM UTC by Brian Noble***
...That particular day. But if you asked how many people in an amusement park have EVER left a park and re-entered, the percentage would be much higher I'm sure.
Maybe. But, most people who visit a theme park visit only once a year. So, then again, maybe not.
What's going to happen when they shell out an additional $5.00 to park up close and then find out they can't leave the park to go back to their car?
*** Edited 1/13/2006 4:51:13 PM UTC by Jeffrey Seifert***
Maybe they will 'sell' handstamps for re-entry.
I can see it now:
For a mere 5 bucks, you too can leave the park, eat a restaurant of your choice and return to the park for the rest of your day!
Only 5 Bucks!!!! Cheap cheap cheap!
God, I hope I'm not right.
Great Lakes Brewery Patron...
-Mark
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