No re-entry at Sux Flags this Year

Actually, the no-re-entry policy was part of the pre-marketing for the new upcharge attraction "Bed: The Ride". The idea has been scrapped since no manufacturers submitted bids for the new "tallest and fastest" beds.

An alternative solution that has been considered is "Stationary Seat:The Ride". Some in higher management doubt that this will be all that popular, though, since several parks already have these Intamin Hydraulic stationary seat rides, and their running capacity is usually well below that listed in their design criteria.

I'll go away now...

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DWeaver said:
This seems a little extreme to me, but I digress.

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No more extreme than bouncing site to site for info on a new coaster the day it's announced.

Heck, I'd even argue that this affects one's park going experience even more than any new ride would.

I wonder if the SFA PR Department got a phone call from a certain Motley Fool Reporter after a certain coaster enthusaist emailed him and pointed him to the new policy. ;)

I guess this is SFA's way of putting the fun back in the park? Now if they would only announce what's happening, if anything in 2006. :(

I see your point Gonch. I guess it just won't affect me as much as I rarely visit Six Flags parks anymore and when I do, I eat a big breakfast and big dinner. I rarely buy food inside the parks, and for me it isn't worth the time it takes to walk all the way back to my car for anything unless I'm leaving, period.

Disney solves this problem by taking you so far away from your car that it's litterally not worth walking out mid-day unless your staying at one of their over priced properties. I still don't think this policy will ever see the light of day and even if it does, they lose people who don't spend much money in their parks anyway.

If anything, I think it's putting the cart before the horse. Give people some better food options and offer a more welcoming product before you start restricting anything.

I still find the "Six Flags" watch hilarious. Most of these parks aren't even open for the season yet. lol *** Edited 1/10/2006 10:52:23 PM UTC by DWeaver***

Thing is, if you look at it as preventing people from picnicking or going out of the park for lunch, you're missing the point entirely. I don't usually leave the park for lunch, but I'm out to the car on almost any visit. Ever been to a park when it was 90 degrees at noon, but into the 50's by evening? Or 50 degrees at 10AM and 90 by noon? Ever decide part-way through your day that you really should have brought your camera? Or that you are finished with it and ought not to be carrying it around? Or maybe you decided that the waterpark is looking kind of attractive now, though it wasn't when you arrived?

Initially I thought this one was some idle chatter in a back room somewhere. Then I saw the website update, then the updated update, and now I don't know what to think. Except that I'm fairly confident that intelligence is ultimately going to prevail on this one. If any Six Flags park tries to put it into practice, the policy won't last long (I'm thinking "days" if not "hours". Kind of like the 54" maximum height requirement on Cedar Point's Woodstock Express.)

Oh, and DWeaver, if you're down in Florida, it is a lot easier and a lot faster (not to mention a lot less walking) to get to your car from Disney's Magic Kingdom than it is to get back to your car from Islands of Adventure! (I've had to do it at both...)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Exactly, Rideman. There's a lot more to it than the food thing. To me even more key to the idea is locker use.

In fact, one of the ghost updates that appeared briefly on the SFA page today that wasn't mentioned here showed up on the "Park Tips" page and read:

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5. Bring a jacket or sweatshirt for cool evenings. Store it in lockers on Main Street. Plan accordingly, as same-day re-entry is not allowed.

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Just another of the many ways that they can force in-park spending with this policy.

It will also piss off a lot of customers to the point that they won't come back.

Here's a question: how many people actually leave and re-enter a park? I do often, but I assume that my park touring habits are not "normal", so I'd be interested to know if anyone has any actual data.

(I also almost never bring food/drinks with me, and end up eating in the park even though I don't have to, but that's beside the point.)

In any event, we are all looking at this from a per-capita revenue perspective. There is also a safety and security perspective. Where do most fights happen? Seems to me that *most* of the ones we hear about (shootings, knives, etc.) happen in parking lots. If you're in the park and have a beer or two, no big deal, and the park employees can stop serving someone who is drunk. If you're ducking out to your car for the jack daniels, well, that's different.

-brian, who is reminding you that he still doesn't believe this will happen, and is just offering conversation.

*** Edited 1/10/2006 11:49:24 PM UTC by Brian Noble***

Well if they're easing up on pre-entrance security, parks like SFMM and SFA are leaving themselves open for situations like what you mention. Also, what's to stop people from running to their cars for weapons if they know they won't be checked at the gate.

I see your points. I still think policy would punish more people than it helps, but from a personal point of view, it wouldn't affect me much at all.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10788771/

I didnt know that the people at the Fool were fools :)

This doesnt make any sense. Mainly because how can you deny re-entry on season pass holders? *** Edited 1/11/2006 3:10:11 AM UTC by Steel158***

right now the SFA page reads as follows:

PARK RE-ENTRY: If you wish to leave the park and return the same day, you MUST have your hand stamped at the exit. If you leave the park grounds via your vehicle, retain your parking ticket for same day re-admittance.

^ But for how long... LOL!

The policy seems to be evolving minute by minute....maybe "we" have more input during the Snyder regime than we ever did under Burke and Story? :)

Or....not... ;)

Steel,

I don't understand what the difference between no re-entry for single day ticket holders and season pass holders is.

What makes a season pass so different?

Not meaning this as a personal attack, but I've seen/heard a lot of people saying that and I'm slightly confused..

At most parks if you have a season pass and it is scanned at the gate a computer keeps track of your pass number. In order to exit and re-enter you need a handstamp as you cannot rescan your pass.

Well, I do have a question about SFA especially. The locker situation is bad there....if they do go to a no re-entry policy the least they could do is add more overpriced lockers. I mean really, you would think a corporation would add more lockers that they make a killing on. I went a few times in the 2005 season and I had to WAIT for the honor of PAYING for a locker at the water park. I kept thinking to myself...if I owned this place, I would add more lockers...such a simple way of making more money while keeping guests happy while they spend their money! Sheesh.

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Jason Hammond said:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10788771/[/quote]

That is the same story (found on a different site) that I posted this morning on page two of this thread.

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palwine, when we went to Dorney in July of 2001 (the year Talon opened), I think we arrived at the park somewhere between 10 and 11am. There wasn't a single locker available in Wildwater Kingdom. We had to use the lockers up the front gate, which "technically" you're not supposed to do (since they're cheaper). Oh yeah, and by the way, Talon was a one-train wait!

And I also have to tell you about our experience at Holiday World. Again, granted the waterpark was jam-packed, it was July, and I think they've added more lockers since 2002. It wasn't waiting for an expensive locker in Splashin Safari that was a problem, it was finding out that you could barely get your stuff in the lockers!--which is why a lot of people left your shoes on top. I think it was the first time that I couldn't share a locker with someone.

At SFA, we've managed to get three person's belongings in the larger locker, and you've got access to it all day long without repaying. Split the cost three ways, get a deposit back at the end of the night (yes, you can get your deposit back even if Hurricane Harbor has closed for the evening. Just go to Main Street where the strollers are rented out) and the price isn't too bad.

they actually update the website for this policy, but after 5 years and 5 e-mails (one each year) they still won't add "twister" to the rides list for SFDL...

:P *** Edited 1/11/2006 5:30:36 AM UTC by SFDL_Dude***