People wanting to ride together

I was at SFStL Friday and it was pretty busy. On three separate ocassions whilst waiting at the gates people asked me if I would let someone in their group go in front of me so they could ride toegether. I know this happens a lot in parks but at the last 6 parks I have been to in 6 days everyone else has let me go in front of them so they can ride with their group.

Yet everyone in SFStL thought I should wait longer so they can ride together, and they weren't happy when I said no.

Is this a mid-america phenomenon or I am just a mean coaster enthusiast?

Yeah, that's odd.

I believe proper etiquette is to allow others to go ahead of you if you're trying to line up to ride with others. Never had someone ask to jump ahead to ride together.

Grant said:
or I am just a mean coaster enthusiast?

Not in my book are ya.

Gonch has it right; it's proper to ask people to go ahead of you if you want to get your whole group on one train. Sometime in the last few years, your experience has become standard, with a person in the group asking to cut in front of others. I've suggested the "other way" to people a few times and they look at me like I just said or did a horrible thing and end with something like a very snarky "just forget it!" It's kinda baffling to me.

I'll group this phenomenon with the increasing "I have to catch up with my friends/family" line jumper thing, like it's standard practice. Parks used to specifically outline one form of line jumping as "moving forward in line to catch up with your group." It's like people have lost all sense. Maybe if I texted them they would get it.

If it is one person and they politely ask me, I will usually let them. However, if it is someone who just pushes me aside (or attempts to), I'll block the way across the queue. I've already had a kid try to push me in a full Hang Time line, and I blocked him. He actually tried to then push past my arms and said, "Move!" to me. His friends were all yelling at him to get up to the platform to get on the ride. I pointed to the line jumping sign and said, "No". He pushed me again! The ride attendant kicked him out of line while the friends all rode the ride. What a terrible group!

I know I'm a hypocrite because I use Fastlane and Flashpass, but even with those, I'll never push someone aside or cut in front of them at the station. In fact, I'm nicer then because I've waited for about 0 minutes, so if someone wants to ride with their buddies and I'm one person, I will let them go.

There's a huge difference between Fast Pass and cutting. Specifically, one is against the park's rules and one isn't.

I'm already irritated before I reply to this. So... What about the groups that are so eager to be on the "same train" that they can't wait until they have one train wait and assume that every 2 people in front of them are riding together, while there's 4-5 trains of people jammed in the station. I get really irritated watching people do things like that.

I would argue that the only difference between the two is whether you have the money or don't have the money. People who can afford it are probably going to buy it without hesitation on a busy day. It's just line jumping allowed by the park for a fee. That's how I have always seen it.

I remember when I was a poor kid, and took only $50 to Kings Island. The admission was around $25, so that left me another $25 for food and stuff. I also remember being a slightly rich kid, after Mom got a much better paying job, going to Kings Island with a few hundred dollars in my pocket. If they offered a way for me to cut in front of everyone else for only $35, heck yea I would buy it when I had the Benjamins.

Agreed. I don't like the elitism caused by it. Just because you spend more money you can cut in line.

Ugh. Please, not again.

The noobs don't know, Gonch. Some of them probably think it is the way it has always been. I could have wrote an entire book about my thoughts on the subject, but I refrained to do so. lol

The newbs don't know what? How to read a dozen or more old threads that beat this topic like a dead horse? This thread has nothing to do with FastPass. It doesn't need to go there.

I hope no one thinks I'm a "noob" ... I just like fair.

Nothing unfair about spending more cash to get FOL access.

I've only ever used friendly contacts for FoL access.

Quick! Um....um... What a handsome new picture, Mr. Vater!

I can't believe you tricked me into switching from mobile to desktop view for that.

It works for me.

Hey, you're a married woman. And so am I.

Wait...

LostKause said:

The noobs don't know, Gonch. Some of them probably think it is the way it has always been.

So? It's the way it is. The way it was doesn't matter.

Still waiting for the first senior citizen enthusiast to come on and keep reminding us how much more fair and better pay-per-ride was. You know, so us noobs remember how much better it used to be before we got into the game.

Seriously, it's a moot point. It's the equivalent of a discussion on the finer points of Disney's lettered-ticket system.