Season pass holder files class action suit against Worlds of Adventure for FastLane program

I wasn't talking about a giant group of people, thats different. Maybe thats something they should think about. Maybe it should be included with group rates

If they aren't operating the coasters at full capacity and charging for FL, they should be ashamed of themselves.In reality, this is just another example of how things are turning all over. Everyone wants to be exclusive and will pay for it if they have to.

Look at Discovery Cove in FLA. They charge $175 for a day in the park which limits capacity to 1000/day. IOA has a VIP tour for $120. Parks are a business. If you own the business, you can do whatever you want. It's your place. Private property. If people don't like your system, they can go elsewhere. And if enough people are ticked off by your policies, your business will go under. There is no need to sue.

Anyway, to not run a coaster to full capacity and then charge for having a shorter wait is just downright dishonest.

xDisney says :

I think this fastpass system is just another way to squeeze a buck out of the consumer. I used a ride reservation system at MGM Studios Florida to ride Twilight Zone Tower of Terror a few years ago. It was free and worked pretty well. Six Flags needs to reconsider the way the run this program. If a consumer feels they get a good value they will return year after year, if they don't, they will go to the other guys park. The last time I was at a Six Flags Park was 8-03-01 SFoG. I kind of felt like I was in a heard of cattle. The warm, fuzzy feeling was not there like I had at Kennywood earlier this summer. I hope this thing will blow over a SF regains it's senses and start's treating people like guests.

I think, if you have a season pass, each time you go there, you should just be able to pick up coupons or whatever. Like, each person with a season pass gets a coupon for themselves, not to share with someone who paid for a daily ticket, they should pay for the coupon. The FastPass should be included in buying a season pass. So should parking, or at least a 3 or 4 dollar discount. Season pass holders should have access to special features that ticket payers should never have access to. They should have a separate line for season pass holders, because you pay more money to have unlimited entry to the park for the season, you should have special benefits. But, they could offer a special package for ticket buyers that enables them to pay more than a daily ticket that gives them the privaleges that season pass holders get. It would make things much better. It's like being a member to six flags. Members to clubs get more benefits than non-members. It should be the same principle. It would make things a WHOLE lot better. I promise. They just need to think about sales and benefits. That's all.

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Georgia Cyclone-The Most A Coaster Can BEEEEEEEE.

oh great, SFMM just got the FastLane. i hope it wont turn out like this. Disneyland's fastpass is so much better.

If you owned a park and found a way to make more money with little into it would you I sure as hell would. theme and amusement park owners are not in it for the hell of it if there was not money in it thay would not do it so quit complaining. Nobody forces you to go to the parks find somthing eles to do if you can not afford it. All buisnesses do this why can't I get a suite at a hotel with out paying more? Because it is a program for people who are willing to pay that much. If you can't afford to eat at Red Lobster then go to Denneys and don't tell me what is fair and not fair.

Wow, what a bunch of irrational hostility out there. Ok people, calm down, deep breath, relax, think...

First- the if you don't want to wait in long lines, Fastpass, Fastlane, or whatever aside, don't go on a busy day (read Saturday) If you go on a busy day, sorry but I don't want to hear your complaints about longlines. That comes with the territory.

Second, regardless of feelings on fastpass/fastlane or whatever, I don't see how the lawsuit can really have much merit. Again, the business of the day is going to determine line length far more than the skipping line will. Additionally, it is certainly not devaluing season passes at all. The whole bonus of a season pass is the reduced costs of multiple admissions through the year/ season. That's it, though most parks also give you additional discounts on top of that (coupon book for SF pass holders) that they are under no obligation to give you. In other words, you're already getting a bunch of benefits with your pass that others don't get, and are actually earning the parks less per capita than others, so you really don't have much room to complain. And that's what it's going to come down to in the lawsuit.

As for whether or not I like it, my preference isn't going to make a difference in the lawsuit, so really in the longrun it's irrelevant.

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Willow? Yes, my name is Willow. Would you stop pecking on me on this big droooopppppppppp......

Good Job. I think the problem needed addressed.

I agree 100% Sir Willow.

AMEN!
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Thanks for riding Tidal Wave and enjoy your day here at Mariott's Great America!!
www.angelfire.com/oh4/tk173

I just have a mix review on it. It's good because if you are visiting a park for 3 days (SFGAm in July), it gets you on the rides right away. The fastlane for Raging Bull works great because I only have to wait 5 minutes if I want to get in the middle row.

The bad thing about the fastlane is that I don't want to get yelled out. That happened to me on Iron Wolf, which wasn't cool. I don't want someone to go in the fastlane and someone in the normal line try to start a fight with that person.

The thing that I would mostly want to see done is that the park adds a security officer right next to the area where the fastlane and normal line meet. I would feel safe with a security officer there. If a person in the normal line yells at a person using the fastlane, the security officer could take him out of the line.

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"Duff Man Says... Ohhhhh Yaaaaa!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)

Why create the hostility between guests in the first place? If everyone gets into the park and is treated equally, and coasters are run to capacity, everyone should be cool. Yeah, some people get to skip some lines, but I beleive if you checked at the end of the day how many PEOPLE got to ride, Fastpass reduces the number of rides given overall! I'd love to check that out...

Sir Willow, I was just about to comment on everyone's attitudes towards each other, but you beat me to it...:)

Anyway, I think that some of these feeling come from hearing exaggerated stories and inaccurate reports about coaster accidents...not to mention the number of accidents and rollbacks that have happened this season...and did I forget to mention the miserable heat wave the country is experiencing?...and I don't have air conditioning. :(

i went to SFNE during a trial of the fastpass system there. it was free to get a fastpass ticket, and i had no idea that they were going to charge money for the priveledge. i think that's ludicrous. but, the day i went, it worked fine. i got there at 1:00, and the time for the ride was at 6:45. so, i still had to wait all day to ride it, but i could go on other rides as well. i think the point of this system is so you're still waiting for the ride, but you're doing other things other than standing there. it's like making an appointment at the doctor's or the barber shop. so, basically i'm saying that if it's free, it's a great idea. but if their charging money, than i'd be angry too if i had to wait longer while people with an extra 10 bucks got to ride quicker. but i guess that's just the six flags way... =(.

happy riding.
see you at the point next week.

I really miss Geauga Lake. Seriously. Nice strolls on the Boardwalk. The Wave. Taking my youger brothers on the Double Loop and the Corkscrew. The Wolf Bobs and the Dipper. Sail Company Resturant. Butch Hightide. Turtle Beach. It will not improve anytime soon.

Once upon a time Line Jumpers were ejected from the park.

Now they are being asked to ride again for a fee...

Was the reason for them being ejected only because the park didn't have a fast pass system? Or was it because it was unfair to everyone else in the park?

So what happens when everybody gets a fastpass?
Everybody gets to go to the front of the line? Hello!? Think about it for a minute. Just how would they manage that one? 12 trains per ride with 25 cars per train?
If you want a sure way to avoid the lines and go right to the front, all you have to do is........become real famous first.

I think many of you are missing the basic premise of the suit. It does have merit because you make the perfectly reasonable assumption that purchasing a season pass gets you into the park on a level playing field with everyone else with regards to waiting in line. Now, once you've spent your fifty bucks, they're saying that you can pay some more to ride sooner. Yes, that's capitalism, the American way, but it also means that value of your season pass was misrepresented.

Now, understand that queue management doesn't have to be a bad thing. If Disney's program is what many say it is, I wouldn't mind seeing it at most any park. However, this isn't queue management.

In another world this might not be a big deal, but at a park that cranks all of 200 people through a ride like X-Flight, and easily half the theoretical capacity of a ride like Batman, it adds insult to injury.

And for those of you who think it's just capitalism and not a big deal, keep that in mind when you're waiting to be seated at a busy restaurant. Now imagine that someone else who got there after you gets seated before you because they're going to buy more expensive food than you are. If you say that you'd be OK with that I think you're completely full of it.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"

Good point Jeff! :)
I saw this Fastpass thing working at SFGA last week, it however seemed to be moving smoother than at SGWOA as the article stated. I guess the bottom line here that bugs me is the whole "lawsuit" thing. I am SOOO sick of people being lawsuit happy, if that guest hadn't been the wife of an attorney NOTHING would have been done. I'm glad no one looked at her funny at the park that day or she could have had her husband slap them with a lawsuit, or if the food was bad...you get my drift
People @ CP are generally pretty understanding about the handicapped/parent swap group(s) we get. I however am not so sure the same would be said for guests who have waited in line 2 hours for MF only to see other guests waiting to ride that JUST got there. That could get ugly.
"Fixing" the Fastpass dilemma to make it "fair"
yes I agree
"suing" an amusement park because of a bad idea?
PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!

Jo
2000 Raptor Crew
2001 Raptor Crew
Po!nter Girl-FOREVER! :)
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight?

2Hostyl, you were missing my point yesterday. I was saying that if you're going to a well-known tightly-crowded world-class park like CP, you need to plan 2 days. SFWoA is NOT CP and if I'm going to SFWoA (only the thrill side of the park), I'm not going to plan 2 days and I shouldn't have to. I've never had a problem getting through a medium-sized park until SFWoA this year (and it was by no means even remotely close to being overly crowded).

And I agree with what many have said about SFWoA being ashamed of themselves at their capacity, especially with this Fastpass fiasco. When I went, BKF and X-Flight ran only 2 trains. Worse off, Big Dipper and Raging Wolf Bobs ran only 1 each...