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

Another useless lawsuit by a typical whiner. Can anybody show where it states when you buy a season pass it prohibits Six Flags from insituting a fastlane type system. Does six flags have to have everything they decide to do in the park approved by season passholders? If they denied you entry into the park that would be violating your season pass but this lawsuit makes no sense. Im a season six flags passholder and dont like how they operate their fastlane system so i dont buy them and get to the park early and go on non-busy days to avoid lines but that doesnt mean Six Flags doesnt/shouldnt have the right to implement a system that may bring value to their shareholders by increasing revenue to the company. We may like coasters but the purpose of six flags to the shareholders is to make as much money as possible(by the way they fail on that too).

Bob: As I've said several times in this thread, the premise of the suit is that they've changed the pricing structure for admission after people have bought their passes. That's a perfectly valid case.

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

I say they lose money on this sytem. I think this lawsuit is just the slap in the face they needed...whether or not they win or lose. In the long run, it will benefit them when they realize that the high emotions and bad publicity translates into diminished returns, and remove the system.

-------------
Yeeee Haaawwww!

Say I go to a major league baseball game, should I sue the team because someone who paid more for a ticket gets a better seat than me??? No! So, if someone is willing to pay more for their park entry, they should be allowed 'upgraded' services. I'm not saying it's fair or efficient, it's just the way things work. You pay more, you get more.

Jeff park admissions can change at any time and are always subject to change. At six flags great america parking has changed twice but i havent had to pay any addtional money for my season parking pass and last year park admissino was incrased during the season. I dont see at all how my season pass was diminshed but only that six flags is trying to make more money. If i was denied entry then my pass rights would be diminshed but not via a implementation of a pass system. While at wdw i bought a package with room/tickets and late found via computers boards people paid less than i did so should i have the right to sue? Or should people who buy a pass only to wdw sue because i get early entry because i stay at a wdw hotel? I think its a business decision and only time will tell if it was the right one.

No one complains about luxuary boxes at stadiums, yet sports teams raise our taxes to build the suites for those in suits. In the law of supply and demand, those with the money rule.

As long as people will pay more for the experience, these passes are not about to go the way of the dinosaur.

While I think it is a lousy idea, just where do you think SF will get the money to pay off the lawsuit . . . hmmmm? From you and me of course buying season and day passes! So we now loose two ways. Only a boycott resulting in a loss of money will affect them.

It is way too convienent that the the woman's hubby is a lawyer. Six Flags won't suffer as we will pay for her hubby's retirement fund.

-------------
Not All Coasters are Created Equally


*** This post was edited by No Fear on 8/11/2001. ***


*** This post was edited by No Fear on 8/11/2001. *** *** This post was edited by No Fear on 8/11/2001. ***

You won't let it go, will you Bob? I'm sorry you don't see it, but I know that when I pay for one thing, I expect the service I purchased. Now I don't get that service, because an additional fee is required to get that service.

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

Ok lets put it this way then, I paid for my CP SP I needed 4 so i bought them off season when they said its the cheapest, nowhere did it say that half way through the season they would reduce the price down to $49 way cheap. Now should I sue CP for not saying anything before I bought them back in May, see most of my trips are done in sept and oct, halloween is our favorite time to visit park's. I have never used my pass's yet.
Once again should I SUE them for changing a policy without notifying me just like SFWoA suit for changing there policy during the season.
-------------
Army rangers lead the way *** This post was edited by supermandl on 8/13/2001. ***

Discounting admission is one thing. Raising the price (which is essentially what FastLane does) is quite another.

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

Well, I'm coming into this conversation a little late, but my experiences last week have shaped my thoughts on the Six Flags fastpass/fastlane system.

My husband and I visited three Six Flags parks last week, Six Flags New England (yes, that was us getting off the back seat of Superman's blue train just before it got smacked), Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, and Six Flags America in Maryland. All three parks had some sort of fast last system operating. We didn't realize that the New England park had a system until we saw a placard for it in the middle of the day, so I can't be sure if it was a free or pay system. I don't recall roped off rows on any of the coasters, but I may just not have been paying much attention. We were there on a Monday and by the afternoon even Superman's line wasn't too long.

Next was Six Flags Great Adventure on Friday. Since we had noticed the Speedy Gonzalez logos at New England, we noticed them as soon as we entered this park. There was a long line of people at Guest Services inside the park who were picking up their free passes for the day when we entered first thing in the morning. Most coasters at Great Adventure had 1-2 rows roped off for Fast Pass and had a separate entrance (the ride exit). We noticed that on most coasters if the fast pass row wasn't filled that the ride ops would call for others in line to take the spaces. That was the case most of the day, especially on Nitro.

At Six Flags America, which we visited on Saturday, you picked up passes inside a shop just inside the park entrance. We got there before the park opened and since we had season passes we were let in a little earlier than those with single day tix. Therefore, we didn't see a line at the Fast Pass counter. The ride ops at Six Flags America were Fast Pass Nazis. They would get terribly irate if someone from the "common" line would try to take a Fast Pass seat when they were empty. They would make riders get out of the seat and get back in line (at least they let them ride!). If the row wasn't filled, then it went empty for the ride. In one case, on "Mind Eraser" (an aptly named ride if there ever was one), a whole gang of Fast Passers trooped up the exit ramp and the ride op let them take the first 4-5 rows of the train and then filled the rest of the train from the "common" line.

The (free) Fast Pass idea seems like a good one to me if it can be implemented properly. It lets you reserve one ride time on a lot of rides, which on a crowded day may ensure that you get to experience as many rides as possible. However, as many have pointed out, there are several drawbacks to the system as Six Flags has carried it out. First of all, loading and dispatch of trains is extremely inefficient. It seems that Six Flags has added the Fast Lane to most of the coasters, but they have not added additional ride personnel to coordinate it. On all of the coasters the Fast Pass riders entered from the ride exit. As a result, on many rides, especially the woodies, there were only two ride ops trying to load the train from both sides of the platform while corralling those who might like to sneak in a ride or a reride in the Fast Pass row from either side of the coaster. So instead of only checking seatbelts and lapbars, they had to play traffic cop and Fast Pass policeman as well. A few arguments nearly broke out since many trains went out with empty rows. Even though the crew of Nitro can be commended for trying to send out full trains as often as possible (it easily had the longest waits of the day, and it was near 100° with no shade in the line), calling for and waiting for passengers to fill the empty seats was time consuming. As slowly as the ride operation was going, running two trains would have been just as efficient. Three trains were running, but one train sat on the brake run waiting for the train ahead of it to be dispatched every time. (Actually, that was the case for most rides at SFAmerica, even on the woodies).

I think this system can work. They need a separate Fast Lane entrance on the loading side of the coaster, similar to the single rider lines that I've seen at Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Epcot Center. They need to add one more person to the team running each ride to coordinate the Fast Pass people (and load the trains as much to capacity as possible). They need to work on their loading and dispatch times while still maintaining safety. During my three days at the Six Flags parks I was far more irritated with the ride operatiors than with Fast Pass riders.

As for the lawsuit, it doesn't surprise me. I paid $50 for my Six Flags season pass at Kentucky Kingdom and have used it at four parks this year. We've more than gotten our money's worth from the deal, and I almost feel like I've cheated the park a little (but that feeling *quickly* passes when I see the $9 and $10 parking fees and $3.25 Pepsis). Would I pay extra to insure rides? Perhaps, but not likely. Does it diminish the value of my season pass? No, I don't think it does. Just by the virtue of buying a season pass you're saying you expect to visit the park more than once or twice, so you can be expected to be able to ride all the rides you like over the course of your visits, if you take them all at the same park.

Earlier this year at Kings Dominion we witnessed their Fast Pass system in action on both Hypersonic and Volcano. A ticket machine at each ride dispensed a ticket with a return ride time. (That sounds like Epcot Center's system). When a full train's worth of people with tickets for that time assembled outside the ride exit, they were all loaded onto one train and sent on their way. Does that slow down the regular line? You betcha. But at least they were all put on one train and gotten out of the way, and there weren't many empty seats on all the other trains sent out.

I think the parks need to work on these systems, and I think the riders also need to be responsible enough to keep up their end of the bargain. In the artile referenced above, the Cedar Point rep said they abandoned their system because the riders didn't use it correctly, showing up before their assigned time.

I do think that we should rebel against any kind of system that makes you pay for a Fast Pass ticket, but if used correctly, I think the free pass systems can work.

- Rae

Fastpass is just a virtural way to wait in line, basicly. From everyone's standpoint it is good. It keeps people in one general area of the park, and thus brings them to the food/shopping. Plus it gives people more options. You can't use the service more than once at a time, so you can't go on Rockin' Roller Coaster and ToT at the same time.
-----------------
-Nick Catalano