Six Flags Announces Nation's Best Theme Park VIP Program

The Six Flags parks that opened last weekend are among the "good" Six Flags parks where operations have been satisfactory in the past. How will things be when SFGAdv, SFA, and SFNE open? Maybe Six Flags can take the things that are done right at parks such as SFOT and SFOG and apply them to the other parks. *** Edited 3/19/2007 2:08:34 AM UTC by Arthur Bahl***

Let's not forget, the mama of all "not so good" Six Flags parks has been open all along, and some good report are even coming out of there.

Granted, it's very early, but the point I was making was that if the parks continue to be piss-poor, then they will suffer the consequences, and none of this will work.

BTW, I think that is the plan Arthur. Take what works at the so-called "good" parks, and apply it across the board.

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Rob Ascough said:

Maybe it's just my aversion to this whole "privilege" thing, which is getting way out of hand. Some people can board airplanes before others. Some people don't have to wait in line at the rental car counter. Some people can check into hotels without waiting. Some people can ride roller coasters by bypassing everyone and being seated in the next available seat. It's ridiculous. What happened to everyone being on the same level- no resentment because everyone had to wait in the same line for the same level of service? I'm all for capitalism but the fact that people with more money, more airline miles or more hotel points can do things quicker and better than other paying customers is getting to the point where it's beyond absurd.

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Rob, I missed that you said this until I saw the quote in FTW's post on the last page.

So you're all for equality, eh. Hook us up, I want to sit in the front row for every concert, I am sure everyone else does too, so you'll have to redo every venue so that instead of having different sections and rows where the prices change, everyone will get individual one-on-one concerts so we all get the same experience.

And Airplanes, too...the doors to get on will have to be widened so everyone can get on at the same time.

And the next time I go to Vegas, I want to stay in the high-roller suite, too. I don't care if I only spend $50 a day on the penny slots. Dammit I deserve the same tratment as the guy who spends ten hours at the high roller tables playing $10,000 a hand.

And if you (or anyone else) cannot understand that all of that was pure sarcasm, I feel very sorry for you...

I'd like a skybox seat the next time I go to an Angels game. With air-conditioning, a big screen tv, a juice bar and a meet and greet with the players before the game!

Wait...you mean there's an extra cost? Nevermind, I'll sit with the masses I guess. Sigh...

Regarding SFMM, getting rid of those two bad coasters might have helped. Sometimes less is more.

I do wonder, did SFMM take the staffing from Psyclone and Flashback and use it elsewhere to improve operations on the other, more popular coasters? Are they running more trains than in the past?

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redman822 said:

So you're all for equality, eh. Hook us up, I want to sit in the front row for every concert... And Airplanes, too...the doors to get on will have to be widened so everyone can get on at the same time... And the next time I go to Vegas, I want to stay in the high-roller suite, too.

And if you (or anyone else) cannot understand that all of that was pure sarcasm, I feel very sorry for you...

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I'm not sure who that sarcasm was directed at, but give me a break. Let's not be ridiculous, here. I'm not talking about creating concert venues with nothing but front-row seats, airplanes with doors as wide as the side of the fuselage, hotels with nothing but high-roller suites... I'm talking about STANDING IN A LINE and having the company running the line letting people pay them to CUT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE STANDING IN LINE. It's that simple, and if you're not seeing that, you're just looking for a chance to pick a fight.

Suppose you paid for front row seats to see your favorite band perform live, but someone else pays Ticketmaster a little more and suddenly you have to move one row back? That's what I'm talking about.

Suppose you paid for first-class seating on a plane bound for Vegas but someone else pays the airline more money and suddenly you find yourself sitting at the back of coach? That's what I'm talking about.

Suppose you paid for a nice suite at the Wynn but someone else gambles a ton of money and the hotel decides they should get your suite instead, relegating you to a room by the ice machine with two double beds? That's what I'm talking about.

The way I see it, once you are in line, that is the spot that you paid for with your park admission. By someone else paying more to jump to the front of the line, the company is taking something away from you- you're right to be where you are. If someone gets in front of you, it means they have your spot- and that means your spot was taken away from you. Like I said, it's that simple, and no matter what you say, that's still the truth.

It amazes me how people whine endlessly about teenagers that wiggle their way to the front of the line, yet when people pay the company (the same company that they paid to get into the park), it's perfectly fine. Why is that?

^ You tell 'em, Rob. Some of these folks on here seem to have become sellouts to these line-jumping systems.

It's not even about that. It's about "being okay" with someone paying to take something away from them. Going back to the hotel scenario, it's not like someone paying for the high-roller suite (or gambling enough money to get it comped) has any affect on someone else's hotel reservation- it's not like they get bumped because someone had more money. And with rental cars, if the rental car company runs out of the car you reserved, you'll get UPGRADED to a bigger car, not downgraded. Sorry, but standing in line and yielding to someone that paid more money to get to the front of the line is DOWNGRADING.

^ Yea, that too :)

Two opposing but interesting ways to look at this:

One viewpoint: VIPs and Qbotters, etc., are paying the park in an effort to get the most out of their TIME. Time is the most valuable commodity there is...otherwise employers wouldn't have to pay SO well (my employer notwithstanding, LOL). Paying money to buy time is something people do in ALL kinds of ways, some obvious, others not so much.

Another viewpoint: VIPs and Qbotters, etc., are paying the PARK for what is basically the time of OTHER guests. Since "random guest A" has only so much time to spend in the park, and he/she is being asked to wait another cycle to ride, his/her TIME is in fact being sold *by the park* to another guest.

Note that I am trying to phrase these two POVs in a *non-argumentative fashion*...just trying to shed light on BOTH sides of the aisle....fence...whatever. ;)

Good way to break everything down... you pretty much got the jist of it.

Obviously, I'm standing by the second viewpoint. I understand the logic behind VIPs and Qbotters- they are willing to pay more money to maximize their time at the park. But the truth is the park is selling them someone else's time without their permission. And I won't buy into any mentality that insinuates the selling of other guests' "time" is suggested by the sale of VIP tickets and virtual queing.

Parks CLEARLY advertise that VIP tickets and virtual queing will reduce your wait time, but they make no mention of the fact that your wait time will be INCREASED if you don't spend more money. It's false advertising, and it's a bit surprising that people that claimed "free parking" was false advertising are very much okay with this sort of arrangement!

*** Edited 3/19/2007 3:10:52 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

Suppose you were about to go on vacation and after waiting hours for your flight to board, an announcement comes over the loudspeaker that it is canceled. Now you are faced with a three-hour long line to reschedule. Would it be right to let somebody pay $50 to cut to the front? I think you would have riot conditions. People are agitated enough as it is.

Good example, Joe ;)

And good point. Again, it becomes an issue of the company you paid "selling" your time to someone else. They're selling something they don't own, because when you paid to enter the park, you took ownership of that time.

^ Good points above.

Thing is, queuing is different than some of the other arguments. Certain things that people will pay extra for don't really take away something from the other guests. Certain things are "reserved" for folks who pay more, such as box seats, first-class seats in planes, etc.

But these pay-to-cut systems take away something that the regular guests have paid for: their place in line.

This is the dilemma that parks have gotten themselves into. They don't have "reserved" seats on coasters that people pay for, so basically, they institute "controlled, sanctioned, line jumping". To me, it's like talking out of both sides of your mouth: line jumpers will be ejected from the park, unless you pay us to do it.

But yes, I definitely do not agree with taking something away from somebody else that has paid just because you pay more.

Queuing is a part of life--deal with it. The Brits certainly have :) Americans are just too lazy and used to getting what they want if they pay for it.

Has anyone ever been through a security checkpoint at the airport? It might just be at ATL, but there is a line for everyone to wait in, and a line that First-Class and Medallion members can wait in. Sometimes the regular line is 30 minutes, and the First-Class line is 30 seconds. How is this any different?

Absolutely. Some of you guys are either over-dramatic or extremely unaware if you think this "pay-to-cut" thing doesn't happen every day in all walks of life. It happens at when you go out to eat, it happens at nightclubs, airports, sporting events, car dealerships, barbershops ect.

Give me a break. What rainbow colored world are some of you living in? The singling out of Six Flags as the bad guys is hilarious to read.

It's not any different- I made mention of stuff like that many pages back. You're selling someone's time to someone else, because if that security checkpoint were open to ALL people, the line would move more quickly. It's the airlines' way of saying, "You gave us more money so your time is more valuable than all those other schmucks waiting in line."

But in reality, you pay for what the park offers you. You are not giving up anything. The park has simply decided to offer different pricing schemes. The lower bracket costs less and you get less. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

That being said, I don't think it is a wise business decision. Apollo Andy had a good point with the kids not even fathoming life before the new Virtual Queue system. But it doesn't mean that at some point the company won't decide to give up the whole system because they think they can make more money the old way.

I personally don't think the GP will ever get to the point where they are happy with it. Samre with parking. People expect to pay for it, but it doesn't mean it doesn't make their day a little less fun (opening the wallet over and over).

This seems to have become a discussion about semantics. It's ok for parks to open early or stay open late for enthusiasts to have exclusive rights to events, walk backs, ride and food because they paid for a special event. But it's not ok for "regular folks" to do it doing park hours because then they are paying to cut?

What kind of twisted logic is that? Why can't *everyone* get the walk backs, the non-waiting in long lines, and access to the park after hours? What makes enthusiasts and their time so darn special?

Well, now regular folks can, at an extra fee of course. The trick for the other *scmucks* not to notice, and the only way to do that is to increase capacity and guest experience across the board.

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Parks CLEARLY advertise that VIP tickets and virtual queing will reduce your wait time, but they make no mention of the fact that your wait time will be INCREASED if you don't spend more money. It's false advertising, and it's a bit surprising that people that claimed "free parking" was false advertising are very much okay with this sort of arrangement!

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No. You're making assumptions about what you expect from your admission. The park makes no implications or guarantees about what your ticket gets you. In fact, it gets you into the park. You're paying park admission. Park admission at any park guarantees nothing except entry to the park.