Six Flags Over Texas- Single Rider Policy

I encountered an unusual and, for what I could determine, an absolutely pointless single rider policy at Six Flags Over Texas, which prevented me from enjoying any back seat rides. The policy is this: a single rider must not be the last row in a train. And not just the back row, but the last OCCUPIED row. "Why is this?", you may ask. Well, the answer I was given is "Safety Reasons". Now, all I could figure is they are concerned that a single rider would be more prone to commit some mischief. It doesn't make any sense to me.

It also raises other questions. What do they do if only one person is in the station, ready to go, and no one else comes for, say, three minutes? Also, if they do arrive, and they insist on sitting in the front seat, you're out of luck.

Does anybody have any knowledge of this policy, and whether it has been extended to all Six Flags parks? I know as of May, it was not the policy at Six Flags Over Georgia.

This must be a new rule, I was there this past April and didn't have that issue at all. I sat in the back row of La Vibora, New Texas Giant, Mr Freeze and Titan. Then again, I only used the single rider line for La Vibora. I don't recall single rider lines for the rest of the coasters, I just used the regular lines and chose the row I wanted to ride in.

I fail to see the logic in this. I've ridden in the back row of El Toro by myself hundreds of times and while I usually ended up riding New Texas Giant and Titan with another single rider, what possible safety issue could there be for a single rider riding alone if the restraint systems are working properly? I've never heard of an exclusionary policy about where people are permitted to sit except at Lagoon, where single riders are prohibited from riding in the first or last rows, even if there are other riders in those rows. This means that single riders have to ride Cannibal in row 2, as the trains consist of only 3 rows. In the case of Lagoon this is evidently not for safety issues but for some other unknown, arbitrary reason.

This rule has come and gone at SFOT a number of times over the years. It was in place the entire time I worked there from 1992 to 1998. It was explained to ride ops employees that insurance required the last loaded seat on any coaster train had to have 2 riders so that there was the possibility of having 2 people witness any accident or incident. If there was only 1 rider on the platform or having riders switch seats wouldn't work, we would have an employee accompany the single rider. The rule went away after I left the park and then returned when the rider was ejected from New Texas Giant in 2013. The rule might not make total sense, but it isn't arbitrary and isn't meant to be exclusionary.

Yep. I distinctly remember not being allowed to ride solo in the back row on my first trip on NTG after the accident.

A similar rule was even applied to the El Aserradero, the original log ride, three years ago. No solo riders.

It is not a chain wide policy, as I was allowed to ride alone in the back seat of Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas today. If it would have been chain wide, I couldn't help but wonder what they would have done for Wonder Woman's Golden Lasso. ; )

I could see how it would be an issue. Maybe the body weight on the other side acts as an important force that balances out the car and keeps you more intact in your seat. I really don't think that you could get out of those restraints even if you wanted to, so it might be more of a comfort factor than anybody going in any danger. Or maybe its a stress on the tracks factor.

I feel like they need single rider lines there. I hate how parks tend to crap all over guests who try to go to parks alone.

It has nothing to do with any of that. See above.

Not having single rider lines = parks crapping on guests who go alone? Ok.

Same rule was in place at SFOG in the 90s for the same reasons Bigboy explained. If staffing allowed it, we would just ride with them.

For the life of me, I'll never understand why people think that parks have such an aversion to people being there alone. I've visited parks alone and broken off from a group a number of times and never felt like the world was out to stick it to me.

Parks could careless if you're alone or with 20 people. Once you're through the gates they already have your money.

The only issue I have when visiting parks alone is when rides have a no single rider policy when it has nothing do with safety or manufacturer requirements. For years the Scrambler at Dorney didn't allow single riders even though the ride has seatbelts (Eli Bridge suggests no single riders if there are no seatbelts). At Morey's you can't ride the log flume, pirate ship monorail, Pirates of Wildwood dark ride as a single rider.

If we're talking a bout a scrambler that's the same as the one at Cedar Point the thought of being refused a ride on a scrambler for being alone, as an adult, is one of the most absurd things I've heard of.

Vater said:

Not having single rider lines = parks crapping on guests who go alone? Ok.

I guess I read his comment in the context of Lagoon because they do seem to have a general disdain for people who go alone.

I got there once on a work trip where I was traveling alone. Of course, I couldn't ride in the front or back row of Roller Coaster. Then I got paired with 3 little kids on the wild mouse because ops were insisting on groups of 4.

Then I tried to ride Jet Star 2. The ride ops there told me and other groups that walked by they would not load a train with less than 6 guests. I had ridden most everything else by that point, so I sat by the ride for over an hour to see if any groups walked by the ride that I could possibly join for a lap. The ride was fully staffed but didn't send a single train in that time frame. I saw them cycle a couple of empty trains earlier in the day but never saw a loaded train run the whole time I was at the park.

Do you have to go in a group of 12 for reasonable ride access, so you can break into groups of 2,4 or 6 as required?

Vater said:

Not having single rider lines = parks crapping on guests who go alone? Ok.

Its not just that. They market and cater to groups. Plus, guests give you the evil eye when they see you going by yourself. Like "you couldn't find a single person to go with you?" Really, its hard to find the GP in parks in groups of less than four.

To Ken P - Jet Star notwithstanding, it sounds like they are more concerned with efficiency and max rider throughput than having a "disdain" for single visitors.

Trackmaster - I've never gotten an "evil eye" from other guests. Maybe it's just you. Plus, yeah, parks market to groups (families primarily), because $.

There is no conspiracy against people visiting by themselves.

Vater said:

To Ken P - Jet Star notwithstanding, it sounds like they are more concerned with efficiency and max rider throughput than having a "disdain" for single visitors.

Trackmaster - I've never gotten an "evil eye" from other guests. Maybe it's just you. Plus, yeah, parks market to groups (families primarily), because $.

There is no conspiracy against people visiting by themselves.

Its the same thing as going to a bar or a public place. If everyone goes in groups, nobody is going to meet anyone new or have fun by themselves. If a bunch of people go individually, its a lot more fun and people are willing to talk to each other. They could market to people going individually, and have more high market profitable customers, but as you said, they go for the high volume to fill the parks out.

Regardless of marketing, most people don't go to amusement parks by themselves because it's just not something people generally do outside of your typical die-hard enthusiast. By their nature, amusement parks have always been more family oriented establishments than places to meet people.

Anecdotally, the only reason I ever go to a park by myself is if I happen to be out of town on business and I have some free time. In fact, I don't typically go to any entertainment establishment by myself.

And I didn't say they go for the high volume to fill parks out, I said they market toward families because families typically spend more money. They are the profitable customers.