Weird Park Policies

FYI, that same "2-rider" requirement for Scramblers and Falling Stars also holds true for The Zipper and it is per the manufacturer, Chance. The only place one could ride single on a Zipper is/was at Coney Island, on the south end of the boardwalk where consessionaires set up individual rides.

I experienced it once a few years ago...I think I'm still dizzy from the non-stop flipping!

With regard to the Scrambler...

Effective January 31, 2006:
Height Requirement for Scramblers and BIG ELI Wheels:
All children 48" and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult. No children under 36" may ride unless seat belts have been installed.

"No Single Riders" Recommendation:
Eli Bridge Company recommends that where possible, single riders should be avoided. Eli realizes that asking patrons to ride with individuals unknown to them is not always appropriate or practical. In such cases, it is incumbent upon the operator to use extra care in watching the patrons to see that no misbehavior (such as moving around, attempting to get up out of the seated position, moving sideways in the seat or rocking the seat, etc.) is allowed. BIG ELI Scramblers and Wheels in which seat belts have been installed are exempted from the single rider recommendation."

Notification 060131-2, Eli Bridge Company

Effective January 31, 2006:
Actions to be taken:
7) Eli recommends that seat belts be installed on Scrambler seats
8) Adopt a "No Single Riders" policy for the Scrambler, unless seat belts have been installed. Note: Installing seat belts does NOT prohibit a "No Single Riders" policy.

Safety Alert 060131-8, Eli Bridge Company

There you have it, "from the horse's mouth" so to speak. Oh, and if you are looking for more clarification on the subject of a "supervising companion" for riders under 48" tall, you will have to wait a little longer, as four extended meetings on the subject failed to produce consensus among members of the ASTM committee last week.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Thanks, that explains it. The Scrambler at SFMM and the one which used to be at KBF have had seatbelts for as long as I can remember. I have to assume that the Scrambler at Castle Park does not.

The most pathetic policies exist at Knotts Berry Farm, for people like me who wear glasses.

So your telling me that it's perfectly fine for my to wear my glasses (With an glasses strap) on El Toro, The Voyage, Kingd Ka, Top Thrill Dragster, and Expedition Ge Force, but as soon as I park my butt on The Pony Express, at Knotts, the glasses need to go, or I won't be able to ride. That is the biggest joke in the amusement park industry, and yes, by far, the weirdest policy to date.

Actually , at Knotts you're not permitted to wear glasses on any of the "high force" rides, not just Pony Express. Part of that is Cedar Fair policy, with the rest thrown in by DOSH.

At Knott's, I wore my glasses on every ride except for the two that I was not able to ride: Xcelerator and Pony Express.

I don't blame Cedar Fair for this one, I blame Knott's, as I am aware that before Cedar Fair took over, the no-glasses restriction extended to almost all of the coasters.

That doesn't make the rule any less idiotic. For me, my glasses are critical to safe riding practice.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dutchman;

I was there back in December, and had no problem with my glasses, and that trusty strap, on Ghost Rider, Silver Bullet, Montezooma's Revenge, and Sierra Sidewinder. All coasters I find to have more forces than Pony Express.

Which is interesting, because I have been going to Knotts at least twice a year for the last ten years, and I have been told to take my glasses off on all of those even with the strap. I have been told everytime that it was policy. I agree with you Dave, riding without my glasses is very uncomfortable, to the point of becoming nauseated, which doesn't happen when I'm able to wear them.

Generally, KBF is kind of strict compared to other parks I have been to. On my last trip to KBF they made a guy take off his skull cap on the Pony Express but I see people wear them on most of their other coasters fairly often. I have also seen them tell people to remove their glasses even if they have strap, when riding Pony Express. Why is it ok to wear glasses with straps and skull caps on the Ghostrider (among others) but not the almost forceless, almost kiddie coasterlike Pony Express? Makes no sense to me. When I hear people ask why they can't wear them, the ride ops always say it's policy.

You cannot fault the ride ops for following policy.

I don't fault them for following policy, I find fault with uneven enforcement of that policy.

At SFMM, Riddler's Revenge and Superman are the only coasters where you are not allowed to leave any loose articles in the station at any time. The weird part is that until last spring you were allowed to leave small items on the counter near the exit, on RR. On Superman it makes sense because there is no place to leave anything safely. But on RR, it's almost like they woke up on day and said, "ok, we won't let anyone leave stuff there anymore". I've even seen people try to leave items on the counter and when the ride ops stop them, they reply that "last time I was here I was allowed to".

At first, I thought it might be to make extra money on lockers. But if that were the only reason for the policy, it seems that the locker policy on Tatsu and Scream would be more strict too. On Tatsu and Scream, they make you leave things like purses and backpacks in a locker, but caps, stuffed animals, souvenir bottles and other items of that size can be placed on the shelves by the exit. For anyone who needs to know, Tatsu, Scream, RR and X2 are the only coasters which have pay lockers. On every other coaster, except Superman, you can leave all your stuff off to the side, or in a cubby hole or on a shelf for free. On X2, they let you leave small items in the station only if the line is very short. Things like purses and backpacks always have to be placed in a locker.

^ It's a bit confusing about the policy you're talking about. If they're being inconsistant about it, that's super frustrating. But generally if they won't let you leave anything on the dock it's because of a theft problem.

Occasionally you'll see ride ops or park security that are on a power trip about it all, but for the most part it really sucks to enforce rules that don't make sense to the general pubic. It's much easier to let them leave stuff than to have to explain why they can't now when they did it last season.

The security guy that made someone put their shirt on to leave the park was on a power trip. But walking around a park without shirts challenges the whole family friendly vibe of a theme park. So itt's policy that outside of waterparks shirt and shoes required. Erect nipples are still family friendly, while wearing a white shirt on a water ride is poor planning!

Any weird rule is generally the result of something that happened. So if several of the coasters have had theft problems with stuff left on the docks management toss in a new policy. The glasses thing at KBF sounds like some sort of out of control insurance underwriter. Someone probably was injured from a pair of glasses or whatever and the solution is no more glasses on coasters. That old Six Flags policy of no single riders in last occupied seat was an irritating one to enforce as well. The explaination of the policy didn't really help things either because it all sounded like "hogwash". :)

Going shirtless in a park just isn't classy. ;)

Yah, wearing an elegant evening gown (instead of a shirt) to a park wouldn't be classy at all. ;)

Nobody should make weirder policies than KBF. Leaving them with the record is classy.

Taking the record would be disrespectful, taer it down, what has happened to coasterbuzz, etc...

Kind of funny that I found this today, so soon after my last post in this topic, but according to the SFMM page on Screamscape they have installed "mandatory" lockers in front of Goliath and Batman. I saw those new areas when I was there on 2/1, but did not know what they were for. I never use lockers, but it stinks for the people that do. Maybe they are trying to make more money on lockers. There is also a link to some new Terminator photos.

^ The term "mandatory" isn't truly accurate. It is common SF policy that you are not allowed to enter the queue for major attractions with any item that cannot be secured in your pockets during the ride. So long as you don't have these large items (or leave them with a non-rider), you're not required to get a locker.

Secondly, at one dollar a piece SF is making little to no money of these so called mandatory lockers. You'll notice a direct correalation to the addition of the lockers as well as SFTV monitors in the queue lines. Six Flags is telling advertisers that they don't allow people to bring their toys into line and will be so bored that they'll watch SFTV, thus making the ad space more valuable.

Obviously you don't need a locker if you don't have anything you need to put in it. That's why I don't use them. I never bring anything that I can't either put in my pocket or wear. My point was that they are installing lockers at two of the most popular rides. If you look at which rides have lockers and which ones don't it's seems that they are trying to make a small amount of extra money from the popular rides

Lockers: X2, Tatsu, Scream, Riddler's Revenge, Batman, Goliath

No lockers: Revolution, Ninja, Superman, Deja Vu, Goldrusher, Colossus, Viper

I suspect that at this rate Deja Vu might have lockers when it reopens and Terminator also might when it opens.