It seems like the only people that really complain about them are enthusiasts. To me it seems reasonable to have pay-per-ride attractions in your park. For one thing, they are directly profitable, and most aren't anywhere close in cost to a major coaster. If they weren't pay per ride though, lines would be huge for your average ride like a skycoaster or slingshot or go-karts because capacity is so low. I mean, if you don't like pay per ride attractions, don't ride them, right? But yet I've heard person after person whine about how many per-per-rides PKI has, or how they are pissing off their patrons...and I just don't see how that's justified. Personally, I'd rather have an opportunity to ride some of these things then have no opportunity at all.
Thoughts?
(And I just used PKI as a single example. This could be applied to any number of parks.)
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
I disagree. None of my friends that I go to parks with are what I would consider to be "enthusiasts," and they all consider the upcharge attractions to be a major rip-off.
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"He's blazin' away like the stars in the universe.." A. Vega + M. Rev "Ghostrider"
*** This post was edited by chris on 3/22/2002. ***
They don't bother me for a few reasons...
1) Sky Coasters and Sky Scrapers: I do not like heights. I can do coasters and S&S towers... but for instance sky rides give me the willies. Most of the Pay Per Ride attractions that I have seen are Sky Coasters or Sky Scrapers... both of which I stay away from because of the height factor.
2) Rock Climbing Walls: What's the point?
3) Go Karts: Not my cup of tea either.
The one Pay Per Ride attraction that is different is Knoebels Haunted House. Didn't bother me since I was there on a weekend when all was pay per ride. I can see the reasoning here when POP is available. Dark Rides are "notorious" as vandal targets... this PPR philosphy makes sense to cut down on bored "re-riders" being michievous.
The one PPR that doesn't make sense to me... Sea World of Florida's Observation tower. It didn't "bother me"... it just does not make sense. Can any one explain this one?
More and more you see parks removing older attractions and replacing them with upcharge attractions. You get less and less for your admission ticket.
May not be so bad if you have a season pass, but it's pretty frustration to pay $40 to enter a place where half the attractions cost something on top of that.
It's sad to see Six Flags, originally a pioneer of the pay one price system, resort to this tactic. No sense of history, those current guys...
I find a lot of the pay-per-ride attractions to be lame in the thrills department except maybe for the Skyscrapers. The sky coasters are just like giant swings after the initial drop, they are pretty boring unless you have a great view of a park. I despise the virtual reality junk even more than any other pay-per-ride. Most of the game play is how shall I say it, butt awful. (Sarcasm) I love to frolic around the lake and look at little squiggles.
Anyways, the skyscraper are the best of the bunch and quite a thrill.
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confucius say:Show-off always shown up in showdown.
Best Fortune ever!!
SLFlake-you shouldn't be afraid of heights. You should more be afraid of the ground because its the ground that kills you. ;)
As for whining about the pay-per-rides, its understandable These parks are already commiting highway(or low-way) robbery with their admission prices. Small parks are able to get away with it because they never charge more than $1(sometimes as low as 50 cents) for even the big rides. Of course this only applies to the extremely small ones. At the large parks, they charge 20 bucks for 2 people to ride on the Skycoaster.When I pay the prince's ransom get into the park, I don't want to upgrade the king's for only one or two extra rides.
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"I don't wanna grow up"
~The Ramones
Six Flags and a sense of "history?" Wait... there has got to be a joke in there some place.
If Six Flags would have a sense of history, they would not insist on changing the names of established parks. We would have "Six Flags: Riverside"... "Six Flags: Geauga Lake" (pardon the spelling). If they would have a sense of history, they would attempt to maintain a park's identity when they take it over... not turn it into another "Gotham City".
Twistamaniac: I am funny with heights. I do not like sky rides (the one at Morey's Piers... where your feet dangle above Great White scares me to death... but I have ridden it), but coasters do not scare me... even inverts where you are 100+ feet in the air where your feet dangle. Can't explain it... just certain things get me like that.
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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."
*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 3/22/2002. ***
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"I live my life a quarter mile at a time. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free." Dominic from The Fast and the Furious
No comment :)
Chuck, who had no comment
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Charles Nungester
Americana is opening in 2002 and needs your support as many company picnics are already schedualed for someplace else, Indivdual visits are very improtant to the parks survival.
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|| Jonathan Hawkins ||
http://www.starcoasters.com
http://www.thrillspot.com
Ok a few are ok but Gadv is out of control! In the past few yearswe have gotten at least 6 pay per attractions. Alcatraz:the ride, sling shot, turbo force, a trampoline thing, Dare Devil Dive, and a rock wall. 45$ for addmisson and then easily another 60 more! Thats not whining thats insane.
P.S. I forgot the Great American Road Race.
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Touch The Sky
*** This post was edited by B&R-The Chiller on 3/22/2002. ***
Hey, VertiGO was great, and the only upcharge ride that I would ever consider paying for.
It all depends on the ride, and the price for me.
Now, I got on VertiGO for free twice, but the ride was so impressive that if I went with friends later, I would have paid.
I go on a case by case basis. Some are worth it, some aren't.
By the way, the Knotts Berry Farm vertiGO is pretty much gone now.
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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!
I think people who complain are justified. You shouldn't have to pay 40 bucks to get in, and then pay for rides as you go! I know many non-enthusiasts who don't go to amusement parks for this very reason.
I don't care if a park charges extra. If I have the money, I will ride it. I don't complain much about what parks do anyway, because I realize they are just trying to run a buisness.
I do not know what the percentage of enthusiasts whom hold a season pass is, but it is probably fairly high. With that in mind, I am wondering what kind of cost per ride/day fee they are actually paying? Yes, in fact it is stated when money is used to purchase those season passes that you can go to any park in their chain.
Where I am going with this is people are getting quite a bargain with their dollars spent upfront with their season pass and they more than likely have the ability to go and ride what they want to and not be forced within their region to only go once and not have to pay that $40/day charge and then bemoan the fact that there are 3-4 PPRs there. Never mind the possibility that there are a considerable number of rides already there included in the daily fee.
Enthusiasts are often interested in that next possible giga-drop or that intense terrain coaster. These things cost quite a bit, including planning, building, maintenance, etc. There are a considerable number of outside events which exert different factors on a park. This would include debt service by the chain, the economy both on a local as well as a national perspective, the hirings and firings at all levels of the park/chain, shareholders wanting results, etc.
Can any individual wish things would be want they would find ideal in a ride mix/park experience/coaster line-up? Sure they can, and they can even give feedback in different forms to let people know their interests/dislikes. While some will say that park X wasted their money on ride Z, or why did they build ride A, but take-out ride B. And now most of the parks I visit have more pay rides, what is going on?
Making money, satisfying the majority number of patrons, correcting wrong steps with new steps/rides to maximize the customer experience and make money. That is what is attempted at the parks.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
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Planned Parks for this summer: SFoGa, CP, SFWoA, SFGAm, SFKK, PKI, MA, SFStL, HW, KW. Is 10 enough?
Cornerstone Festival 2002... I will be there
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