Six Flags new mandatory locker policy, pay to use a locker for your stuff or no ride

YoshiFan1

YoshiFan1

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So I was reading some other message boards and Six Flags has a new policy set up in many of it's parks for this upcoming season.

Certain majors coasters at their parks no longer allow loose articles in line. That means if you have a backpack, prize from a game, a souvenir soda bottle (the kind you pay around $10 for and get cheap refills with), or anything else that can't fit in a secure pocket, you are not only allowed to not leave it on the station platform, or take it in line at all.

They have installed lockers outside these rides. It's $1.00 for each use, up to 2 hours. That means if you go on a ride with a 90 minute wait, and you want to go on the ride again, you have to open your locker and pay another $1.00 to reset the timer on it. Each ride has it's own set of lockers

If you do not get to your items after the 2 hour time limit, employees have the right to take the items and discard them.

There hasn't been a mention of what will happen if the line is over 2 hours (I'd like to think they will allow you to keep it past the limit).

The fact you can take sports bottles or souvenir bottles in line is so they can sell you a drink from the vending machines in line. The price? $3.50 for a 20 oz bottle.

They claim they are doing it for safety and to make wait times shorter as people no longer are able to put their items in bins in the stations (so loading times will be faster). Many people, myself included feel it's a money making scheme since every other park chain in the country doesn't have this policy and the only one that does, Universal Studios allows you to use a free locker while you are in line and on the ride.

People on coaster sites are saying the average park visitor won't care and will say it's only $1.00 (that's for each ride), but I'm curious how people feel about this
 
WHAT?! This is RIDICULOUS. I'm already paying out the ass to go into the park itself, not to mention the parking prices, the inflated food prices, and etc. I WANT A CHOICE in whether or not I get to use a locker. And I can't believe it's only for 2 hours, as well. Maybe if it was all day, it'd be justified (but once again, I still would like my CHOICE). I feel outraged about this because the abundance of themeparks in Southern Cali is one of the few things that makes me actually happy living here, but I mean if they're going to keep trying to gouge us... blagh!!

 
i bring my own food in a backpack which they never check, because the cheapest thing at Great Adventure is an 11 buck meal at Panda Express. People usually just throw their shit where they get off the ride and pick it up later. The people working there say its not their responsibility if anything gets lost or stolen so it all works out i guess. I never heard of them requiring you to use a locker at Great Adventure though.
 
It's new for this season, at other parks that are already opened, if you leave something on the ride platform, the ops have been yelling at people and threatening to call security.

At Great Adventure, I think 6 or 7 coasters are going to have this policy.

I think people are going to be complaining at the park a lot about this.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']
There hasn't been a mention of what will happen if the line is over 2 hours (I'd like to think they will allow you to keep it past the limit).[/QUOTE]

Is any ride ever worth a fucking 2 hour wait?
 
Not to me, I only go to the parks when I can wait less than 15 minutes or so but plenty of people go during busy times especially during holidays and halloween. I read at Six Flags Over Texas last week, since it was spring break, lines were in the 2 - 3 hour range.
 
Closest big time amusement park to me is an hour's drive, it costs $35-40 or so to get INTO the park and I'll admit, I've thought bout bringing refreshments/picnic stuff into the park before since the prices are fuckin ridiculous.

Even closer to my area though is an amusement park whose admission is free(Knoebel's in Elysburg, PA) and the prices are semi reasonable. The corporate run parks are just profit mongers, if you ask me.

[quote name='PenguinMaster']Is any ride ever worth a fucking 2 hour wait?[/quote]

When I was in Epcot Center in Orlando the one summer when it was 95* outside, the one ride was definitely worth the wait, since it cooled me right off.
 
That's true, I get a season pass to the corporate parks and go almost every week and don't buy food so it's not too bad. Pricing is bad at all the corporate parks but Six Flags takes it to an extreme. $6.50 for 1 slice of Papa John's Pizza, $4.99 for a soft pretzel, $9.99 for a burger and fries. And if you can believe it some people on coaster sites say it isn't overpriced! I have been wanting to to go Knoebel's for years, because I have heard nothing but good things about it.
 
Knoebel's is definitely a fun place. I just went there for my second time ever this past summer. It was ungodly hot then too, but there were enough shady spots to keep you cool while you walked around.

I miss Rocky Glen Park, which was a family run park just down the line a bit from my house. It closed way back in the 80's and due to many fires and vandalism, there's not much of anything left there now. Shame really, since it was PACKED on weekends usually.They even held the local part of the MDA Telethon from their bandshell every Labor Day.
 
Went to the one in Vallejo last summer and the 4 of us spent $60 on food and drinks (I had a burger and fries, which isnt even as good as compared to Mcdonald's).

As for the lockers, that's freakin BS. Hopefully if enough people complain, they'll get rid of it. Whoever thought of the idea should be made shot.
 
[quote name='TheRock88']Went to the one in Vallejo last summer and the 4 of us spent $60 on food and drinks (I had a burger and fries, which isnt even as good as compared to Mcdonald's).

As for the lockers, that's freakin BS. Hopefully if enough people complain, they'll get rid of it. Whoever thought of the idea should be made shot.[/quote]

Lol.
I hate waiting for those little trains that take you from the cars to the entrance.
Also, that park is becoming garbage. They took the Ski Jump thing away, and a bunch of other stuff that I saw. The only thing I like about that, is buying shirts and stuff you can't find outside the park.
Go to great America, cheaper, and less packed. Hopefully they add new rides soon like they said.
BTW, if you sit under top gun, people lose money, and it's right by the food court/kodak store.
WIN-WIN.


I'm not gonna pay for a locker, and I'd like them to make me.
I'll make a video if they call security.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']long rant[/quote]

Here's an experience I had at Cedar Point a few years back...

This was the policy 3 years ago at Cedar Point for the larger rides: Millenium Force and Top Speed.

I was getting into line for Millenium when the kid checking rider height told me that my big souvenir cup *FULL OF SODA* wasn't allowed in the queue and it was park policy.

I was a bit stunned, and after 5 minutes of trying to get him to let me slide I exploded into the typical 'consumer rage'(long time customer, go out of my way to go to this park, blah, blah, blah)

I haven't been back to Cedar Point since, nor am I planning to go back at any time in the future, all for the want of a dollar...(well more like $8: $1 for the locker and $7 to replace my Diet Pepsi with a coupla 20 oz bottles in line:bomb:)


The real problem I see with this policy for Six Flags is the timed lockers. So many of the rides that this will be enforced at have >2 hour waits at peak times, that people will *REVOLT* if they have to leave lines to 'feed the meters'.

Maybe this will end up like the 'no readmission' thing Six Flags had a few years ago.

Overall, this won't affect me. After the ridiculous locker policy of the Six Flags Great America water park I experienced last year, I won't be going to any Six Flags parks anymore either.


Even though I've been enjoying riding the biggest/best roller coasters my whole life, I don't think I will be going back to any amusement parks for quite a while:cry:
 
I haven't been to a Six Flags in 10 years, and don't plan on going to one ever again. They're now as bad as Disney as far as price gouging goes. Combined with the ridiculous wait times, no thanks.
 
I don't know why you people are so shocked, it's Six Flags. If they can rip you off they will, they rip you off with the food, the cost of the park and everything else so this isn't shocking.

What I do find quite shocking is people here still go to Six Flags enough to bitch.
 
Does Dan Snyder still own a big share in 6 Flags? He's pulled the same sort of nickel and dime BS around Redskins games. Staying home and watching on an HD set is the way to go.
 
Yeah, Dan Synder is still involved.

It's nice to see at least here so many people are against this policy, like I said earlier most people on coaster sites aren't sharing the same opinion.

Something else I didn't mention is that across a lot of the parks, they are removing a ton of rides. Just at Great Adventure for 2008, they are removing the Space Shuttle, Swings, Round Up, Splashdown Boat, Batman and Robin Coaster, Music Express and Bumper Cars (not operating this year). That leaves a total of 10 non coaster rides in the park. Same with Magic Mountain, they already removed around 5 rides, Kentucky Kingdom is having a whole section of the park closed this year because they don't want to spend the money to staff it.

I'll report any incidents I see happen this year

And to hear how this policy is already working, I'm taking this from Screamscape.com:
""Bad news from the opening weekend of Six Flags over Georgia it seems for anyone hoping that the Locker Nazis were gone for good when the park relaxed their new overly aggressive mandatory locker policy last fall. I’ve been told that they’ve come back in full force over the opening weekend and were apparently even worse than before.
From the stories told people were being asked to rent lockers just for their sunglasses and one fellow with a crutch and a removable “air cast” was being told he had to rent a locker for his crutch and cast even though they pointed out that the crutch wouldn’t even fit into the small lockers.""



[quote name='bigdaddy']I don't know why you people are so shocked, it's Six Flags. If they can rip you off they will, they rip you off with the food, the cost of the park and everything else so this isn't shocking.

What I do find quite shocking is people here still go to Six Flags enough to bitch.[/QUOTE]

Because complaining does work. As someone mentioned a few posts up they had a no re-admission policy for 2006. Once you left the park, you weren't getting in no matter what. It was to stop people from eating outside the park. They got so many complaints from people that they revoked the policy before the season started (the policy was posted on their website). If they get enough complaints, it will hopefully cause them to get rid of this policy as well.
 
[quote name='Veronica Mars']Go to great America, cheaper, and less packed. Hopefully they add new rides soon like they said.
BTW, if you sit under top gun, people lose money, and it's right by the food court/kodak store.
WIN-WIN.[/quote]

Yea, I usually go to Great America (cause it's in San Jose and Vallejo is pretty far). I miss the trolley train that they used to have during the late 80's early 90's. Took you from one side of the park to the other, much faster then the sky chairs.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1'] Kentucky Kingdom is having a whole section of the park closed this year because they don't want to spend the money to staff it.[/quote]

Isn't a ticket like $55? They have more than enough fucking money to man a section. God damn assholes.
 
I'm not sure about that park but admission to some of the Six Flags parks is as high as $59.99, no waterpark or safari included (at least at Great Adventure), not to mention parking is $15 and preferred parking is $25

[quote name='hufferstl']Do you have an official announcement or should we just trust that these "other message boards" are not full of BS?[/QUOTE]



In my last post, I posted something from Screamscape.com with information
Here's another link:
http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=48431

I don't have an official announcement because Six Flags doesn't like to mention it before you get to the park
 
Remember a few years ago when they announced the no re-entry policy to stop people from bringing coolers of food and eating it in their cars? That lasted about a day and a half. Once this is confirmed as park policy(and I'm not believing a few people on a coaster forum), I am sure that the outrage and the inconvenience it causes the guests will convice park management to re-think their policy, just as they did with the no re-entry policy.

Six's business plan is so flawed, I can't even begin to talk about it. They have huge potential and taint their name worse and worse every season.

Edit: also, I just looked up one day passes at Magic Mountain and Great Adventure, and they are $39.99, not $59.99.
 
[quote name='manthing']Here's an experience I had at Cedar Point a few years back...
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, 2 years ago they wanted me to rent a $5 locker for my fucking GLASSES that I am LEGALLY BLIND IF I DON'T WEAR THEM before I even got into the line for the Dragster ride, which was a 2 hour long wait. It would be unbearable to not wear my glasses that whole time. I told them to go fuck themselves and just didn't go on the ride at all.
 
There is no way for them to enforce this policy. First of all, this 2 hour policy for locker is nuts. Do they expect people to switch locker for every ride? There would be too much wait time for the ride to start that people would rather not return for the 2nd or 3rd time. Seems kinda whacked...
 
[quote name='fraggedbylaggers']This is why I only go to disney. These other parks are major rip offs. At least they dont pull any shit once you get inside.[/QUOTE]


disney is great for shows, not really good for rides. and their food is overpriced like crazy imo.
 
[quote name='dracula']disney is great for shows, not really good for rides. and their food is overpriced like crazy imo.[/quote]


"One churro please!"

"That'll be fourteen dollars"
 
When Opryland closed i thought "damn, there goes the only park near here." Then i realized that that al the stuff thats been said about these places, was true for Opryland. All parks suck as far as prices go. $10 hamburgers, $5 sodas, it's all bullshit.
 
[quote name='dracula']disney is great for shows, not really good for rides. and their food is overpriced like crazy imo.[/QUOTE]

Their food is cheaper for the quality than Cedar Point and Six Flags. It may cost around the same, but it is generally better quality, in my experience anyway.
 
The best value at Disney is the $28 wheelchair rental. It's a front-of-the-line pass on just about every ride there, and $20 comes back to you when you return the chair. Am I a heartless bastard? Probably.

I haven't been to Cedar Point in a long time, but really - common sense would tell you that you don't a) play games at an amusement park, b) grab a bunch of food before getting in line, and c) bring anything with you that you have to lug around. Everything I need fits in my pockets (wallet, phone, keys) and everything else stays in the car. No locker necessary.

I remember growing up near Geauga Lake (formerly Six Flags Ohio) and getting a season pass for the price of one ticket ($49.99). So many summers spent driving 20 minutes to Geauga Lake and riding the Wolf Bobs all day - and the waterpark was included. :)
 
[quote name='JJSP']The best value at Disney is the $28 wheelchair rental. It's a front-of-the-line pass on just about every ride there, and $20 comes back to you when you return the chair. Am I a heartless bastard? Probably.
[/QUOTE]

The free fastpasses are actually pretty damn good as well as long as you get there shortly after the park opens. There are almost no lines at that time, even for the biggest rides, and you can easily grab fastpasses for rides later in the day.
 
[quote name='JJSP']
I haven't been to Cedar Point in a long time, but really - common sense would tell you that you don't a) play games at an amusement park, b) grab a bunch of food before getting in line, and c) bring anything with you that you have to lug around. Everything I need fits in my pockets (wallet, phone, keys) and everything else stays in the car. No locker necessary.[/quote]

#-o

Why didn't I think of that when I got a soda on a 90 degree day? :roll:

Common sense would also tell you that $7 for a 40 oz cup of soda with $3 refills is a better deal than the $4 20 oz bottles in line.

Oh wait...the park's concession stands tell you that too. They just don't tell you you can't take that fucking cup in lines:bomb:

And btw: a :ds: and/or :psp: are GREAT for reducing the tedium of waiting in line.

They also fit securely in a fashionable fanny pack...8-[

And BTW: Cedar Point had ZERO problems with allowing the fanny pack on rides :whee:
 
[quote name='manthing']#-o

Why didn't I think of that when I got a soda on a 90 degree day? :roll:

Common sense would also tell you that $7 for a 40 oz cup of soda with $3 refills is a better deal than the $4 20 oz bottles in line.

Oh wait...the park's concession stands tell you that too. They just don't tell you you can't take that fucking cup in lines:bomb:

And btw: a :ds: and/or :psp: are GREAT for reducing the tedium of waiting in line.

They also fit securely in a fashionable fanny pack...8-[

And BTW: Cedar Point had ZERO problems with allowing the fanny pack on rides :whee:[/QUOTE]
If it's 90, a jumbo sized soda probably isn't the best thing to be drinking.
 
[quote name='manthing']Here's an experience I had at Cedar Point a few years back...

This was the policy 3 years ago at Cedar Point for the larger rides: Millenium Force and Top Speed.

I was getting into line for Millenium when the kid checking rider height told me that my big souvenir cup *FULL OF SODA* wasn't allowed in the queue and it was park policy.

I was a bit stunned, and after 5 minutes of trying to get him to let me slide I exploded into the typical 'consumer rage'(long time customer, go out of my way to go to this park, blah, blah, blah)

I haven't been back to Cedar Point since, nor am I planning to go back at any time in the future, all for the want of a dollar...(well more like $8: $1 for the locker and $7 to replace my Diet Pepsi with a coupla 20 oz bottles in line:bomb:)


The real problem I see with this policy for Six Flags is the timed lockers. So many of the rides that this will be enforced at have >2 hour waits at peak times, that people will *REVOLT* if they have to leave lines to 'feed the meters'.

Maybe this will end up like the 'no readmission' thing Six Flags had a few years ago.

Overall, this won't affect me. After the ridiculous locker policy of the Six Flags Great America water park I experienced last year, I won't be going to any Six Flags parks anymore either.


Even though I've been enjoying riding the biggest/best roller coasters my whole life, I don't think I will be going back to any amusement parks for quite a while:cry:[/quote]


Aww, you can't read rules so you throw a fit? Where are you going to put that cup? Both those rides have a loading station and an unloading station separate from each other. I am sure you would like to be hit by a cup at over 90 MPH because some asshole decided to take it on the ride. Ever wonder why they have these rules? Public safety? Maybe? I guess I should be happy. One less person crowding up the midway.

Now with the 2 hour limit at Six Flags, the worst chain in existence, it doesn't surprise me that they screw this up. They should not have a time limit. People carrying bags and other crap slows down the lines. Something Six Flags needs to work on. Besides having a terrible maintenance problem, they suck at getting people through their lines. Hopefully next year or even later this year, the time limit will be lifted.
 
Don't they have those cubby things for shoes and stuff, like at superman and batman? can't you just use those or are they getting rid of them?
 
They are getting rid of them.

And to add to the lines issue, it doesn't help with Flashpass, the biggest scam of them all. For anyone that doesn't know, it allows you to pay extra to cut to the front of the line. $31 for 1 person, for regular, $71 for 1 person for gold (75% faster) for 2007 at Great Adventure. So those who refuse to get ripped of by using the system, and choose to wait in line even have to wait longer.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']They are getting rid of them.

And to add to the lines issue, it doesn't help with Flashpass, the biggest scam of them all. For anyone that doesn't know, it allows you to pay extra to cut to the front of the line. $31 for 1 person, for regular, $71 for 1 person for gold (75% faster) for 2007 at Great Adventure. So those who refuse to get ripped of by using the system, and choose to wait in line even have to wait longer.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's bullshit also. Disney's (free) Fastpass is a helluva lot fairer.
 
[quote name='bigdaddy']Isn't a ticket like $55? They have more than enough fucking money to man a section. God damn assholes.[/QUOTE]


Check out their financials and you will be quite surprised to see that few parks actually make any money. Their stock is down to under $2.00 from $12 in January 2006.

Also Yoshi, it seems like you really hate Six Flags, am I just reading your posts wrong?
 
[quote name='hufferstl']
Also Yoshi, it seems like you really hate Six Flags, am I just reading your posts wrong?[/QUOTE]

Yes and no. I like their rides, and their coaster are amazing. A lot of rides I can't find anywhere else without driving hours so I am forced to go there to ride certain coasters. Plus they open a month earlier than other parks in the area and waiting another month for coasters would be torture for me (I already can't stand the offseason of November - March). But I hate everything about the company. I don't like the ripoff pricing and feeling like they are trying to get as much money as they can out of me with their policies. I know theme parks are ovepriced but compared to other parks in my area, they are over the top.
 
[quote name='sp00ge']I haven't been to a Six Flags in 10 years, and don't plan on going to one ever again. They're now as bad as Disney as far as price gouging goes. Combined with the ridiculous wait times, no thanks.[/QUOTE]

Well Disney can do it because they're Disney. Most people will pay whatever and won't think twice about it.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Yeah, 2 years ago they wanted me to rent a $5 locker for my fucking GLASSES that I am LEGALLY BLIND IF I DON'T WEAR THEM before I even got into the line for the Dragster ride, which was a 2 hour long wait. It would be unbearable to not wear my glasses that whole time. I told them to go fuck themselves and just didn't go on the ride at all.[/quote]

That's too bad, Dragster is the biggest adreanline rush I've experienced in any coaster.
 
Ok, I had my first visit to Six Flags today and here is what I saw with the lockers:
At Superman Ultimate Flight, someone in front of me had a bottle of water and was told they had to throw it out when they get to the platform. They said while walking through the line there must be a place to put it in the station, they were wrong. All day you heard announcements that if you had loose articles in the station, you have to get a locker and go to the end of the line

They allow you to leave flip flops and sandals in the station but this slows down loading and some people tried to leave regular shoes which apparently isn't allowed. At Medusa, someone was already buckled in and was told that because their shoes had backs to them, they had to be worn despite the person not wanting to wear them. This caused stacking because the restraints in part of the train had to be rechecked. This is due to them removing storage areas in the station because of the lockers

Finally, it was raining on and off all day today and people had umbrellas, they don't fit in a locker and who wants to stand in a line getting wet. Today there were no lines longer than 5 - 10 minutes and you just had to wait in the station but I could see that being an issue on a more crowded day

Surprisingly, most people didn't seem to mind them though. But the again, everyone was content paying the crazy prices for everything else- new this year is Vitamin Water for $4.00, Soft Pretzels went from $4.99 to $5.99 and a chicken finger and fries basket is up to $9.99
 
[quote name='JJSP']The best value at Disney is the $28 wheelchair rental. It's a front-of-the-line pass on just about every ride there, and $20 comes back to you when you return the chair. Am I a heartless bastard? Probably.
[/quote]
Hahaha. That reminds me of when I went to Disney with my family and grandma. She needed a wheelchair, so it was absolutely a win-win situation. Going to Disney with my family and awesome grandma and passing everyone in every line was wonderful. :D
 
I know this is an old topic, and the closest Six Flags near me (Six Flags over Georgia) still enforces this policy, but with a little planning it is not such a bad place to visit...

Id been avoiding the place for years hearing all sorts of bad things, but the allure of of a top ten rated B&M hyper coaster made me want to visit again, along with a few other rides suck as a B&M flying coaster. I know the recession is affecting them especially as they try to get out of bankruptcty... but seasons passes for 2010 were only $49.99 and allowed us admission for the rest of 09 free... seasons parking pass was $45... crazy, but Im allowed admission into any six flags park with this.

With 4 of us, being a hot day... foodwise, we ended up eating at an established chain Johnny Rockets and getting 4 burgers, fries, rings, and two souveneir cups which could be refilled for free all day for $40... not horrible, but Ive been going to Busch Gardens Va, Kings Dominion, and Water Country USA my whole life so Im used to high food pricing.

The locker policy is still in effect and sucks, but knowing which rides had them before I went (Goliath, Cyclone, Georgia Scorcher... only 3) made planning the trip a little easier... and it being a slow time of year combined with recent flooding... I got to ride on everything I wanted multiple times. I left mostly satisfied. Its still nowhere the park Busch is but the ten coasters they have made up partially for that

Six Flags really needs to improve their public image or they will not survive. Too many people have a horrible opinion of them. I still had a bad taste in my mouth over how they handles the New Orleans park, but thats another story
 
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