Souvenir Cups

[bsntech]

Hello all,

My wife and I went to Great America a few weeks ago. We immediately purchased a souvenir cup just upon entering the park for $13 since it had free refills all day.

That is when the trouble started - we then discovered that we had to pay $1 on every ride to store the cup in. We paid for it for our first ride but with the second ride, I was fuming so I summoned over a supervisor. They were nice and refunded the money and gave us a few front-of-the-line passes.

I don't know why they do not allow you to put your items in bins up near the rides; I guess it is all another way to make money off of people. We go to St. Louis fairly often and they have bins on every ride and allow you to store items in them.

What is worse is since they do not allow you to bring the items into the queue line, you cannot wait simultaneously. What I mean by this is if you were at least allowed to bring them in line, all members of your party could wait in line and then while one or more people ride, the 'loose articles' could be handed to a person in your party that is waiting in line right behind you. This makes it so it is fair and there isn't any need for lockers or a person staying back and not even getting to ride without going through another one or two hour wait.

Anyways, we are looking at going back here possibly next week since we still have two tickets that I got through the Six Flags mastercard. Hope the kids will be in school in the Chicago area since our schools in central Illinois start tomorrow. When we went, it was extremely crowded and lines were all at least an hour long; not my kind of trip.

Has anyone managed to 'smuggle' on a souvenir cup into the queues? I was wondering if I wore some big, baggy cargo jeans with a huge pocket in them (or sew one in them with buttons on the top) if they would allow you through. I would think they would since they let people take cameras, cell phones, and other small items on like that. What about "fanny packs"? When we were there, it seemed that sometimes they allowed those with "fanny packs" to go into the queue lines; other times they said they needed a locker.

When we go back, I'd really like to get the souvenir cup again and make use of it - but I'm not about to pay $1 for a locker everytime we want to get on a ride.

Thanks all.

Brian

[tribar]

No I haven't been able to however they will allow you to have fanny packs as long as they are strapped to you. in my opinion they should let you store items that YOU bought in the park with your own money to be left in bins free of charge i.e. Game prizes and sorvenir cups

Hope this Helps

[david]

Do you know how many people drop things off of coasters? Imagine a drink falling 210ft. from Raging Bull, and hitting a guest. How do you think they would react. Or their guardian. Six Flags would be sued out the ass.

[tribar]

They shouldn't be able to bring it on the ride but store in the station. You could get your hand stamped and go put whatever you have in your car

[bsntech]

But cameras and cell phones are fine to take on the rides? Seems they would potentially do more damage because they are harder than what a souvenir cup would be if empty or even full.

While there a few weeks back, I saw a few times where people lost hats on the rides.

I just think that their policy on this issue is a double-edge sword. They allow for some things and not others. Sure, I guess items small enough to conceal in pockets they cannot see.

The supervisor told me that they did away with the bins on the rides a few years ago because a team of thieves that go around the park looking to steal things that people leave at the rides. I don't know - but how many thieves are going to want to steal a souvenir cup?

A few ride operators were agreeing with us on the solution to allow you to at least carry them up to the ride and then hand off to another person.

Don't know if it is worth trying to make some pants that will hold the cup or not - but either way, I can assure that it wouldn't fall out while on any ride because there will be buttons over the pocket to keep the contents in - and even if you think about it, the cup is quite large that while you are sitting on a ride, it would be wedged in without any room to escape anyways.

In regards to the post just made - I'm not about to walk all the way out to the park to the car to get the cup to bring it back in for a refill, take a drink, then walk all the way back out to store it again. That is ridiculous. I don't think you meant it in this case - but probably were referring to the merchandise purchased at the store or game winnings.

Brian

[Ilovthevu']

Honestly, your best bet is to just not buy the souvenir cup. It's going to be more hassle than worth it. If thieves are the major problem with stealing stuff, than why don't they control the bins better? For instance, at Dorney Park, and at Six Flags Over Texas, they had sliding doors in which the employee would slide the door so only the people from that train could take that stuff. That's where those people put it, and that's what those people can take. Instead, what you had at Six Flags is for a ride like Demon, you just had all the bins open because no one was closing them, and than people would put their stuff in any bins, and people probably did steal stuff. At Kings Island, the ride employee had magnets on the bins in which it would stay up, and than you can tell if their was a thief or not. Sure, if the park wants lockers, I don't think it's a big deal BUT than don't charge for it!

I overheard on Batman the Ride a ride employee was saying that people lost like 75 cellphones this year from tha ride alone, and many of them didn't make it. To me, by hearing something like this, you tell people in big letters at the beginning of the line about the truth, and how many people have lost, and they must understand the severity of it. It's like the Diamonback at Kings Island in which they have a box of broken cellphones telling people hey be careful about your cellphone. The locker policy doesn't help anything like that at all though. Cellphones go in people's pocket in which you don't put in lockers or bins, and they are falling out.

Also, in regards to your souvenir cup, if you want a drink leave the park and go to Mcdonald's for $1 drink with unlimited refills, and come back to the park.

[UWW-10]

^^ It's cameras and phones that are secure that can be with you on the ride. Secure meaning in a buttoned, zippered, or deep enough pocket, or as someone mentioned the fanny packs. If it can't fit in a pocket or fanny pack, or even around your neck tucked into your shirt (as I have seen some people do this without any problems) then it won't be allowed on the ride.

While the storage bins on the platforms were helpful, you'd be surprised how many people wouldn't use them properly meaning they'd just set their stuff on the middle of the platform where ops had to walk or other people had to access their seats. Then you had people with the oversized plush toys that didn't fit in the bins to begin with. And with the amount of gripe and complaining about lost purses and backpacks or other stolen items with value....you'd be surprised how many people would even steal souvenir cups just so they could wash them out and use them themselves, even if they had to pay a $1.99 refill fee because that's better than $8 for the same amount in a paper cup. Is what they have the best solution? No, but I understand their idea of eliminating any loose article that can't be properly secured from even entering the station.

I do somewhat agree that they need to bring them back, but I'm certian you would need a "bin keeper" position in the station (which could mean an extra crew member on most coasters) to staff them so that people put the items in the right bins and then weren't stealing other people's items.

Don't they still have the lockers throughout the park that you pay and have access to all day? Or is that just in the Waterpark? This could be another option for you....yes it's more money being spent but in the end, depending on how many times you ride the coasters, you might save some money.

[tribar]

They should just have those bins locked unless that train is in the station. Iike for Raging Bull hae a red bin a yellow bin and a teal bin.

[Ilovthevu']

^You are onto something there. For a park like Dorney Park, they have these magnets for gates. You know like you go on Superman Ultimate Flight, and you wait in line to go in the row, and we have those metal gates that open up. Well, instead of that, they have wooden gates, and when the ride is ready for you to ride it, you just push them open. They are magnetized, so that would be great for the bins. You can't open a bin unless your train is there!

Looking at more recent pictures at Dorney Park, it actually looks like they got rid of them. I didn't like them much because they slam, but the point is that idea (of magnetizing for something to lock) for the bins would be a great. A good example of that type of gate is Fiddler's Fling exit gate in which they have. Or here is a gate for Cedar Point's Chaos ride which is the brown gate that says Exit on it. That does the same thing. It won't open until the ride op pushes a button to open it from the control panel. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewb94/3788336805/

[david]

Or they could put a very small bin on the actual train near every cart. And it automatically locks when the train leaves the station.

[bsntech]

From what I saw, all-day lockers are only in Hurricane Harbor.

I guess that is a partial solution - but same thing - you have to walk to the locker to get your cup to get a drink. Very big inconvenience although not as bad as walking to the car.

In regards to needing another crew member to attend to the bins - not the case at all. There are one or two queue line members on many rides that do nothing but check for these kind of things. While I'm not a big proponent for reducing staff, you could actually reduce staff on rides by this method - although you are giving up tens of thousands in revenue daily from those locker rentals.

I don't know - with as large as Six Flags is, they need to have company-wide policies on things like this. I know it is important to make a profit since that is the point of being in business, but keeping customers happy tend to make their experience better and open their wallets towards souvenirs, games, and more food.

The only other park that I know of that has the lockers and forces you to use them is Busch Gardens in Florida. I haven't been to any other Six Flags parks except St. Louis and Great America, but Cedar Point and Kings Island also have the bins on rides. Same with Holiday World. Just seems that Great America is in a league of their own and are going against the grain.

I guess it probably isn't worth trying to smuggle the souvenir cups on the ride in the end. I'll just take my business elsewhere and make use of their free water - which they then pay the cost of the plastic cups for. If it wasn't for the cup ordeal the last time we were at the park, I would have been in a much better mood and probably would have spent some money. After the issues that started the day off on a sour note, they didn't get a dime from me all day.

Brian

[acquaz10]

Anyways, we are looking at going back here possibly next week since we still have two tickets that I got through the Six Flags mastercard.

Ok, first off, I don't want to get you mad but I here Six Flags has dropped Mastercard and everything that used to work from them, now doesn't. Just a quick warning.

Now back on topic.

Here is a perfect example of why they have lockers:
http://www.facebook.com/SixFlagsAmerica ... 994&ref=mf

This person posted it on the wrong Facebook though. It was meant for Six Flags Great America, the park you are visting.

SFGAm has to have all day lockers somewhere that's not in HH. It not thats absurd. GAdv and SFNE have them. GAm must. Here's my suggestion find an empty arcade or bathroom or something near the ride and stash the cups away. Simple as that.

Also Universal forces you to use lockers too. Its not just Six Flags and Busch.

I just want to mention this since I don't get why this hasn't happened yet, but at SFNE, Flashback (our Vekoma boomerang) Cyclone, and Thunderbolt all have bins still. The only flat with bins is Twister. The only coaster they really really enforce the locker policy on is Bizarro, because for Mind Eraser and Batman you can just put everything in you're shoe.

[bsntech]

Yep, am aware of the agreement closing with Six Flags and Mastercard. I got four tickets back in July and have used two thus far with two left.

A week after we went, I got a notice from the credit card company that the agreement was ending and I'd be converted over to the Chase Freedom plan at the beginning of October. I have probably 25,000 points saved up and they'll give me $25 for every $2,500 - so that will be a nice check for $250.

[Ilovthevu']

If the lockers were free, NO one would be complaining about the policy. You just wouldn't make people mad. Just charge more money in admission prices, and include it.

^For Roaring Rapids, or something like Logger's Run, those rides are going to be very hard to stop people from stealing stuff because you have so many boats, and you have people coming and going all the time. The best thing for a ride like that without lockers would be to place a camera on the bins. They have so many cameras on that ride anyway, so why not do that, and have a sign say you are being watched by a camera. As for the roller coasters without lockers you pay for, I have the perfect solution as I said, and tribar helped with that even a little more than what I was thinking. It's just are they going to spend additional money worrying about people's property or say let's find a way to make money off of this instead.

[bsntech]

And so the obvious choice was chosen - "let's make more money!".

[Goku1910]

Since the addition of lockers, theft in the park has gone down by 93%. The money people pay for the lockers is most likely used to maintain those lockers and pay smart locke company. Those lockers get broken by angry guests all the time.

Instead of whining about it, how about you just don't bring any loose articles? All you need at Great America is a Wallet and a phone. And fanny packs are allowed as well (belt buckle only) so invest in one of those. And no, LARGE fanny packs with the cup holders are not allowed with souvenir cups inside. Also, don't try to tie a purse around the waist like a fanny pack, because that will not be allowed in the line either.

[Ilovthevu']

I'm against lockers as they make people mad. I'm however not the one that is ever going to use them, so it doesn't affect me, but it affects the people in front of me that look so mad at the park, and than have to spend money to ride a ride in which at the park they already have paid for.

So much for rentals charges for the park.

http://www.smartecarte.com/concession-2
"A Smarte Carte locker concession provides superior service through a NO COST, revenue-generating storage locker solution. Smarte Carte provides the locker equipment at no charge, conserving your capital dollars. We own and operate the equipment, provide repair and maintenance and perform cash management and periodic audits.

Then, we pay you a commission on the revenues collected!

Our concession program is targeted to transportation centers, amusement parks, outdoor or indoor waterparks, ski resorts and other attractions with high attendance or traffic levels. The concession program can be customized to meet the unique requirements of your facility."

[rct2wizard360]

Also Universal forces you to use lockers too. Its not just Six Flags and Busch.

And Universal also lets you use them at no cost for the duration of the queue time.
Never had to use a locker at Disney because they find a way for me to bring my stuff in line with me, and then I'm even able to RIDE with it?

Hell, even when I went to Kings Island when "The Crypt" was still "Tomb Raider" they had zipper pouches right in front of you to store your loose articles.

There are plenty of ways around Six Flags charging everyone for a locker. Fact of the matter is they are too cheap and lazy to do so. If it was really 100% about the safety they wouldn't be asking you for a dollar.

[david]

Listen, if you want to go around and complain that they force you to use a locker, you can do that. But it's not going to change anything. This isn't something any of us can get around.

[rct2wizard360]

Listen, if you want to go around and complain that they force you to use a locker, you can do that. But it's not going to change anything. This isn't something any of us can get around.

Neither is you going around complaining about us not getting Chang and saying how much you hate the new management crew.

[scott2608]

Six Flags St. Louis has sport bottle holders this is what we need.

[Ilovthevu']

^I honestly don't like that idea. Anyone is going to think free for all. That's not even inside the station. That looks like outside before the entrance of Batman the Ride.

And David, complaining about the locker could change it. You have to remember that we have a new CEO, and COO that could change that next year. Chang wasn't going to work at SFGAm! Enough with that.

And David, the last 4 times I rode on Iron Wolf on two different days this season, the line was 5 minutes each!

[bsntech]

It isn't even up to the CEO or COO as we can see.

St. Louis clearly demonstrates the need for good customer service and making their guests happy. Great America - well, not so sure about them. It all does come down to this locker issue and I'm glad to see many other people share my same opinion.

When I told a queue attendant on GCR I wanted to talk with a supervisor, there were at least six or seven other people that were just getting in the line that showed support for us as well because of this policy. None of them stuck around though since we waited about 15 minutes for the supervisor to show up - but it definitely shows one thing - guests are very unhappy with this policy that resides at this park.

Six Flags just saw it - as one other poster mentioned - as a way of generating more revenue while "protecting" the guests from theft. How about really protecting the guests and allow for the bins? Look at Whizzer - that coaster still has the bins on that ride.

It is just irritating that the policy only seems to apply to the thrill seeker rides; not the family rides. Sure, I guess the thrill-seeker rides are much more costly to put in - so now that the pictures on those rides aren't selling as good, now they find another way to bump up revenue for those rides.

Brian

[bsntech]

I'd like to thank scott2608 for the picture from St. Louis. I've sent an e-mail to Mr. Salemi (President of Great America) and attached the picture to the e-mail. I never did receive any kind of response or notification from him in regards to my previous e-mail on this subject, but providing proof that at least St. Louis - as another company-owned park - is attempting to make reasonable efforts to keep their guests happy.

[tribar]

It is just irritating that the policy only seems to apply to the thrill seeker rides; not the family rides. Sure, I guess the thrill-seeker rides are much more costly to put in - so now that the pictures on those rides aren't selling as good, now they find another way to bump up revenue for those rides.

Brian

It doesn't help that they got rid of Rajun Cajun and Viper's on ride photos.