Ccron10 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Apparently SF enforces this new rule for Goliath riders to rent locker for $2 just to ride Goliath. On top of this, you can't have anything in line while waiting. Read more in this screamscape update. In a move that has irritated a couple of readers this week it seems Six Flags over Georgia has suddenly added a “mandatory locker” policy on Goliath. Riders are forced to use a set of lockets that charge an outrageous price of $2 for a single one time use of the locker for a 3 hours window. Employees staffing the ride have apparently been trained to become Locker Nazis and are not allowing riders to carry anything at all onto the ride, barring what you can hide unseen in your pockets like a cell phone or wallet. If you don’t want to pay, you have to have a non-rider hold your stuff. Even worse, it seems that you can’t even hold items for people in your party riding on different trains and exchange them between rides as one reader found out when trying to hold his daughter’s bag. The father was told he was not allowed to even stand in the queue with his 12 year old daughter to hold her bag, even if he wasn’t going to ride. He was told to stand at the exit and wait for her, but he wasn’t willing to let his 12 year old daughter stand in line by herself for god only knows how long. I don’t blame him especially after the kinds of violence we’ve seen take place around the park the last couple of years from park guests and thug off-duty employees. It just seems crazy that Six Flags would add this kind of thing combined with a zero tolerance for anything in the queue, though lockers outside of rides is certainly nothing new. If your going to have this kind of attitude about your guest’s personal possessions in your queue you really need to offer FREE temporary locker use like they do at Universal Orlando for the first couple of hours (enough for a wait in a long line) and only then charge if the items are left inside for a longer period of time. Even better, just let people leave stuff in the station with the warning that the park is not responsible for anything taken, encouraging those who have valuable items to use a locker. The Locker Nazi attitude only adds to the implication that they are trying to shake as much money from the guests as possible, but it will only bite them in the ass in the end when people decide not to buy souvenirs and over priced drink bottles rather than be shook down for an extra locker toll at the entrance of every major ride. $2 for 3 hours! Nothing allowed in line! Sounds like if you go to SFOG along and your carrying something and you wanna go on Goliath, either you're SOL or you'll need to fork over $2 for no more than 5 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easytoremember Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Goliath is starting to go to hell. I hated the no prefered seating policy that they had for a while.(Is this still going on?) I can not believe some of the things they are doing. They are turning one of the best coasters in the world into a hastle. If they enforce this when I go next time I will just skip it and do the rest of the park. For a while I could not decide if I liked GA Cyclone, Mindbender, or Goliath better, but these new policies make it easy to say that Goliath is my third favorite ride in the park now. I hate you SF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disney Dood Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 That's gotta be one of the most ridiculous rules I've ever seen at a park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Busch Gardens has pretty similar rules at both of its parks. Though I don't think that they charge $2 for a timed locker. Banning loose items does speed up loading of busy rides. In my experience Universal's free lockers didn't turn out to be free at all. They're only free if they correctly estimate the queue time, which didn't happen on both Hulk and DD for me. Basically, I had to pay for both rides. My solution is to carry very little into parks, not even a wallet usually. I stick my tiny camera into a zipper pocket, and enter the queue with no loose articles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I've been to the park twice this summer and haven't even bothered to ride it. Didnt even notice this! edit: I just read the piece that I'm guessing was copied from screamscape. As mentioned above, I guess Lance doesn't like that Busch Gardens makes you pay .50 a ride either? Cedar Point did the same thing on Wicked Twister for us in 2004... and I want to say that it wasnt the only ride, but it was the only one I remember edit again: over priced drink bottles. HA! I am sorry for contributing to this thread as if I almost agree with the silly rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 At least SF has the sense to understand that things in a zippered pocket are OK, unlike some highly-worshiped parks... dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 $2 is a bit ridiculous, at least BGT was "only" 50¢. Honestly, I would call/write and complain. Policies like this really suck, but the only way management is going to find out is if there's a bunch of noise made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 $2 is a bit ridiculous, at least BGT was "only" 50¢. Honestly, I would call/write and complain. Policies like this really suck, but the only way management is going to find out is if there's a bunch of noise made. I honestly buy the argument that banning loose articles speeds up loading. But they shouldn't turn this into a profit center. Also, we had a serious problem at Great Adventure where every time we'd drop our souvenir cup off in the bins some group of MORONS inevitably tried to steal our seats. Ugh. Banning loose articles cuts down on that problem because you go straight into your seat, and don't leave it open for idiots to try to jack your seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtreme-me Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 What happens if you are standing in a two hour line in 100 degree heat and they wont let you take anything with you? Dehydration and medical problems can arise from that And I wouldnt be surprised if that all of a sudden there were like, 5 ambulences parked outside of Goliath. It would really reek to stand in that line without water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccron10 Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 ^Don't they have misting machines to keep you cool? For Hershey, they just have drop zones on nearly all of their rides and if you want to rent a locker, it's $.50 for the whole day. Dorney has containers to put your stuff in at all the coasters. The locker prices vary, it's a little more for the ones near Wild Water Kingdom than the ones near White Water Landing. Six Flags is going to crap, good thing I've never went to one of their parks! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I was stunned to see this being enforced for all coasters at Busch Gardens Europe, but I will say that it definitely sped up loading procedures a lot. I'll be damned if I'm ever going to bring a backpack or anything there, though. That's one park I would never video at for that very reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennywood!007 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 This is definitely the dumbest rule in a park passed in 2007. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryH Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 $2 is a bit ridiculous, at least BGT was "only" 50¢. BGT's lockers are 50 cents, which isn't too bad. Cedar Point's lockers were $1. You couldn't use quarters either. You had to use the change machine and get one of those dollar coins. Other Six Flags parks and other coasters at SFOG let you leave your stuff on the station or a special box near the station. Why must Golitah be any different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraxleRIDAH Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Gotta love Universal Studio's FREE automated ride locker rental for the first hour and a half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Six Flags is going to crap, good thing I've never went to one of their parks! You've GOT to be kidding me, this is the exact same rule both Busch parks use on their most popular coasters, and is also the exact same thing CP does with Maverick, Dragster, MF, and Skyhawk . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asr Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Six Flags is going to crap, good thing I've never went to one of their parks! You've GOT to be kidding me, this is the exact same rule both Busch parks use on their most popular coasters, and is also the exact same thing CP does with Maverick, Dragster, MF, and Skyhawk . Ummm, as far as I know, Maverick has bins, Skyhawk definatly does. Dragster and MF are the only rides at CP without bins I believe. Anyhow, this does suck. It may increase waiting time if you are allowed to bring stuff into the queue, but I definatly prefer having bins instead of lockers, I would never pay for a locker at a park if I had the choice. You spend enough on food as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willski Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I went earlier today for about 45 minutes (I was 5 minutes away looking at the new sewer tunnels in Atlanta, so I figured why not). I rode Goliath once, Acrophobia once, and Cyclone once. Goliath's lockers made no sense to me. If you desparetly want people to not take loose articles on the ride, make the lockers free for a short time (a la Universal). I saw plenty of people jamming a cell phone, wallet, keys, and camera into a tiny cargo pocket. IMO, the stuff was more likely to fall out because of the stupid rules. The sad thing is, they had 3 people staffing the lockers to "force" you to put stuff in, while they had 6 people staffing the actual ride, which was stacking. Honestly, before this policy, I've seen ride ops not stack the ride during a time period of 3-4 hours, while today, it stacked every time but one. Whatever the policy is designed for, it certainly doesn't speed up loading intervals, because they were awfully slow today. Also, they had no one staffing the Flash Pass line at any point, so people just walked up and cut in front of a good part of the line. Plus, there is no shade in front of the station. That's what bothers me the most about Goliath-the shading was poorly done for a park in the south with all asphalt paths. Stupid. The locker stuff doesn't affect me, but it is still rather pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I understand this on rides that have seperate stations, like MF, but this is a little ridiculous. What's wrong with having bins? Does it screw up capacity THAT badly? Or do they think this will somehow fix a problem they might be having with riders losing loose items while on the ride? It's probably just another way for them to rob guests of every dollar they can. If you're going to charge guests $2 for a locker, at least give them more than three hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willski Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 What's wrong with having bins? Does it screw up capacity THAT badly? Not at all. In fact, the loading was actually slower today with the new policy in effect than in the past. Every train but one stacked today. Really, it is a money making scam, just like splitting up a lot and leaving most of it empty so they can charge $15/$20 parking. It really is getting ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Not at all. In fact, the loading was actually slower today with the new policy in effect than in the past. Every train but one stacked today. Really, it is a money making scam, just like splitting up a lot and leaving most of it empty so they can charge $15/$20 parking. It really is getting ridiculous. If Goliath had a good crew, the new policy would increase capacity. That's the reason Busch Gardens claims for implementing the rule; to increase capacity. I saw a really great example of this policy at work with Griffon. That crew really loaded those suckers up. It's unarguably slower to let people cross over the train and putter around with bins, especially on a 10-across train like Griffon has. Goliath's crew must really blow. B&M hypers are designed to be serious capacity machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airtime&Gravity Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 This is probably the most ridiculous policy I've heard, and I hope it does not go chain wide. I don't have anything with having to put items in lockers, but the fact that Six Flags is charging for a rule they have just shows how far they are willing to go to make some money. I will laugh when this comes back to bite them in the ass though, and maybe then they will realize that there are limitations o how much people will spend at their parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easytoremember Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 The two dollars is not that bad in my opinion, it is that you are forced to do it. I carry around a souvineer cup, so I can't put that in my pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willski Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 If Goliath had a good crew, the new policy would increase capacity. Goliath's crew must really blow. B&M hypers are designed to be serious capacity machines. That's the problem. The ride only has two trains and no mid-course blcok brake, so the train can't leave the lift until the other one is in the station. This creates a capacity ceiling that even the fastest load/unload times can't break. Speeding up load/unload helps a tiny bit, but the ride still takes about a minute from lift peak to final brakes, so the best method to get good hourly capacity is to just not stack the trains. With last year's crew, speeding the loading up would have actually caused more problems, as the PLC got touchy if the train climbing the lift had to slow to allow the other train to clear the final brakes. It actually got stuck a couple of times on the lift and they did a full evac. On Goliath, unlike most other coasters, there really is a dispatch interval/capacity limit, and last year's crew did a pretty good job of hitting that. This year's crew, however, sucks and stacks train like crazy. The locker thing doesn't seem to help them either. What they really need is a head op/team lead who is competent, efficient, and motivates the other ride ops to move at more than a snail's pace. Unfortunately, they won't find that with the wages and hours they offer, so the new locker rule will become solely a money-making scheme and will have no real effect on ride operations (other than lowering the number of people riding and pissing people off). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 That's the problem. The ride only has two trains and no mid-course blcok brake, so the train can't leave the lift until the other one is in the station. This creates a capacity ceiling that even the fastest load/unload times can't break. Speeding up load/unload helps a tiny bit, but the ride still takes about a minute from lift peak to final brakes, so the best method to get good hourly capacity is to just not stack the trains. With last year's crew, speeding the loading up would have actually caused more problems, as the PLC got touchy if the train climbing the lift had to slow to allow the other train to clear the final brakes. It actually got stuck a couple of times on the lift and they did a full evac. On Goliath, unlike most other coasters, there really is a dispatch interval/capacity limit, and last year's crew did a pretty good job of hitting that. This year's crew, however, sucks and stacks train like crazy. The locker thing doesn't seem to help them either. What they really need is a head op/team lead who is competent, efficient, and motivates the other ride ops to move at more than a snail's pace. Unfortunately, they won't find that with the wages and hours they offer, so the new locker rule will become solely a money-making scheme and will have no real effect on ride operations (other than lowering the number of people riding and pissing people off). Oh, I forgot about Goliath only having 2 trains because the other US B&M hypers all have 3. That seems like a stupid corner to cut. Rides like Raging Bull can clear lines faster than almost anything thanks to the three trains and single restraint to check. SFOG is a busy enough park. Why not push it to the max? Budgetary or space issues? As for workers, heck these days SFOG is lucky to hire workers that don't savagely beat people right outside park grounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixflagsguy5 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I can see why they wouldn't want loose articles on the ride, but I think it's ridiculous to go to such extremes. Seaworld San Antonio didn't allow me to have any loose articles in line. They made me put my cell phone, camera, and souvineer away before entering the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now