Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

SFOG's Goliath's New Terrible Locker Policy


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 114
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

DISCLAIMER: I forget whether this Goliath has seperate load/unload stations, so bear with me.

 

$2 is a lot, but are they THAT much of "locker Nazis"? At SFMM, signs and announcements at rides like Scream, Riddler, and X say that you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT carry any "loose articles" on board, but once you go to ride, it's easy to a) run across the train upon boarding and dump your stuff on the other side, or b) in the case of X, run down the station to the exit and dump your stuff before you board.

 

 

Keep in mind, when Scream opened in 2003, I was sucked into the notion that we HAD to pay (what is now $1) for a locker. Now we know the trick mentioned above.

If there is no possible way to get out of this... that sucks; I would write a letter as well.

 

And there is my 2 cents.

 

-amanda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Complaining about this situation may not work as well as you hope. Superman Escape at Movie World uses a system similar to this, as much as people complain they didn't do anything about it. $2 is a bit much though, we only pay $1 so yeah.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's only 75 cents for a pretty big sized locker over at Firehawk, and it doesn't really bother me. But for 2.00$? Those are usually the ones you would pay for to rent all day at a theme park!

 

And recently a KingsIsland, they won't let you put a bag to the side of the station, or even in a bin! You have to take it with you! (Except for Delerium and Drop Zone and Face/Off....maybe Top Gun)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At least this isn't a chain-wide thing. In fact at SFSTL we recently just installed bins similar to Holiday World. On Eagle there is a "cubby wall" that is similar to the cubbies you see in elementary school, it works really well instead of the bins which stuff gets spilled on all the time. At Batman they use a cabinet thing similar to Voyage where the ops will slide the doors around based on the train that is out on the track. Freeze has always used individual baskets on the transfer table. Ninja, Mine Train, and Boss I believe will be getting new bins as well. No more of those ugly blue tupperware bins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 a$$ 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.

 

How is this ANY different to what Busch Gardens, Cedar Point, or a number of other parks have been doing for years?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please correct me if I am wrong Robb, or anyone for that matter, but at other parks isn't it cheaper, or you can rent lockers for longer times. This system is unusual to me as I've never encountered it, but why can't riders just leave their stuff in the station? SFSTL actually has a person who stays by the bins and makes sure no one steals anything, so if they are worried about stuff being stolen, just do that.(no extra people would have to be hired, but one of the ride ops would monitors who leaves and takes stuff)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say that the big deal out of this is probably the fact that it is 2 bucks to use the locker for up to 3 hours. If it was for the day (even if it was only a one time use thing) or if it was a three hour limit at a smaller or no cost, then people would not be as up set. I think though that people may not care for the fact that you pay more for it than other places on top of the fact that it has a time limit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to SFOG yesterday with my mom and dad. I rode Goliath, but because my mom is terrified of larger coasters, we were able to leave all of our stuff with her.

 

I did notice the lockers, but not having to use them, I didn't make much of them. Although, I did notice two employees posted there who were bouncing a basketball back and forth across the queue that goes through the lockers, causing you to have to pause as you were walking through to not get hit by the basketball.

 

The main problem on Goliath is that they make you take your flip-flops off. People don't go in line barefoot, so when you get to the station, even if nobody has loose articles, a TON of people still have to go over, take their flip-flops off, then go back and sit down and pull down the restraint. Plus...the crew sucks. Although yesterday, I noticed that every single B&M in the park was stacking badly. I think I waited on the train on Batman almost two minutes before we went back in the station.

 

Another EXTREMELY weird policy that came up yesterday on Georgia Cyclone (which, by the way was insanely rough compared to when I rode it back in 2004), was that you had to take all your loose articles with you on the ride. This is no joke, at least for the one time I rode it. A guy that was riding on the same train as me had a basketball he had won, and had put it on the exit side of the platform. But the ride op said that had put a new rule in place on Saturday that you had to take everything with you- so he gave the guy his basketball and made him ride with it.

 

That is about the most stupid thing I have ever heard of in my life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the ride op said that had put a new rule in place on Saturday that you had to take everything with you- so he gave the guy his basketball and made him ride with it.

 

That is about the most stupid thing I have ever heard of in my life.

Good, Now they won't win them and bounce them around the park, On walls, Infront of you, in the queue...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SFSTL actually has a person who stays by the bins and makes sure no one steals anything, so if they are worried about stuff being stolen, just do that.(no extra people would have to be hired, but one of the ride ops would monitors who leaves and takes stuff)

 

 

We don't have people who do that.... In fact we have tons of signs saying that Six Flags is not responsible if your items are lost, for the longest time if someone handed us something, we would have to say "we aren't responsible for your items just to let you know". Most people seem to trust us though, I have never really encountered any problems with people getting things stolen from the docks though, everyone is pretty courteous when it comes to that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Sorry, but it seemed like they had that when I rode Batman. Whenever someone would leave something or pick something up, he seemed to look at what us left/taken. Oh well, I still don't see what is wrong with people leaving their stuff in the station though. SFSTL is like you said a very trustworthy park, and unlike other parks, I don't have to worry about people taking my stuff when I'm there.

 

Airtime-SFSTL has the best guests of any park I've visited-&Gravity

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After reading through this thread...

I've noticed a lot of people are upset by the new rule. But seriously, it wont last. Think about it, Goliath is a HUGE ride at the park, by that I mean high traffic. This ride sees so many people a day, which is the reason why they're implementing this "Locker Law"...

 

But Six Flags didn't really think about this. (At least I don't think so)Well...with this 2 dollar locker law thing, you now get the locker for a few hours. Well, in turn, People will just say after their ride, "Well, forget getting our stuff, lets just leave it in there since were paying for it, and go ride more rides." This will lead to many full lockers, leaving none available for other guests...

 

Honestly, how many lockers are next to Goliath? Eventually the lockers will become all full, thus leaving guests with NO place to put their stuff. This will in turn, force them to not ride. Guests will complain, the ride ops will begin to complain about how guests are bringing stuff onto the ride and so on. This wont last in my mind.

 

The only thing that is outrageous about the Locker Law, is the price. It may seem like a scam, and thats exactly what it is! But hey, lets hope the money they get from the lockers, will go into putting bins at the station!

 

Just my thoughts...

 

-Ryan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another EXTREMELY weird policy that came up yesterday on Georgia Cyclone (which, by the way was insanely rough compared to when I rode it back in 2004), was that you had to take all your loose articles with you on the ride.

 

Ah, so now they really are trying to be like Cedar Point; make the policies as contradicting and confusing as possible.

 

Corkscrew: no loose objects can be brought in line; your bag must go in a locker, sir

Magnum: sorry sir, you cannot set that bag over here; all loose articles must go with you on the ride

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After reading through this thread...

I've noticed a lot of people are upset by the new rule. But seriously, it wont last. Think about it, Goliath is a HUGE ride at the park, by that I mean high traffic. This ride sees so many people a day, which is the reason why they're implementing this "Locker Law"...

 

But Six Flags didn't really think about this. (At least I don't think so)Well...with this 2 dollar locker law thing, you now get the locker for a few hours. Well, in turn, People will just say after their ride, "Well, forget getting our stuff, lets just leave it in there since were paying for it, and go ride more rides." This will lead to many full lockers, leaving none available for other guests...

 

Honestly, how many lockers are next to Goliath? Eventually the lockers will become all full, thus leaving guests with NO place to put their stuff. This will in turn, force them to not ride. Guests will complain, the ride ops will begin to complain about how guests are bringing stuff onto the ride and so on. This wont last in my mind.

 

The only thing that is outrageous about the Locker Law, is the price. It may seem like a scam, and thats exactly what it is! But hey, lets hope the money they get from the lockers, will go into putting bins at the station!

 

Just my thoughts...

 

-Ryan

Very well said and possibly quite true. I've read the thread and got fed up with "BG charges .50 cents..." Blah blah...This isn't 50 cents were talking about...I noticed at SFOT when we road the "blue" train the blue door would be open. While waiting in the line i'd see the red side open when the red train was coming in.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess what I'm saying is that, cost aside, we've been telling people for YEARS that if you can't fit your stuff into the pockets of your cargo shorts, don't bring it in. Especially at US parks. In fact, we debated weather or not we should hand out those blue TPR bags we did for the Spain trip on the MidWest trip because we know so many parks have bag policies.

 

Really, at the end of the day, if you don't want to deal with the hassles of the bag policies so many parks DO have, don't bring a bag into the park. It's that simple.

 

--Robb "I really don't see this being as annoying as everyone is making it out to be." Alvey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not that simple though for everyone. Well, if you can fit everything into your pockets, great. I personally have cargo shorts with lots of pockets and have no need to bring a bag into the park unless I decide to bring my camcorder. But a lot of people do have things they need (or really want) to bring into the park that cannot fit in their pockets. Having to pay $2 for a one time use locker is more than a hassle, in my opinion. I don't think I have ever seen a one time use locker at any park that costs more than 75 cents or a dollar.

 

Those of us who are repeat visitors or read these coaster sites will be prepared. I know after I went to Busch Gardens the first time this year I said I will never film there because of the bag rule, and will make sure any friends with me don't bring bags. This just isn't going to cross the mind of the average park patron, though, and I always see a LOT of people with bags at parks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This just isn't going to cross the mind of the average park patron

 

You know, you have a point there. Here on the forums were "Park/Coaster enthusiats", and for the normal Joe Shmo patron, this is just a hassle for them. They had no idea they would have to pay to leave their stuff...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

 

 

Well, the ride is only 4400 feet long, and it was kinda shoehorned into the park (hence the 45 degree lift hill). If they had added a second station or MCBR to enable 3 trains, the ride would not have nearly as many air hills.

 

It didn't make sense to go with three trains when the ride is only 4400 feet, since if they could run three trains, it would stack and probably double stack.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that, cost aside, we've been telling people for YEARS that if you can't fit your stuff into the pockets of your cargo shorts, don't bring it in. Especially at US parks. In fact, we debated weather or not we should hand out those blue TPR bags we did for the Spain trip on the MidWest trip because we know so many parks have bag policies.

 

Really, at the end of the day, if you don't want to deal with the hassles of the bag policies so many parks DO have, don't bring a bag into the park. It's that simple.

 

--Robb "I really don't see this being as annoying as everyone is making it out to be." Alvey

 

 

Maybe it's not annoying or ridiculous to you, but you've been a coaster enthusiast for an extremely long amount of time. You know what to expect when going to parks. The general public (99% of all park visitors) is certainly not as well informed or prepared when visiting a theme park. They tend to focus more on the visit as a whole and don't micromanage things the way enthusiasts do. Hence, the outcry against this rule, because although it won't affect enthusiasts, it will most certainly effect parkgoers in general.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The general public (99% of all park visitors) is certainly not as well informed or prepared when visiting a theme park. They tend to focus more on the visit as a whole and don't micromanage things the way enthusiasts do. Hence, the outcry against this rule, because although it won't affect enthusiasts, it will most certainly effect parkgoers in general.

The general public also doesn't seem to have a problem paying $15 for parking, $5 for a coke, or $10 for your average chicken strips and fries combo. So $2 for a locker, what's the issue? Again, many parks have been charging for lockers outside of rides for YEARS. Why this is suddently an issue is beyond me.

 

And you're right, it WON'T affect enthusaists. The general public won't care, and it doesn't affect us....so tell me again, why do we have 5 pages of pointless complaining over this?

 

I really think you all are making WAAAAY to much of a big deal over this.

 

Again, if you don't want to have the hassle of using a locker, don't bring a bag. It really *IS* that simple.

 

--Robb "I can fit my wallet, keys, phone, still camera, AND video camera into my cargo shorts...so why can't other people do this too?" Alvey

 

EDIT: From the Cedar Point website:

Lockers are also located near Top Thrill Dragster, Millennium Force, Wicked Twister, Magnum exit, Snake River Falls and Thunder Canyon. The single-use rental fee for these lockers is $1 (small) and $2 (large) and is paid each time the locker is opened.

 

So Cedar Point also charges between $1 and $2 for a locker. Again, I ask....WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL? And are you SERIOUSLY going to tell me it's an issue because Six Flags is charging $1 more?

 

PEOPLE...IT'S A FREAKING DOLLAR!!!! If you can't afford a dollar, you probably shouldn't be going to theme parks, one of THE most expensive forms of entertainment, to begin with!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First of all I dont know why people bring backpacks and all that junk with them anyway. If u have a fanny pack what is it that you have to carry that wont fit in it? My fanny pack holds my keys, camera, money, season pass and my sunglasses. That is all that is needed to go to a park. Secondly, the policy does speed up the line. Now if they say you can't bring your fanny pack that is locked around your waist then I dont know what they plan on people doing. If you get a locker where would you put the key? Also, how many dang lockers do these rides have? If there are 1000 people in line, do they have enough lockers to accomodate?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/