Parks that don't allow just anyone to enter...

[ebl]

Is it true that some Japanese parks don't allow old people to ride some of the coasters?

 

That would leave me off of a lot of rides...

 

Eric

[cathyJ]

 

I am surprised that parks and FEC's have these policies and that they would be willing to lose business because of it. Especially because FEC's aren't just for kids and usually have arcade games and mini golf, batting cages that adults also like.

 

Sesame Place doesn't have that policy though I kind of feel funny going there (last time I was there was when I was 17 since one of my relatives used to be Elmo there and gave us free tickets)

 

I would feel a bit odd going to Sesame Place as well and I a little surprised they dont have a policy barring adults without kids to enter, but then again Sesame Street ( the older episodes ) I have heard DO have a large adult following. Kinda like The Electric Company and ZOOM. I guess there is some camp value of them.

 

If a family fun center offers strictly kiddie rides and a snack bar for birthday parties, playgrounds, and other things that appeal to children only then I can see the restrictions. But when such places start adding things like the arcades, batting gages, go-carts, lazer tag and so forth, things that can be enjoyed by both adults and kids alike, I don't see the logic in telling two 20somethings they cant enter because they don't have a child with them.

 

Back in 2001 my husband and I visited Martins Fantasy Island near Buffalo. Despite the fact that the park had recently spent big bucks on building the Silver Comet, while we were there we heard a rumor that Martins was seriously considering closing the park for everyone ( both the rides and waterpark ) at either 5 or 6pm and then allow only families to remain til the regular closing time. Never heard about those plans ever since so I don't know if this was a crazy rumor or not, but if they were looking at doing that I wonder how they would enforce that? Make everyone leave at once or have their employees go around the park and ask if they are "with child"? Either way it sounds crazy to me.

[carolinacaniac]

^I'm surprised Six Flags hadn't thought of that yet! It would greatly enhance their family friendly image!!!!!

 

I can honestly see why regulations are set for such a thing as restricted entrance. Take a place like Jeepers, where they have things that mostly appeal to kids. Other that coaster fans and enthusiasts, I don't know that there are really that many people who would go to a place like that just so they can ride the coaster and say they did it. If someone without kids is sticking around the place but not doing anything, it can make a lot of parents uneasy.

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

I tried to go onto a kiddie dragon coaster in Seaside last weekend and I had a kid (on loan just for this purpose)!!!!

 

The ride op told me that I was too big for the ride.

 

I protested and asked him what does he mean. Then my borrowed kid blew my cover by reminding me that he is 11 years old and that he didnt want to waste to ride it anyway.

[Carnage]

Back in 2001 my husband and I visited Martins Fantasy Island near Buffalo. Despite the fact that the park had recently spent big bucks on building the Silver Comet, while we were there we heard a rumor that Martins was seriously considering closing the park for everyone ( both the rides and waterpark ) at either 5 or 6pm and then allow only families to remain til the regular closing time. Never heard about those plans ever since so I don't know if this was a crazy rumor or not, but if they were looking at doing that I wonder how they would enforce that? Make everyone leave at once or have their employees go around the park and ask if they are "with child"? Either way it sounds crazy to me.

 

That wouldn't surprise me that much.

 

The following picture was taken on a warm Sunday in June. Notice the single cloud in the sky contradicting what the damn sign is saying.

 

[robbalvey]

The ride op told me that I was too big for the ride.

 

I protested....

See, I just think that's such a bad thing to do, IMO.

 

A park sets ride restrictions and rules for a reason. It might not be a reason you personally will agree with because it very well may mean that you won't get to ride, but if they say "kids only" on a coaster, please, everyone who is reading this, do not argue with the ride op, just respect the rules.

 

First off, the ride op isn't the person who set the rules, they are just operating the ride.

 

Secondly, you'll just come off like a "whiney coaster enthusaist." It's bad enough that I hear from park employees that they get so many rude complaints on coaster enthusaists days. "Why can't I leave my bar higher?" "Why can't I ride the kiddie coaster?" "Do I really need a kid?" "Why isn't this seat bigger?" Etc, etc, etc...

 

Please don't add to that stereotype.

 

I can only imagine that the hardest job at Six Flags Magic Mountain is the Goliath Jr. operator on ACE days!

 

--Robb

[Carnage]

And on the other side of the coin, some parks let adults on kiddy rides that shouldn't.

 

I've had two kiddy coaster incidents.

 

One was the happy gator incident at Coney Beach where we valleyed it, and I had to bail out.

 

The other was at Quassy, where we actually rolled the kiddy coaster back down the lift hill. The train actually slipped off the chain and bounced and slid back down into the station.

 

In both cases they probably shouldn't have let us ride. Or at least not so many of us. The Quassy one the rideop said we could ride, but only 3 adults at a time. Then he waved 5 us in to ride ...

[robbalvey]

I guess I should clarify - it's one thing to ask and be denied and walk away respecting the ride op, it's another thing to 'protest' and argue or have to be 'chased out' of a park because you were annoying them.

 

In the off chance that you will get let on a ride, that's great! But please don't argue with any ride ops over it. That's all I ask.

 

--Robb

[Revolucion]

This treads on some interesting ground....

 

Some "kiddie parks" do have rules that you need to bring a kid or that you have to be of a certain age to be in the park, even if you want to just come in, ride the coaster for the credit and leave. For example I believe that Adventure City in Beuna Park either has or used to have this rule.

 

And other parks like Stricker's Grove are closed to the public (they do have 2 public days during their season) and only open for company picnics.

 

While there is nothing stopping you from asking very politely if you could just run in and ride the coaster, the question really is *should* you?

 

For me personally, I would feel a bit uncomfortable going to a place that is known to be "kids only" or "must bring a kid" just to ride the coaster.

 

Usually we will contact a place first to make sure it's ok. If not, I don't want to be the guy that feels out of place riding a coaster with a bunch of kids, or creating a scene at a park if they don't let you in. For example your "chasing away ACErs" story.

 

In my experience it seems like some ACErs have this "you built your coaster for ME to ride" attitude regardless of the rules. But park rules are there for a reason, not for ACErs or any other coaster enthusaists to ignore. So if a park doesn't allow adults in for whatever reason, IMO you should respect that rule, skip the credit, and move on. There is probably no harm in calling ahead and asking, but don't bother a park to the point of having to be chased away.

 

This is why we made sure that we took our MidWest tour to Stricker's Grove on their public day. I would feel *VERY* uncomfortable crashing someone else's corportate event. I just don't think it's right. I know if I was hosting my private company outing at a park, and a bunch of people not associated with our group were let in, I would be very upset about that.

 

Stricker's Grove could be missing out on an opportunity to make a little extra money by charging $20 for a ride on each of the coasters subject to specific rules (i.e. there could be a VERY small time window on operating days of the fifteen minutes after the private picnic is over).

 

Obviously, the price point would need to be enough that it is too much for locals but low enough to appeal to coaster enthusiasts who don't have flexibility in scheduling their vacations to the public days.

 

 

Your Elitch Gardens story sounds like it was for a private party or a promotion, which if that's the case, they have every right to turn people away who don't meet a certain requirement for that party. It's no different than any other company buy-out of a park. When I worked at Disneyland we had private company buyouts or special events almost every Friday night during the off-season and you had to have a special ticket to get into that. They did not sell tickets at the gate nor could you use your season pass. You had to get them through the company or organization hosting the buy-out. If you walked up to the gate, they would not sell you a ticket.

--Robb

 

The difference is that the Disneyland private parties on Fridays were after normal operating hours. Presumably, Elitch Gardens had the park hours on their website and telephone recorded message. I know Holiday World makes it very clear on their operating calander which days they are closed to the public.

[bdstrom]

This is a bad business practice. A VERY bad business practice.

 

A friend of mine who lived about 3 hours away from King's Dominion and last fall he drove all the way to King's Dominion and was turned away. Why? Because some company reserved the entire park.

 

He was so angry at them that he refused to buy a season pass. He was a season pass holder for 5+ year and after what happened, he was like screw them. It is perfectly understandable this is partially his fault because he didn't check the park's calendar online. But come on, he drove 3 hours and was turned away!?

 

I had a similar experience at SFDL 5+ years ago. They DID put up their opening hour on their website and we DID checked. We drove 40 minutes only to find out it was closed. Closed along with 50+ cars waiting at the parking lot gate, angry, yelling, and horn honking. We were turned away when they were supposed to be open.

 

That was the last time I renewed my season pass with them and they certainly have gone downhill. (but uphill with new management, hopefully!)

 

I disagree with some of response in this thread. This is not a form of discrimination. Just a form of AWFUL business practice.

 

EDIT: I thought I'd share a GOOD business practice. I used to work for Department of Navy in Florida and they rented the entire park of Wet n' Wild. They were not allowed to have the park to themselves during regular business hours, but they were allowed to enter early and stay up to 2 hours after closing. That is a GOOD business practice.

[AllenA07]

I make it a point to be sure that the park is going to be open if I plan on going any distance.

 

As far as discrimination unless the park has "white's only" day or "Men's only day" then there isn't going to be any discrimination.

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

The ride op told me that I was too big for the ride.

 

I protested....

See, I just think that's such a bad thing to do, IMO.

 

 

Its the only reason why I brought the kid.

 

J/K...didn't make that big of a deal. I just thought I had my bases covered...perhaps I should have coached him to make a fuss about going on by himself.

 

[roland303]

Technically, it's not awful business practice if they get a large enough party on a weekday and they pay a certain fee. It may make them more money and they don't have to staff as much either. So in that way, it's often not.

 

I DO think that parks need to be very clear and communicate these kind of events well in advance via web, phone, signage, etc. To avoid confusing the general public who just wants to have a day with their kids.

 

And going back to that Colorado thing; I think that's perfectly legit. I would have maybe thought it better to just give state residents (or locals) a hefty discount and not turn away the public but, hey, it's their park. It's like a big Chuck-E-Cheese and some annoying kids having a birthday party there- you probably don't want to be there anyways!

 

Plus, why not book your own private day with your company or school or organization? Isn't that what ERT does?

[ginzo]

Stricker's Grove could be missing out on an opportunity to make a little extra money by charging $20 for a ride on each of the coasters subject to specific rules (i.e. there could be a VERY small time window on operating days of the fifteen minutes after the private picnic is over).

 

Obviously, the price point would need to be enough that it is too much for locals but low enough to appeal to coaster enthusiasts who don't have flexibility in scheduling their vacations to the public days.

 

Whatever money that would bring in would be pretty trivial in comparison to the ~$10,000 that Stricker's charges for their private events. The niche you're describing, coaster enthusiasts willing to drive to the middle of nowhere who also can't make it on the two public days, adds up to very few people.

 

If they did do such a thing, it would be done as a courtesy. And they frankly have little reason to care about coaster enthusiasts as we are unlikely to ever rent the place out.

[bdstrom]

I DO think that parks need to be very clear and communicate these kind of events well in advance via web, phone, signage, etc. To avoid confusing the general public who just wants to have a day with their kids.

 

Yes, they do be very clear and communicate in advance. They really need to be clear. I mean REALLY CLEAR. Imagine all the money spent in effort to communicate clearly to the general public. Might not be worth it.

 

Plus, why not book your own private day with your company or school or organization? Isn't that what ERT does?

 

As I said, a good business practice is to allow business enter the park early and stay after closing. That will guarantee ERT like I got some at Wet n' Wild without interfering with general public's plan.

[ginzo]

This is a bad business practice. A VERY bad business practice.

 

A friend of mine who lived about 3 hours away from King's Dominion and last fall he drove all the way to King's Dominion and was turned away. Why? Because some company reserved the entire park.

 

Parks have been renting out to private parties for decades. Kings Island has had the P&G days for more than 20 years.

 

While it sucks that your friend pulled a Clark W. Griswold, those companies pay quite a bit of money to rent the parks out. It's hard to say a business practice is bad when it brings the park far more revenue than they would have normally received on a given late season day. That's just more money for the park to buy more rides with.

 

FYI: Your friend could have probably gotten in that day at KD. The companies often give out multiple tickets to their employees, and swapping or selling extra tickets isn't unheard of. Had your friend hung around for a while and not bothered anyone, he may have found someone selling or giving away their extra tickets.

[cathyJ]

[

The difference is that the Disneyland private parties on Fridays were after normal operating hours. Presumably, Elitch Gardens had the park hours on their website and telephone recorded message. I know Holiday World makes it very clear on their operating calander which days they are closed to the public.

 

At the time Elitches did this ( May 1989 and it was a Friday BTW), they did not have a website. But I do remember KMGH channel 7 and KOA/KRFX The Fox radio stations were there at the park so I imagine this special event was advertised on there.

 

Since at the time even though I was staying in Denver I never watched their local TV or listen to their radio so thats my bad.

[cathyJ]

^I'm surprised Six Flags hadn't thought of that yet! It would greatly enhance their family friendly image!!!!!

 

I can honestly see why regulations are set for such a thing as restricted entrance. Take a place like Jeepers, where they have things that mostly appeal to kids. Other that coaster fans and enthusiasts, I don't know that there are really that many people who would go to a place like that just so they can ride the coaster and say they did it. If someone without kids is sticking around the place but not doing anything, it can make a lot of parents uneasy.

 

Last night at work several of my co-workers were telling me they how they think it would be a good idea for places, even Six Flags and Kings Dominon to sit aside time for families to enjoy the park and to have have them adopt a rule similar to Jeepers to "keep out the perverts".

 

Of course by doing such a practice doesn't always mean 100 percent molestor free in other words the single unmarried male=child molestor is pretty much a myth since many of those sickos who do such horrible crimes are married with kids themselves. Last year not far from me for example a young girl was abused by a man at a carnival. However his wife and 4 small kids were at the other side of the carnival when the crime took place. Sadly it hapens.

[freestylenut]

I only read 3 pages worth of this thread, but doesn't Cypress Gardens in Florida have a "kid's" haunted house during their annual Phobia event that won't let adults in without children?

[thrillrideseeker]

Are there any other parks who for whatever reason have restrictions on who they allow to enter? And if they do, do they bend the rules for those who just want to walk in long enough to ride the coasters and check out the other rides and leave?

I know that Universal Orlando and Busch Gardens close to the GP all the time and only allow certain people to enter. They usually say on their web-site's when they be closed to the general public. They also have special events after the park closes for only certain people. For example one night at Busch Gardens the park closed at 6:00pm but we had to stay and work until 11:00pm for a company who rented the park. So they had to turn people down at the front gates and say... "No I am sorry you do not have your arm band and special ticket. You are not allowed in the park at this time, but we will re-open to the general public at 10:00am tomorrow! Have a nice night." OHHH and then there was a day at Disney when Microsoft rented out Epcot. There was only a group of 150 people and they thought they needed the entire park to themselves. That really pi$$ed of the GP, but like always Disney handled the problem well! Lets say I came up to Epcot with my ticket. They would explain why the park was closed and they would replace my tickets for any other park of my choice!! But these are the only instances I can think of where a park have restricted people to enter. As for allowing people in the park for one ride... NO. They would not do it. Then they can not keep up with where those people are going. They can not tell if the person is going to just that ride, or to everywhere else in the park. So in order to avoid people "Going in for one ride." They turn away everyone! Hope that answered your question!

~Matthew

[Jew]

As I said, a good business practice is to allow business enter the park early and stay after closing. That will guarantee ERT like I got some at Wet n' Wild without interfering with general public's plan.

 

What if the company doesn't want that? Wouldn't that make it a "bad business practice" to not close the park early/all day if it is going to cost you special events (which is guaranteed admission, food sales, etc.)?

 

The cost of dealing with the complaints is FAR less than the cost of losing a special event client.

[Shockwave]

Back in 2001 my husband and I visited Martins Fantasy Island near Buffalo. Despite the fact that the park had recently spent big bucks on building the Silver Comet, while we were there we heard a rumor that Martins was seriously considering closing the park for everyone ( both the rides and waterpark ) at either 5 or 6pm and then allow only families to remain til the regular closing time. Never heard about those plans ever since so I don't know if this was a crazy rumor or not, but if they were looking at doing that I wonder how they would enforce that? Make everyone leave at once or have their employees go around the park and ask if they are "with child"? Either way it sounds crazy to me.

 

That wouldn't surprise me that much.

 

The following picture was taken on a warm Sunday in June. Notice the single cloud in the sky contradicting what the damn sign is saying.

 

 

That sign was just for you Paul. Silver Comet just happens to break down every time you go there!

[darklingscribe]

I remember reading an interesting thread on this site a year or two ago, about a couple who had arranged for their wedding to be at an Alton Towers hotel a year in advance and as a apart of the arrangement all of their guests would have access to the park after the wedding.

 

Then Alton went and rented out the park on the same weekend to a Muslim organization. And then told the wedding people that it was too bad and if they wanted to have access to the park after the wedding. And the only way they would be admitted was if they followed all of the Muslim organization's dress codes and codes of conduct.

 

I personally thought that in this particular instance Alton Towers was being unfair. Be it a Muslim or any other religious group I don't think Alton had to right to say that the wedding guests had to follow a code of conduct set by the organization that rented the park when the wedding had been booked first.

[Shockwave]

^The resort gives any party that requests, pays and stays on its property access to the park per its regular terms and conditions. One of which would be that the theme park may close or have restricted access on certain days of the year. This is not only is printed in the standard terms and conditions when you go to the park on a day out, but when you stay at the hotel for holidays, parties and functions.

 

Alton Towers would not just guarantee that the park would be open for normal business. That's like going the to park expecting all the rides to be open, even when the T&Cs clearly state that sometimes they need to close, or they may get removed.

 

In the end, eveything worked out for the couple as the Muslim day sold about 3 tickets, and the Islamic Leisure event was cancelled.

[Noxegon]

The niche you're describing, coaster enthusiasts willing to drive to the middle of nowhere who also can't make it on the two public days, adds up to very few people.

 

I'm not sure that's a valid statement, to be honest; speaking as someone who doesn't live in the United States I'm not hugely enthusiastic about visiting your country around either of the two public days; the July 4th weekend costs a small fortune in flight tickets, and August is way too hot for those of us used to western Europe.

 

It just so happens that I've family in Ohio and I was over in August a few years back, but I wouldn't go that time of year again if you paid me to.

 

OTOH one might argue that the park does make it possible for anyone who's prepared to put themselves out to ride, neatly wiping out my argument