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NEWS: Six Flags L.O.C.K.E.R.S. now optional


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The loose article policy has been changed for Six Flags Great America so that the lockers are no longer mandatory. However, other Six Flags parks don't seem to have changed their policy. Has anyone heard about this change moving company wide, or is it just SFGAM trying to stay the best park in the chain?

 

LOOSE ARTICLES

 

Loose articles such as purses, backpacks, and beverage containers should be left with non-riders or secured in lockers. Cell phones, pagers, or other small items should be secured in cargo pockets, zippered jacket pockets, or waist packs. There is limited temporary storage available in most ride boarding areas as a courtesy to our Guests and lockers are available at the entrance to all of our Major Rides as an option.

 

Six Flags and its employees are not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen items and items that are lost on rides are generally not able to be located and are damaged beyond repair. For everyone’s safety, we will not attempt to retrieve your item while the park is in operation.

 

http://www.sixflags.com/greatAmerica/info/policies.aspx

 

Edit: For reference, I added SFoG's policy for what the "old" policy was like.

 

Loose articles are not permitted on most rides and should be left with non-riders or secured in lockers. Six Flags and its employees are not responsible for lost or stolen items. Loose articles of any kind (including but not limited to purses, backpacks, and beverage containers) may not be taken past the queue entrance and cannot be left on the load/unload platform of the following rides: Goliath; Georgia Scorcher; Georgia Cyclone; Superman: Ultimate Flight. Cell phones, pagers, or other small items must be secured in cargo pockets, zippered jacket pockets, or waist packs. All loose articles which cannot be secured must be left in a locker or with a non-rider prior to entering the queue line.

 

http://www.sixflags.com/overGeorgia/info/parkpolicies.aspx

Edited by Airtime&Gravity
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So now I can walk into line with a bucket of popcorn without them stopping me?! Sa-Weet!!!

 

Honestly, it was a hassle (not for me) when some 5 employees standing at Raging Bull telling people how to rent lockers and forcing them to step out of line to go put their stuff in a locker. Now sure, SFGAm might make a profit from the 1 dollar lockers at Superman, Dark Knight, Batman, V2, American Eagle, Iron Wolf, Demon, Raging Bull, and Viper, but considering they have to pay the employees to stand there probably made the profit margin a little smaller.

 

I only bring a camera and my phone in line, but I can see how the policy could ruin some families fun (I.E someone has to stay back and hold the stuff) Quick example; My mom, my brother, and I wanted to ride the Mine Train at SF St. Louis, but you had to rent lockers for a family coaster, which was weird. But my mom had to stay on the midway to hold everything.

 

Ahhhh whatever, let's just hope it's all over

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Are we sure this is a change of policy?

 

Hasn't this previously been the policy - "There is limited temporary storage available in most ride boarding areas"

 

Only a few rides did not have temporary storage last year, correct?

 

Having people put their stuff in paid storage cubicles saves time during ride dispatches, I'm all for it.

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Yeah, I think I would take the "Wait-and-see" approach on this one. Let's see what actually happens when you go to the park.

 

And honestly, I'm with Larry - anything that can encourage people to bring less crap to the parks, the better!

 

--Robb

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Something is definitely up with the loose article policy, atleast at SFGAm. Until the recent site update, SFGAm's loose article section featured language similar to what is still used on other park's sites clearly listing the 9 roller coasters that you could NOT bring anything past the entrance. SF has done some random stuff, but I can't imagine them changing that wording unless the lockers are going to be optional.

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Are we sure this is a change of policy?

 

Hasn't this previously been the policy - "There is limited temporary storage available in most ride boarding areas"

 

While there was some temporary storage added recently, at least I noticed it recently, the lockers seemed mandatory. The attendants at the queue entrance were looking to make sure people used the lockers, and I assume the bins were for shoes and anything the attendants might have missed.

 

As Jeremie said while they might have made a profit, guests didn't like the policy. They would complain and argue with the attendant, and I'd hear them complaining in line. I guess Six Flags figured that whatever profit they made was not worth the guest anger, especially if it meant guests weren't buying souvenirs, sport bottles, or revisiting the park.

 

Michigan's Adventure had what seemed like an efficient system of cubicles arranged by train and row. Hopefully Six Flags adds a system like that in the future instead of just some plastic bin. Everything is organized, and it limits theft due to it being arranged by train/row, with only the section of the train in the station accessible.

Edited by Airtime&Gravity
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As Jeremie said while they might have made a profit, but guests didn't like the policy. They would complain and argue with the attendant, and I'd hear them complaining in line. I guess Six Flags figured that what ever profit they made was not worth the guest anger, especially if it meant guests weren't buying souvenirs, sport bottles, or revisiting the park.

This is a very good point. It would be kind of amusing of the lockers turned out to be counter-profitable. Meaning they had conditioned each guest so well not to bring stuff in line that they just stopped buying stuff at the park!

 

To me, it's not so much a big deal when you see people who have to leave their big stuffed animals or drink bottles - the stuff that they got AT THE PARK. I get more annoyed when you see some woman with her 40 purses that holds up a dispatch while trying to put them in the cubbys on the platform, and one of them falls over and dumps stuff out, then she gets back up out of the train to go pick the stuff up.... We have all seen this happen! That's the kind of crap I just wish people would keep in their cars.

 

--Robb

Edited by robbalvey
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Mark Shapiro said numerous times that Six Flags was not looking to make a profit on those lockers, they were trying to get guests to leave all their crap away from the ride. As someone that has worked in rides for 7 seasons now, I thought it was a GREAT idea. Guests carrying crap to bins slows down loading times, especially when someone wait until the last second and it makes other people realize "oh crap, I want to put my stuff in there too!"

 

I never understood the hate Six Flags got because Cedar Point has mandatory lockers on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, yet you never hear people complain about those.

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I never understood the hate Six Flags got because Cedar Point has mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, yet you never hear people complain about those.

Exactly. It's fine if you hate the policy everywhere...but I never got why people singled out Six Flags when so many other park chains do this too - Cedar Fair, Busch, and Universal. Even though people seem to think that Universal's are mostly "free", their free time is VERY short. And they are even stricter about bringing stuff on rides. For example, when I ride Hulk or Mummy, I'm told I have to put my belt pack in a locker. I've never been told that at Six Flags.

 

Hate the policy everywhere, don't be unfair to Six Flags.

 

--Robb

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Hasn't Six Flags stated that the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo policy increases capacity? Why are we happy that they're backing down?

 

Personally, I haven't really noticed much change in capacity. Certainly not enough of an improvement to justify continuing angering guests and discouraging in park spending.

And this is the other problem - the guests and their mass amount of stupid crap is only one side of the equation. The park needs to do their part as well. While it certainly helped on some rides, Tatsu still had 6 minute dispatches.

 

--Robb

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I never understood the hate Six Flags got because Cedar Point has mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, yet you never hear people complain about those.

 

Cedar Point had to put lockers by Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster because they have different entrance and exit platforms. As for Six Flags coasters, most of them enter and exit through the same station. People didn't like how you could leave your stuff in the station and pick it up as you leave.

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I never understood the hate Six Flags got because Cedar Point has mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, yet you never hear people complain about those.

 

Cedar Point had to put fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo by Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster because they have different entrance and exit platforms. As for Six Flags coasters, most of them enter and exit through the same station. People didn't like how you could leave your stuff in the station and pick it up as you leave.

Stop making excuses. Cedar Fair has mandatory lockers on many other rides other than just those two. And so do lots of other theme park chains. Again, why the hate towards Six Flags? They were one of the LAST parks to implement this policy.

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Cedar Point had to put fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo by Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster because they have different entrance and exit platforms.

Volcano and both Flight of Fear's have separate entrance and exit platforms and they don't require lockers.

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Stop making excuses. Cedar Fair has mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo on many other rides other than just those two. And so do lots of other theme park chains. Again, why the hate towards Six Flags? They were one of the LAST parks to implement this policy.

 

I wasn't talking about the whole Cedar Fair chain, I was only thinking about Cedar Point. Personally, I only remember the lockers by MF, TTD, and Disaster Transport/Wicked Twister. Now I'm not bashing Six Flags, as I have never rented a locker nor have they ever asked me too, but comparing SF Great America to Cedar Point. You can see which l.ocker policy people prefer. I even think lockers are MORE expensive at Cedar Point than SFGAm....

 

Like I said, I don't care about the lockers because they never asked me to use them. But from all the complaints at the park, and on the FB Fan-Page (Annoying, right?) I'm guessing that's why SF Great America is becoming a little easy on the policy.

 

Volcano and both Flight of Fear's have separate entrance and exit platforms and they don't require fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo.

 

Well, I've been on those roller coasters, but I'm not sure how that works out then. I was only referring to the roller coasters at Cedar Point that have different exit platforms...

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I was talking to my nerd friends a couple nights ago, and wondered if SF would be backing out of its deal with Smarte Carte too (since they're dropping everything). I'm not saying it necessarily means anything at all, but could this be some kind of foreshadowing to an eventual drop of the lockers all together?

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Hasn't Six Flags stated that the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo policy increases capacity? Why are we happy that they're backing down?

 

Personally, I haven't really noticed much change in capacity. Certainly not enough of an improvement to justify continuing angering guests and discouraging in park spending.

 

Regarding the two coasters I am most familiar with: El Toro and Nitro

 

El Toro has a very narrow exit platform. People getting off the train bump into people trying to access the bins there is little room to maneuver. People exiting the front of the train try to jump into seats further back in the train while that seat usually belongs to someone trying to get to the bins. It used to take 2-3 minutes just to new passengers in their seats. Without bins that is accomplished in less than a minute, greatly increasing capacity and you don't have people fighting to claim a seat that someone else poached. Being able to get 15 rides on El Toro during the first hour the park is open is worth the extra dollar, you'll never see this again with bins in the station.

 

Nitro - 3 train operation without stacking was an impossibility when bins were in the station, they were even stacking 2 trains some of the time. People getting off the train would congregate in front of the bins the get their stuff out blocking the new passengers from even getting to the bins. The last two years, without bins, it was not uncommon to have 3 train operations with minimal stacking. The few times I brought something that need to be stowed the $1 fee was well worth the walk-on lines at Nitro.

 

It is a fact that having two groups of people trying to access the same confined area is going to cause congestion, so unless operation on a coaster is just pathetically slow anyway (Flyers, Standups) I really don't understand how anyway misses the increased efficiency without l-o-c-k-e-r-s in the station.

 

The l-o-c-k-e-r-s were never meant to be money makers. However if they were money losers in the form of decreased purchases/game play I could see how that would skew management's decision. I still never understood why parks don't implement a policy to hold your big stuffed prizes at the game and allow you to pick up your prize when you leave the park. As a kid, I remember the booths at Seaside Heights giving you a redemption ticket when you won and you had until the end of the season to return the ticket.

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. Even though people seem to think that Universal's are mostly "free", their free time is VERY short. And they are even stricter about bringing stuff on rides. For example, when I ride Hulk or Mummy

 

I've never had a problem with Universal...I actually feel that on the average day you have more than enough time to rie more than once....unless the lines are ridiculously long.

 

The main reason unfortunately for these Lockers is liability...I always hear people bitching and whining at the ride ops...."I dropped my __________ I'm gonna sue" Really its peoples responsibility for their own articles on the rides... personally I just wear shorts with zippers in them and put my stuff in the pockets before the ride....works every time.

 

-Zach

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personally I just wear shorts with zippers in them and put my stuff in the pockets before the ride....works every time.

 

-Zach

 

Then why did you complain two pages ago about hating the policy?

 

 

This is great news!

 

I really hated fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo! I usually carry whatever I have that day (Camera/Glasses) In my pocket....but Six Flags always made me buy a fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo for that....

 

I would love to see this policy come to the other parks!

 

-Zach

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