Article on the Six Flags "No Readmission" Rumor

[Guy T. Koepp]

I just had a interesting thought. If the new Goliath rollercoaster @6FoG goes out of the park, crosses the street then comes back in. Snyder can then charge the people getting off the train a second re entry admission.

 

This man is genious beyond reason.

 

Guy "It madness I tells ya... Madness!" Koepp

 

looks like someone had that thought a tad bit earlier than ya guy!

 

And who pray tell had this thought before I? Snyder? Oh, I think not. But I did CC him on this thred.

 

Guy "Lookin' to get in with da man." Koepp

[jarmor]

^ did you even click the link...

[FlyingScooter]

Here's what they'll do:

They'll charge you add'l 5 bucks for a 're-entry' hand-stamp, allowing you the priviledge of returning later in the day for a thilling time at 6Flags...

 

god, i hope i'm not right....

[GAcoaster]

Another article, this time from About.com

 

When Six Flags Denies Reentry, Will Some Guests Enter at All?

 

From Arthur Levine,

 

January 13, 2006

When Six Flags Denies Reentry, Will Some Guests Enter at All?

 

Let's imagine it's a beautiful summer day later this year. You're on vacation and you've decided to visit a "more family-friendly" Six Flags park. You load up the mini-van and head to the park early in the day to beat the crowds. In the afternoon, you decide to escape the crunch of people in the park and go back to your hotel for some relaxing down time at the pool followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. Your plan is to return in the evening for some more coasters and fun. As you exit Six Flags, however, there's a prominent sign warning you that once you leave the park, you will not be readmitted--unless you're willing to cough up another $60 per person. You think there's NO WAY the sign could be for real. Way. In one of the first official moves by the chain's new regime, all Six Flags parks will have a no same-day reentry policy this season. Coming from the folks who have been promising to turn Six Flags around by offering a more positive guest experience, this seems like a counterintuitive--oh heck, let's just call it harebrained--idea.

 

When news about the no same-day reentry policy began circulating around the Web a few days ago, most people (including me) shrugged it off as a foolish rumor. Wendy Goldberg, Six Flags' new senior VP of communications, says it's no joke, however. If you leave any of the parks this year, don't expect to return that day. And don't let the exit gate hit you in the rear end on the way out.

 

So what's behind this bizarre move? According to the chain's research, Goldberg says that many guests who ask for hand stamps that would allow them to reenter later in the day never actually return. If Six Flags holds a place for them and the park is near capacity, it might prevent new patrons from entering. And that wouldn't be a positive guest experience, would it?

 

First of all, theme parks are very rarely at capacity and almost never close their gates. If Six Flags is really conducting research and knows that a percentage of exiting guests with hand stamps never returns, then the parks could use those figures to determine estimated attendance. Instead of establishing a no same-day reentry policy, Six Flags could post signs at the exit warning guests that in the rare event of a packed park, a hand stamp may not guarantee reentry.

 

Goldberg adds that the policy also takes guests' safety into consideration. "Running back and forth out of parks into busy parking lots could put guests in danger," she notes. "At some Six Flags parks, guests have to cross a highway to reach the front gate." Well, under the new policy, guests will still have to enter and exit the park once per day. Does that mean Six Flags is knowingly placing their patrons in harm's way?

 

Is it just me, or do these lame excuses reek of desperation? So what's really behind the see-ya-later-just-not-today policy? In a word, money. Kaching. Moolah. By forcing customers to remain inside the park, Six Flags might squeeze a few more dollars out of them at its food stands and retail shops. But at what cost down the line? If it alienates guests, as I suspect it will, many won't return, and they probably won't have kind things to say about their day at the park to others.

 

New Chairman Daniel Snyder, who also owns the Washington Redskins and successfully orchestrated a reorganization of Six Flags' board, has a no-reentry policy at Seattle's FedExField. While sports fans might not balk at captive audience rules, they're inside the stadium for a relatively short amount of time. $7 for a warm, crummy beer and $5 for a cold, crummy hot dog? That's just part of the game. Going to a park, however, is a whole-day experience. Many families bring young children and often incorporate a park visit into a vacation. Many parks, Six Flags included, feature water parks and theme parks within one gate for one admission price. And virtually all parks allow same-day reentry--for good reason.

 

Maybe guests, especially young kids, need a break from the park. Perhaps folks have medication inside cooler chests in their cars. What about patrons who simply forgot their sunglasses or Dramamine or sweatshirts or…. Are people who want to use the water park and theme park supposed to tote around their swimming gear all day? Will Six Flags have enough lockers (which, of course, require an extra charge) to accommodate everybody's stuff?

 

Goldberg does say that the chain will make special considerations for certain parks. For example, since the picnic area at Six Flags Over Texas in Dallas is outside the gates, guests will be allowed to eat their meals and reenter the park. And patrons who have multi-park tickets to the three gates at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey (the theme park, the water park, and the drive-through safari) will be able to come and go among the parks (but guests with single-park tickets will not be allowed to reenter). Season-pass holders to any of the chain's parks will be subject to the same no-reentry restriction as regular-ticket guests.

 

I'm simply amazed by this brazen move. My prediction: After irate guests jam Six Flags' guest relations windows, email addresses, phone lines, and mail boxes with complaints this spring, the company will back off the ill-conceived policy.

[alpengeist04]

This is not a good thing, if the no re-entry is true.

[MattJackson]

I just looked at the sites, and I didn't see any of this. Did they recently change this?

 

SEASON PASSES

All Season Passholders MUST present their pass to gain entrance to the park. When leaving, get your hand stamped before you exit and re-enter through the Same Day Re-Entry Gate. Season Passes are not transferable.

 

This doesn't mean no re-entry. ^This is directly from the site.

[niiicolaaah]

this is really crazily lame. good thing i don't go to any sf parks except dl, which i visit once every 5 or so years. and i went there in 05.

[Guy T. Koepp]

As I said before. This won't realy effect me that much, cause' I rarely stay for more that 3 hours anyway. I can however respect all the people that this is going to inconvenience. All I can say is start emailing, and start calling guest relations. Snyder himself said that he's not afraid to fail, and I think this is a good step in that direction. If people are apathetic about it, then it will continue.

 

Guy "But then again, what do I know?" Koepp

[XanderLee]

so..this article says that at SFOT we'll be letting people out to eat in our picnic pavilions.

 

1) That isn't what I understand from my supes and such.

2) Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

 

Just when I started to understand.

[rollermonkey]

So far 6FNE is stil the only website which lists this policy.

[ParkTrips]

SFOG's PR dept. says that the plan WAS to implement such a policy but such harsh criticism and reaction caused them to put that on hold.

[wrs28330]

It sounds like it would have been very stict.

[wrs28330]

If you by an online ticket it says it is good thru March 12th, a Sunday.

[rjholla2003]

You may now re-enter:

http://themeparks.about.com/b/a/2006_01_14.htm

[ECZenith]

I don't know hoqw this idiot was expecting people to pay 10 bucks for a subway meal and another 12 for a locker...

 

I'm surprised this policy wasn't crushed in the rumor stage, but I definately appreciate the reversal.

 

-Sean Costa (who leaves his food and waterpark crap in the Neon)

[DenDen]

We can already see that the flags are DOOMED even more so with this new team. Just because people have money doesn't mean they know how to run theme parks. If I could roll my eyes any farther into the back of my head from this idiotic fiasco, I would be able to count the hairs on my butt.

[Jew]

As I posted on Westcoaster, when you are 2 billion dollars in debt...you have to try crazy things like this. If it worked, they would have increased in park spending by lord knows how much. They went through with it, saw the backlash, licked their wounds, and moved on. It wouldn't be the first time a theme park messed up (the main street electrical parade light fiasco @ Disneyland, for instance), and it won't be the last. But you never know until you take the risks (everyone said Disneyland would be a failure too...).

[coasterboy76]

from theme park insider:

 

Six Flags to ban same day reentry?

2006-01-13

 

By Russell Meyer: It seems that Six Flags is about to make the most insane move in theme park history. While it had started as a rumor, it was discovered that Six Flags New England has added a new policy to its park-specific website that prohibits same-day park re-entry. It has been traditional for theme parks to allow guests to have their hands stamped so that they can re-enter the park that day. However, it appears that the policy has been changed at Six Flags New England, and is rumored to be changing at all of the other Six Flags parks for 2006.

 

Is Dan Snyder nuts? He has been known to nickel-and-dime his customers, but this would be the ultimate insult to theme park patrons. No more leaving the camera in the car, leaving a change of clothes or your lunch in the car, or heaven forbid leaving the parking lot to grab a bite to eat at a slightly more affordable and higher quality restaurant. Those practices may soon be history at Six Flags, and guests will have to bring everything they may potentially need into the park with them and rent a locker to store everything, at an extra charge, of course. Six Flags may have found a way to increase revenue by locking guests into the park with nowhere else to go without having to pay a second admission to get back in the gates of the park, but how many people will just not bother going in if they can't leave to take a rest or change their clothes?

 

 

guess enough people complained that Mr. "I will make bad moves" Snyder

changed his mind

[ParkTrips]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SFOG/message/29

 

At least one park gets it

[Jew]

I seriously doubt that is an SFoG PR person...

[ParkTrips]

I can assure you that it is. Yea, I know it's hard to belive, but it's legit.

 

BTW if it's not, then someone has some splanin' to do as far as how they got on top of Acrophobia to take photos

[the sound]

check out screamscapes view of re-entry and all of Snyder's other strange rules.

 

Park News - (1/20/06) I’m going to rant here for a moment...

I’m starting to think that the new management of Six Flags does seem to be a little out of touch with the average group going to a theme park and are determined to treat them like they are going to a football game instead. Sure... both groups end up paying extremely high prices for food and merchandise, but following in the steps of the no re-entry policy they backed off of last week, several Six Flags parks (Magic Mountain included) are now set to raise the price of parking from $10 to $15 in 2006. Park guests have become increasingly irritated over the last five years as parking fees have increased steadily to the $8-10 range across the country.

Sure we all expect to pay something for parking... and we’re all shocked when we come across the occasional small park that still has free parking, but no one is happy about paying the parking fee no matter if it’s $5 or $15. You just feel like your being robbed before you’ve even gotten into the park... and that feeling carries through and is not easily forgotten throughout the day. Every time you pull your wallet out to buy something to eat or a T-shirt you’ll remember that $15 you shelled out just to park in an inconvenient parking space way out past Colossus and how you had to walk a mile all the way to the front gate because the they didn’t have enough trams running to handle the crowds. And when you think about that... there is a chance you’ll decide that you really don’t need to spend that $25 on a Tatsu T-shirt and you’ll start to wonder why the park never runs Flashback, the Monorail or the Sky Tower any longer. You wonder why so many of the coasters are only running one train instead of two or three and why the lines are so long everywhere. You’ll remember that you just paid more to get into Six Flags than you did the day before when you visited Disneyland... and you’ll start to wonder just what the heck you are doing there... and maybe you’ll think twice before you come back again.

See... most people don’t go to a several football games in any given season. In fact, most people just stay home and watch them on TV, but the people who do go to at least one game a season get taken for the full ride. The stadiums pretty much just rob of them every dime they have during the game and spit them out at the end without a second thought because the next several games in the season are already sold out with a fresh batch of noobs. Theme Parks don’t work that way... people expect to get something of worth for their money and if the price is too high and the experience is poor they will not come back and will bad-mouth the park to everyone they know. There is a careful line to walk here between making money and robbing your guests blind. Perhaps if they let the public stomach the $60 ticket price first for a season or two before slamming on the $15 parking fee, it might take some of the sting away. But massive price increases in both parking and ticket sales from a chain that is not known for their guest service skills just kind of says to me that the new owners still have a little to learn about their audience.

 

Screamscape doesn't rant