Loose articles on rides

[29yrswithaGApass]

I was at Morey's in Wildwood today and noticed this new practice at the Nor'easter coaster. They are now using handheld metal detectors to scan guests before they board the ride. Great Adventure should do this before riders enter Ka's queue (after the lockers) especially with Zumanjaro being added. It would be a wise exercise especially since a stray cell phone can cause injuries, expensive damage, or extensive down time with their multi-million dollar investment.

 

[Mrpq]

I have always had a cell phone in my pocket when riding rides and never had an issue with it falling out

[Yoshi]

I wear shorts (or a jacket if it is cold out) with a zippered pocket for that reason. I don't trust a regular pocket or one with velcro or a button to keep my keys, wallet and phone from falling out during a ride.

[DANofNJ]

its time for SFGAdv to do what universal had when I was in Orlando last year, all the attractions had lockers and they were FREE, while on the ride.

[jonlee]

That's going a bit too far. I have been to tons of parks and rides. I always carry my keys and cell phone. Never lost either of them. Keys go in my regular pocket, cell phone and sunglasses go into my cargo pockets. The only time i ever had a problem was on millennium force. I took my camera with me and had it in my cargo pocket. It was a lil bit too big for it so i had to hold my pocket with one hand just in case.

[29yrswithaGApass]

The problem is with the people that don't secure them in their pockets but instead take them out to shoot videos or even talk on their phones while riding. It is not just a Great Adventure problem. A few people were doing that on the Sea Serpent yesterday at Wildwood and the operator was yelling at them when they were on the reversing spike.

[Password121]

Last month at Gadv, a young man (25-ish) next to me on Skyscreamer whipped out his iPhone and took a bunch of selfies mid-ride. When I was waiting in line for Windseeker last summer at Cedar Point, someone pulled out a phone and the operator immediately brought the ride back down and quickly began to recite the safety requirements/rider code of conduct over the speakers. I was pretty impressed with Cedar Point, my only problem was that I had to wait a few extra mintutes after already waiting longer than I had hoped with a Fast Lane!

[DANofNJ]

its time for all these parks to get on the same page. any item that does not fit in your pocket, GOES IN A LOCKER. no storage bins on the unloading platform(dorney and cedar point to name a few). it slows up the boarding of vehicles. all these parks have a attendant at the front gate. make them do there job. same goes for the heavy people. most rides have a test seat out front. ride attendants should not be spending 5 min trying to get harnass or lap bar closed.

[pashacar]

The phones-on-rides trend is troubling, but worse is parks' apathy about it -- Cedar Point is the exception, not the rule. Happy to say I saw it enforced on Ka when my train was stopped before launch because a guy had his phone out.

 

When that happened, though, the passenger was infuriated that they took his phone to hold during the ride (with no other repercussions, mind you). The thing is, it doesn't necessarily occur to everyone that a phone can easily slip away and injure someone. And given this, it's the parks' job to inform and enforce rules around this. Yet every time I've seen someone with a phone out on a ride and pointed it out to an operator, they've either done nothing or given them a verbal warning to not do it again, with no kind of repercussion or mechanism to report the offender.

 

On my last trip to SFDK, the operators made the same announcement train after train upon seeing people with their phones out on the ride, but they did nothing about it beyond a quick mention as the offenders got off. When I went to the gold striker commercial shoot last year, there was at least one phone on every train, and the riders did nothing to conceal them, but that was clearly seen as okay, as the operators just shrugged and (literally) looked the other way when I pointed it out repeatedly. Their apathy was so great that I couldn't help wondering whether management had discreetly told them to ignore any phones on the ride so that POVs could spread and build buzz.

 

With this kind of enforcement, it's only a matter of time before someone loses grip at the wrong time and causes a very serious accident. It's not something I want to happen, but assuming it inevitably will, I just hope it gets blown up in the national media so that parks can't get away with this bullshit any longer. If it means a hit to business, they deserve it for being so lax for all these years. It's pure negligence and someone could quite literally get killed or blinded. In fact, with a policy that stringent at Morey's, I wouldn't be remotely surprised if the impetus was a very serious event of this nature, that they were able to sweep under the rug.

Edited May 20, 2014 by pashacar

[RC98]

^ Wow if they just literally did nothing about riders using phones in California then that's truly bad on their part. Honestly I don't get the point of risking getting caught to shoot a POV anyway. There are enough of them on YouTube already to watch, I just do off ride videos for my channel instead.

Edited May 20, 2014 by RC98

[The Master]

its time for all these parks to get on the same page. any item that does not fit in your pocket, GOES IN A LOCKER. no storage bins on the unloading platform(dorney and cedar point to name a few). it slows up the boarding of vehicles. all these parks have a attendant at the front gate. make them do there job. same goes for the heavy people. most rides have a test seat out front. ride attendants should not be spending 5 min trying to get harnass or lap bar closed.

 

Sadly Dorney still loads faster than GADV, having lockers instead of bins doesn't seed up dispatches, it is just a way for Six Flags to grab a few more bucks.

[29yrswithaGApass]

 

.... it is just a way for Six Flags to grab a few more bucks.

 

Would you actually trust people and leave your cell phone or keys in a track side bin?

[DANofNJ]

not at SFGAdv

[jonlee]

At kings island, they have bins that a ride attendant will lock during your ride. Rides like el toro and nitro where the restraints can be restrictive, should post signs at the entrance that if you're "heavy" you should use the test seat. The employee at the entrance shouldn't point people out, but then again, i think thats less embarrassing than getting kicked off the ride. Four years ago, my friend and i were standing in line for el toro. The line was so long that it was almost by the bridge! Somebody lost their phone. It flew passed our heads and smashed into the ground. It was going fast enough to really hurt somebody.

[RC98]

^ Yes those bins that lock were exactly what I thought of when I saw the topic of the lockers on here. Those are what our park should have- your stuff is secure, you can have your stuff in line with you, and it's free.

[Yoshi]

I am not 100% sure on this but I think Nitro had storage like that added a year or two before the lockers became mandatory and were removed.

[29yrswithaGApass]

^Yes, they sure did. The problem with that was people were passing through the train to stash their stuff, wasting time because the previous train was still picking up their stuff, and then they had to get back into their row and clear the platform. It wasted a lot of time.

 

[Mrpq]

. Four years ago, my friend and i were standing in line for el toro. The line was so long that it was almost by the bridge! Somebody lost their phone. It flew passed our heads and smashed into the ground. It was going fast enough to really hurt somebody.

 

Funny thing is same thing happened when i was in line for El Toro one year. i think it was after the first set of switch backs. i was talking to an attendant as i was next in line before he let another group into the next switch back. Train came flaying over the first or second hill and i just happened to look up while talking to him. Saw something coming flying towards us i actually pulled him out of the way before the object smashed into the ground in the same spout he was standing. happened to be a phone. pretty sure I was the only person to see it before it actually hit the ground. it hit the floor so hard it buried itself half way in the dirt

[pashacar]

^ Same thing happened to me in Toro's line once, but with a red Powerade bottle. It landed in the sand about 2 feet away from someone's head and made a huge noise. Once it landed, we all saw it was full, meaning it was quite heavy and had the potential to cause some truly serious physical harm. Not sure why someone, even the kind of stupid jerk would use a phone on a ride, would want to take that with them (perhaps they forgot it was in a pocket or something), but it's scary stuff nonetheless.

[The Master]

 

Would you actually trust people and leave your cell phone or keys in a track side bin?

I don't bring a cell phone into any park or any other expensive toys, parks aren't a places to bring such items into, it's stupid to bring that stuff into a park. If they are going to ban cell phones from rides, then do it at the admission gates instead of line queues, backing up and slowing down line rides even more. I always use a locking keyring cailbeaner to secure my keys to my belt loops everywhere I go. They sell them for drink bottles too. Parks should carry such items in their gift shops, Disney and Universal do.

 

At Dorney and Hershey I can just place my drink bottle in the bin, at GADV I have to jam it in my pocket and hold it with one hand and hope it doesn't slip out. Which is the better method, station bin or onboard the ride itself? That is where GADV's logic falls apart. Most people don't want to pay another dollar for every ride, that is a de facto pay ride ticket system and SF knows it. Mandatory pay lockers encourages people to bring more stuff onboard the rides instead of discouraging them. Free bins and lockers encourages people to leave items like drink bottles off the ride rather than smuggle them onboard to avoid unfair upcharges. A second set of metal detectors is just a overly complex method that will have the side effects of making the park more of a hassle and burdensome over other parks and increasing wait times. As currently is, GADV is much more of a PITA of a park than Dorney and Hershey for riding rides and that is not good.

 

The dry ride section of Moreys piers are a free, open, and gateless admission vs GADV which is a closed gate, paid admission, the two are very different setups like apples to oranges. It would make more sense for a paid admission park like GADV to ban phones and other devices at the admission gates rather than at each ride. They could also employ cell jammers as a second step so if any phones or tablets slip in past the gate checkpoints, they would be near useless.

Edited May 21, 2014 by The Master

[29yrswithaGApass]

^The vast majority of people would rather turn around and go home than spend an entire day without their cell phones. Never going to happen.

[RC98]

^ Yep, exactly. I would never go without my phone, I just use my phone how it's allowed while in the park- to make calls/texts if needed when walking around, and take pics/videos for trip reports or YouTube (for my personal channel, not for any money).

 

However I do agree with The Master on the flawed logic with the lockers. I admit to wearing cargo shorts with only my phone inside to get around using the lockers. Why spend money for something if you can do it safely for free? Many other parks have realized this, it's about time Gadv caught on.

[The Master]

^The vast majority of people would rather turn around and go home than spend an entire day without their cell phones. Never going to happen.

I hope to god that isn't true. I hardly ever use my cell, I just don't get what the big deal is having one's nose glued to a tiny screen all day is?

 

A second set of metal detectors would just back up lines even worse. All one has to do is wrap a cell phone in steel wool and a handheld detector won't pick it up. It won't defeat a high end booth metal detector but it will work on weaker handheld units.

[pashacar]

To get people to comply, the ideal system has to be 1) free and 2) secure. And to make it work for the park, it also has to be 3) efficient.

 

Bins are 1 but not 2 or 3.

Platform lockers are 1 and 2, but not 3.

Midway lockers are 2 and 3, plus parks like Universal make them free, giving them 1 as well.

 

That said, people these days are loath to be away from their phones even for the duration of a queue line, so I think the best solution might be free lockers placed just before the station entrance (like those on Riddler's Revenge). Or perhaps it's something we haven't thought of (e.g., some system that collects belongs when you are next in line for a row, securely stores them, and makes them available once you have exited the ride, but does so more efficiently than cross-platform bins.

 

The key to ANY approach, though, is enforcement. The parks need to train staff members to change the culture here, as they did with smoking so recently. Only then will things change and any of these solutions be embraced.

Edited May 21, 2014 by pashacar

[FlumeOp1974]

I dont get it. i havbe a cell phome and verious other hand held electromics. Which are with me all the time. Except when i vist a park, eatting out, or at the theater or movies. Lockers should be free and available for personal items long before the que. The best set up ive seen is at Universal, which is you stow your stuff before entering the que area. And its free. you lock take the key provided and go. Cells are a great and wonderful thing making communcating with someone. But its not a attached. And should be.left at home, locked in the car or...Ill skip that part. And if your phones that inportant and you op to stay home or not enter the park. " Thank you for visiting ahd have a Great Day".