Loose article policy

[coastersue]

We don't have much problem with this new policy since we never carry stuff around parks.  However, we were quite annoyed today to see that apparently hats are not considered loose articles.  We saw countless people on Nitro with hats and almost got hit by a flying hat on our ride.  We've both been hit by hats on rides before and it hurts.  If they want to be so strict about loose articles, why would they continue to let people wear hats on the rides?

[darkridedan]

Sue, I was asked to remove my knit hat twice last week. Ops shouldn't allow guests to wear ball caps on coasters. It takes a few months to become that good to spot every hat depending on the coaster.

[coastermom]

I seen many ,many hats on ET yesterday as well I thought it was slightly strange . I think they should make them leave the hats in  a locker as well . If a fanny pack that is straped to you like a belt is a loose article so is a baseball hat . just my 2 cents though

[coastersue]

Yeah, these people were all wearing baseball caps.  One person in the Nitro station even had a top hat, but we rode before him so we didn't see what he did with it when he rode.

I don't think there's any excuse for the hats on the big coasters.  If the person at the entrance doesn't catch it, the ride op/attendants should catch it.  In this case, neither one said a word to these people.

[darkridedan]

Once the ops work enough hours to see the shades of gray, they will tell people to leave their hats in the station. Right now the no loose article rule "in the station" is probably so engraved in their head that they think it's better for riders to wear their hat then to leave it on an empty exit platform.

That IS what happens when we try to fix something that isn't broken. 

[GADVwow]

Meanwhile, on opening day, at least some El Toro ops were telling hat wearers that the hat had to be put inside their shirt....which it was...until the lift hill...then right onto the rider's head it went, more often than not.

[coastersue]

Meanwhile, on opening day, at least some El Toro ops were telling hat wearers that the hat had to be put inside their shirt....which it was...until the lift hill...then right onto the rider's head it went, more often than not.

Exactly!  We've seen that happen before as well.  Personally, I think hats should have to be left in lockers as well.  When you're going 70 mph on a coaster, a hat can injure someone!

I laugh whenever someone loses a hat on a coaster as long as it doesn't hit someone.  If they wear it on the ride, they deserve to lose it!

[Dubya91]

In my opinion

People wearing Flyers and Red Sox hats deserve immediate ejection from the park if they wear it on the ride

People wearing Yankees and Jets hats and all other hats should be asked nicely to put it in a locker

edit: Oh and Dan for wearing a hat period on OR off the ride

[AV Matt]

My take on loose articles...

Being very sensitive to the evil sun, I try to wear a hat at parks (except while riding), but that includes while waiting in line. If I have to take my hat off and put it in a locker before entering a queue, I am exposed to the sun more than I should be while in line. I'd much rather risk losing the hat in the station if they won't let me tuck it in my shirt while riding.

Other than that and being allowed to wear my glasses (with a strap if required), I am all for keeping bulky items out of the queue. But the lockers should be good for all day and you should be able to get into them all day with just one rental. Just make it $5 for the whole day. I'd be surprised if the $1 at a time scheme brought in much more revenue. I think most people are going to avoid using them due to the annoyance of paying over and over again.

[coastersue]

I was thinking about that as far as protection from the sun while in line, Matt.  There has to be some sort of solution to it though.  The attendants in the station need to enforce making people take them off.  It's also a problem of what to do with them though as, more often than not, people put them back on after leaving the station.

[GADVwow]

If they can make an exception for flip flop shoes (as they don't want barefoot people in the queue lines), they can make an exception and allow hats to be left in the station (at the owner's risk) as they don't want people to get skin cancer in their mostly uncovered queue lines (and some people wear hats to cover their bald heads or for other vanity reasons).  Unless, of course, this policy is only about making locker money.....

[rjholla2003]

Magic Mountain's Park President posted this on TPR:

As for the lockers?, come on guys, if I wanted to make money, I would charge you five dollars to store your belongings. We are not forcing anyone to use the lockers. We are doing our very best to make sure you do not enter the queue line with loose articles. My only intent here is to train riders to not bring anything into a line or onto a ride. My suggestion, don?t bring anything with you that you can?t secure in your pocket! It is that simple. If it was feasible, we would have these lockers at all of the rides. The sole purpose is to increase capacity! Sole purpose! Remember, Tatsu last summer consistently had 6 minute and 30 second dispatch times? Unacceptable! We have made vast strides to reduce this number and have been very successful to date.

You may ask about gifts and souvenirs, we have a ?free? package pickup you can use to store the items you purchase. We have lockers you can access all day long for 17, 13, or 9 dollars depending on the size you want.

I am not looking to nickel and dime the guests. How much do you pay to access the internet at Cyber Caf?? How much does it cost to go to the Magic of the Mountain Museum at the Sky Tower? How much is Package Pickup again? That's right... all FREE!

I have no problem defending the value proposition here at our park. We are a phenomenal value and working hard each day to make it that much more enticing! I am just blown away that this continues to be a sore subject with many of you? especially after we have continued to deliver on so many improvements at the park this season.

Guys, I CARE so much about this park! Just as each of you do! If you didn?t, you wouldn?t be coming to this thread. But please, be patient! I can?t share many of our plans, but certainly? or hopefully, you can all see that we are heading in the right direction. We never claimed to be perfect! We did say we were working towards it!

Keep the Faith,

Jay

Jay Thomas
Park President
Six Flags Magic Mountain &
Hurricane Harbor

[darkridedan]

I read that yesterday. If only loose articles in the station made MM and GAdv's top 10 issues. I don' care too much about this locker issue because I don't bring much with me to a park.

[PcMan]

Cargo Pants/Shorts  pockets

I don't even where denim shorts anymore to the park when its warm.

try riding The Voyage with denim shorts on and stuffing your phone and camera in your pocket
it makes for a uncomfortable ride and possible damaged camera.
I then took a change and just left it in the bins 

pockets pockets pockets

[rjholla2003]

I always have cargo pockets with zippers when I visit the park since I don't trust people enough to leave my stuff in the station, and I don't want to deal with renting a locker.  People on Source kept bringing up Dorney and it's station cubbies as the greatest solution, but Dorney Park is the only place I have ever had something stolen from me -and it wasn't even mine.  During my high school senior trip, my friend put a mini basketball that he won at a game in my book bag.  I put my bookbag in one of the station cubbies at Talon.  It was the kind that has the sliding door for so they change it for each train.  We take our ride, get off, and my bookbag is a little lighter, and smaller.  Someone went into my bookbag, took out the ball, closed my bookbag back up, placed it back in the same cubbie, and went about their business.  I didn't like the station cubbies before that, and I definitely don't like them after that.  When with others (usually my girlfriend and maybe her sister), I'd let them use some of the extra space in my pockets so whatever was in their bags was the least valuable stuff they happened to bring along.  Honestly, I'd rather use the lockers that cost a dollar for however long you're in line (if the wait is more than two hours for whatever reason, you're still OK with your locker) than leave it in the station.  If I didn't have something stolen from me before, I'd probably feel differently, but that's just my opinion on it.