Posted on 10/15/2005 2:50:50 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
TAMPA -- It cost Barry Grayson $600 to tour Busch Gardens the other night with his family, but the Bradenton man says it was worth every penny to have a guide escort them to the front of the line of major attractions at Busch's annual Halloween event.
The fee was more than double the regular admission price for Grayson's five-member party. But for an increasing number of tourists at theme parks and attractions, paying extra to break in line or join a custom tour is the only way to go.
Hour waits for rides marred his family's otherwise pleasant visits to Busch Gardens in the past, Grayson said.
"It was well worth it to optimize our experience in the park," Grayson said.
The extra fees for VIP treatment are a growing source of revenue for theme parks and attractions. Operators say guest demand is driving what they do. Long lines are guests' No. 1 complaint and a pleasure killer in our increasingly time-compressed society, they say. Visitors, especially repeat patrons, also want more specialized experiences.
The Empire State Building in New York started an express option in May. Tourists can plunk down $14 to wait up to 90 minutes with the masses for the elevator ride to the 86th floor observatory, or they can pay $35 for the same view but with a wait guaranteed to be no more than 20 minutes.
The idea, observatory director Bob Zorn said, was to offer an option for tourists who didn't want to wait and to boost business. "People were walking away," he said.
About 3 percent of the 396,000visitors have taken advantage of the offer in July, the most recent month for which information is available. No one has complained about the system, Zorn said.
Some Dislike Idea
The strategy is not embraced by all theme parks and attractions, however. Industry leader Disney won't let guests break the line at Walt Disney World near Orlando or Disneyland in Southern California.
Disney's philosophy, which dates to the founding of Disneyland in 1955 in California, is that all guests are VIPs, said Walt Disney World spokesman Dave Herbst.
Its answer to long lines is Fastpass, the system introduced in 1999 to give visitors who don't want to wait in line a predetermined time to come back for fast access.
Walt Disney World's version of fast-tracking lines is a VIP tour service at $115 an hour plus park admission, Herbst said. Personal guides use Fastpass and their knowledge of the park to avoid long lines, but they don't cut in front of others.
Disney offers at least one privilege for that premium price.
Guests can enter special areas at Walt Disney World for prime viewing of its popular parades. They don't have to wait an hour or more, as regular visitors do, to get the best view. Herbst said the parade policy doesn't inconvenience regular customers as cutting in line would.
Different Parks, Different Perks
Not all theme park VIP programs are created equally.
At Universal Orlando Resort, which includes Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, Express Plus shortens lines to no more than 15-minutes. But to get unlimited, short-line visits to attractions, there's a catch. Guests must stay in specific hotels owned in part by the theme parks, and the room rates often exceed $170 a night.
For vacationers who can't afford the hotels, Universal also sells Express Plus access for an additional $15 on top of the $59.75 regular admission, but the fast access is available only once per ride, not unlimited as offered to hotel guests.
Such policies bother Steve Baker, one of the original top managers at Walt Disney World and now an Orlando-based theme park consultant. Baker said it's unfair to give those who can afford it special treatment while regular guests go without. "There's something basically wrong with the attitude that money can buy some people out of the hassle of waiting in line," Baker said.
At Universal's parks, cutting in line can mean sneaking around to the back of attractions. Park officials place the VIP line in inconspicuous places to limit exposure.
Few Guests Grumble
At Busch Gardens' Howl-O-Scream Halloween event, guided group tours go straight through the front entrance of haunted houses but use the handicapped entrance up the exit ramp for break-the-line-access at the park's top roller coasters.
Part-time tour guide Roger Scruggs, a Tampa high school English teacher, says there has been only occasional grumbling from guests as the tour groups pass by. More typical, he says, are guests asking to join the tour. Halloween tour prices range from $49.99 to $129.99 per adult, depending on amenities.
For the first time, Busch Gardens is allowing nontour guests front-line access to haunted houses and roller coasters for extra fees of between $25 and $35 in addition to the $55-plus regular admission. Park spokesman Gerard Hoeppner said he doesn't expect other guests to be upset.
In addition to breaking the line, many of the parks also offer enhanced experiences for an extra fee.
Regular visitors to Busch Gardens get a good view of roaming animals during a train ride included in the regular admission price. A more personalized $33.95 truck tour of the animal habitat allows visitors to feed giraffes lettuce by hand.
"You could never do this on the train ride," said Donna Harding, who with husband Mike had just fed a giraffe. The Bedford, England, couple said the price was worth it.
"You could never do this on the train ride."
Donna Harding, On close encounter with animals on premium tour at Busch Gardens
I can pay for the privilege of driving on certain roads. When can I buy my way to the front of the line for renewing my auto registration?
My in-laws live in Southern California, but no Disneyland for us or the kids anymore. Several no-name parks offer similar wait times as Idlewild with prices slightly more than half the price of the Disneyland brand.
When we lived in Japan, Puroland, an amusement park run by Sanrio of Hello Kitty fame, also offered minimal wait time because tickets were sold by reservation only. They knew the park's capacity and walk-in tickets were sold only to the extent that reservations were not filled.
Brand names amusement parks simply do not care how long guests wait in line because they collect the same admission fee whether the park is at 90% or 190% capacity. The last straw for us on Disneyland was years ago when we waited in line 30 minutes to buy an overpriced ice cream cone. We resolved never to go back and have kept that promise.
But we go in off season and plan so that there are never any major lines. When we hit Fantasy land for the kids, we can usually walk on to the first 5 or 6 rides. After that we plan on a combo of fast-pass and side attractions people aren't so familiar with.
It actually is a wonderful experience for us, and being local in SoFlo, relaxing because we are not compelled to rush.
But Yeah, I'm with you. I won't wait in a line longer than 15-20 minutes and I'm only willing to wait once or twice.
LOL
Bump!
I hear ya.
Been to Kennywood Park, but not Idlewild. :-)
Here:
Agreed. Also in the Pittsburgh area is Kennywood - great rollercoasters, including the famous Thunderbolt.
This summer we went to our local amusement park, Geauga Lake here in OH, on Tuesday, July 5th - the place was practically deserted. And when you have 3 kids 8 and under, standing in long lines is hardly a good time. And their admission price, which includes an outstanding water park and the best kids' amusement area I've ever seen, is drastically lower than most - $25 for adults and $15 for kids, under 3 free. The longest line we stood in all day was for lunch.
Then there's the all time family favorite - Knoebels Grove in Elysburg PA - grew up close to it and it's always been affordable. Free admission, buy tickets as you go, or get your hand stamped for 17-30 bucks, or go after 5 pm for about half that.
I can't imagine spending outrageous money at Disney, or even the Six Flags parks - we used to live in NJ and admission for Six Flags there is a whopping 48.99 for adults and 29.99 for kids. Stand in hour-long lines, hit a dozen rides in a day if we're lucky at that price? No thanks.
Chuckleheads? The last time I saw that word was in a historical document from the 1890s.
I think "chucklehead" is a great word. Hope it comes back into use.
Here's a few more 19th century words I keep in my pocket:
squirt - fire engine
skirmishers - Men looking for cheap bargains from traders on newly arriving steamboats
lip tickle - a kiss
coughing hoss - what Indians named the locomotive
chunk - slang for dinner
Trust me, chucklehead is a live and well. And, sadly, used more every day.
My cousin and I took our kids to Six Flags on Spring Break this year. We gave the kids the option of getting a Six Flags treat/souvenir or renting Qbots, which are basically small devices guests use to make reservations for certain rides and attractions so they don't have to wait in long lines. They chose the Qbots. The rides which are part of the Qbot/Fast Lane system have a separate entrance for people who have reservations, so it's not like you enter the same line and work your way past everyone who's waiting. Several people asked us what the Qbots were and many who weren't aware that a reservation system was even available said they were going to rent one ASAP after talking to us.
I'm surprised to see the negative comments about companies offering "special" treatment to people who are willing to pay extra for it. I wonder how many of you who are whining about this would get bent out of shape if your grocery store didn't offer finer cuts of meat because not everyone can afford to buy them. Or if auto companies stopped offering CD players because not everyone can afford to purchase the CDs to play in them.
Hey, maybe they should just shut down the parks entirely since not everyone in the country is able to afford a vacation.
People are sensitive where their kids are concerned. They don't like the idea of their kids feeling short-changed at an amusement park.
Since waiting in line constitutes most of the activities at these places, the few minutes' desultory pleasure you derive from the ride can't offset the utter boredom. The solution is to stop going, for cripes' sake! There has to be something better to do with your time and money than give it to some faceless corporation for the dubious joy of life's most stultifying activity.
You're completely missing the point.
The people choosing a finer cut of meat or the CD player do not affect me one iota. A person paying extra to a third-party to cut in front of me does.
It told you where to enter, which rides to do first and when, when to leave then come back, what to avoid, etc.
I don't think we spent more than 30 minutes waiting for any ride, and this was peak season.
You don't have to be rich, just smart.
When someone pays more to buy the 2" thick rib-eye, it doesn't lesson the quality of the cheaper selection I am buying.
When some pays more to go to the front of the line, it makes my wait longer.
There is nothing wrong with offering premium services, but it shouldn't be done at a cost to others.
Ok, I can see your point. Have to say that having reservations for the rides was nice though.
If he had paid the money to persons at the head of the line, to exchange places, that would be fine. The preferential treatment sucks.
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