AT: B. Derek Shaw
bdshaw@amusementtoday.com
In the early 1990s, I took my Canon AE1 print camera everywhere, including amusement parks. During a visit to a theme park in California, while waiting to board the raging rapids ride, I was prepared to leave my camera in the station. But I wound up arguing with the attendant over what to do with the equipment after I was told the park could not be responsible for it, so I begrudgingly carried it onto the ride.
Despite my best efforts to shield the camera from the water, it got drenched and, not surprisingly, stopped working.
Looking back, I never should have been permitted, much less directed, to get on the ride with the equipment. But times have changed. The industry, for the sake of rider safety and operator liability, has gotten better about not allowing any items on rides that could get lost or cause injury.
Before the end of this past summer, Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, instituted a no-cell phone policy in the queue and onboard its new hybrid coaster, Steel Vengeance. It was a sensible move, as the ride is very intense and exciting — crazier than a mechanical bull. But unless you could leave your phone with a non-rider before joining the longest line in the park, you had to spend $2 an hour on a locker, which could really add up with waits of a couple hours or more.
Universal Studios Orlando provides complimentary lockers for loose articles near its high-speed and water rides; they remain free for the length the entire waiting / ride time. Hersheypark offers this courtesy, as well, for several attractions around the park, including its Skyrush and SooperdooperLooper coasters. These and other parks are setting an example that, while practical, also generates goodwill and good publicity — offsetting the cost of the locker equipment.
Whether or not Cedar Point adjusts its own policy, its cell phone ban may have created a positive beyond safety: those waiting two, one, two or more hours to board Steel Vengeance could rediscover the art of conversation — engaging with each other instead of poking at a mobile device.
