Cedar Point Locker Procedure

I don't think it's ridiculous at all. I think it's ridiculous that they ever put bins inside the stations. Bins cause so much nonsense, and I'm really happy they did away with them at Magnum especially. I'm still waiting for them to get rid of bins at Raptor next.

So much anger toward those bins.

My issue is that Cedar Point is making it difficult by having bins for select roller coasters. Either have bins for all of them, or none of them. Also, let the people know in advance if they change the policy. I'm used to being able to bring these kinds of things without a problem. My other issue was the attitude I was given by the employees outside the rides. I did not mention other items in the bag, as they were my friend's items, and not mine. She had tight shorts with small pockets, and could not fit her phone, wallet, or other items... not to mention pads. Unfortunately, I do not know of any girl or woman that enjoys cargo shorts, nor do I think I could convince any woman to wear them. If it all fits in one little bag, there shouldn't be much of a problem in my opinion. It certainly does not delay the ride queuing by any significant amount of time. Just throw the bag in the bins when you're getting on, and go right back to the train. And as you're exiting, grab it. pretty simple.

I think Cedar Fair should just add something similar that was discussed above; lockers with an allotted amount of free time. It would probably solve all the issues...

P.S, I saw people with fanny packs turned away. Perhaps it's certain employees with different standards... I think there should be one procedure enforced, not based on how the employee feels on the situation. I'm not "whining" or "having a tantrum", nor am I bringing an "entire EMT kit". I'm just a guest expressing my thoughts on the sudden, drastic change on the locker procedure.

Thanks for the helpful hints that people did suggest.

e x i t english said:
So much anger toward those bins.

They're pointless, and as Pete has said, they don't help with efficiency. One doesn't need every single personal item with them inside the park. Either get a locker or leave it in the car.

Now, if we want to talk about the park having free lockers outside of the queues, I'm all for that. But bins in the station are redundant.

I honestly enjoyed seeing BGW handing out bright orange fanny packs at the entrance to Tempesto. Encouraging individuals to take a fanny pack for items such as your phone, glasses and wallet. Then there were bins outside the exit at the bottom of the ramp to return the fanny packs. Seemed to work quite well for that ride.

But I am in agreement the simpliest solution is to offer lockers with free amounts of time. Its 2015, could this free time be adjusted daily, even hourly for current wait times? Probably. 15 min wait for Rougarou, 25 mins of free locker time.. 90 min wait for MF, 100 mins of free time. At least then guests do not feel as if its just a money maker and more of a service.

I leave my phone in the car or wear cargo shorts with zippers. The bins should be ripped out of all rides. ESPECIALLY Gatekeeper. I have been almost trampled and the gates have almost closed before I could even get to our seat because of a behemoth standing in front waiting to get to the bin for their stuff. If they are only for shoes, leave a spot on the ground for flip flops only and launch all of the rest of the ridiculous items that people bring into Lake Erie by catapult.

I don't see why the park needs to provide free anything for storage. It's not in the nature of any business to just install things like that for free. Even if they had a time limit I could just see guests saying their stuff was stolen or that they didn't know about the time limit etc... People can't even walk past platform gates without getting maimed.

That's a great point.

I'm all for getting rid of the bins on the rides. A bin for shoes on some things and that's it. If you have to that is a good idea to stuff what you can in your shoes. I always carry the bare minimum when I'm at any park.

as far as free lockers for periods of time. If they wanted to set it up that way then great. The thing about charging is there is lots of people per day, and only so many lockers to go around. If you made them free for a period of time, then good luck finding a locker probably.

That's very true. Just having the lockers expire like a parking meter isn't going to work unless they heavily enforce it by having employees empty expired lockers right afterwards. Otherwise you're liable to have people leave their stuff in them all day anyway.

Either way people will be mad.

Or they could just go the route of Disney and on most rides offer a place ON the ride to store your items. That of course is all wishful thinking because I doubt the park would ever go for that seeing how overly safe they are.

But really though, taking the bins out would be just fine after everyone calmed down and stopped freaking out. Install more lockers at ride locations and charge less. Or as others suggested install the type Universal has that allows for a amount of time for free. Anything past that you have to pay for in order to retrieve your items. I don't see a problem with any of these options.

Just what Cedar Point needs, storage on a ride unit to check before dispatching a ride (ie: The Crypt at KI)

But honestly, there are many options the park could do after removing all bins.

Just having the lockers expire like a parking meter isn't going to work unless they heavily enforce it by having employees empty expired lockers right afterwards.

IIRC Universal lockers are free for a certain amount of time. If you don't pull your items out by the time the free time has expired, you then have to pay to get your stuff out. It's all explained very plainly up front (touch screen interface) and is hard to argue with.

I'll just echo what others have already said in this thread. Bins on ride platforms are a bad idea; they slow down operations a lot. Inconsistent use of bins across rides is even worse. "Bins are only for shoes on this ride? What?" "Millennium force doesn't have bins anymore?!" Never mind the fact that separate unload/load stations precludes the use of bins on that ride. People need to downsize/minimize. Take a break and go to your car or picnic area if you need access to something that you couldn't carry on the ride with you.

What!?! Go into the park without my smartphone, my tablet, my selfie stick, my water bottle, my phone charger, my tablet charger, my 20 credit cards, my car keys, my house keys, my hotel room key... how am I supposed to live for 10 hours without all my stuff?

You forgot your chapstick.

I had to choose between my chapstick and my cinder block.

There is an issue here that most of us forget...

Most of the time when I am in the park, I carry only essential items...my camera bag, my phone, possibly my wallet, keys and penknife. But I can do that because it is trivially easy for me to go back out to my car, where I may have a change of clothes, a towel, jacket, sweatshirt, and absolutely anything else I might possibly need. I might even have a cooler full of cold drinks and a bag full of sandwiches.

But what if I had arrived at the park on a tour bus? Upon exiting the bus, I would most likely not have any access to anything I left behind until the end of the day. That means I may have to account for changing weather, various activities through the day, and in general I would need to carry or store in an all-day cocker *everything* I need for a day in the park.

If you are wondering why people carry so much stuff with them in the parks, count the buses in the parking lot.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The University of Mount Union tour bus takes us every year, and students are told they can come and go as they please. Driver present or not, those buses aren't inaccessible during the day.

I don't know. Arriving on a tour bus doesn't automatically make you a poor planner or a guest that feels he/she is going on Safari.

Then again, I'm no expert on tour bus culture.

I have succumbed to using a small fanny pack since a crossbody mini purse is unacceptable. I am sorry, but women need to carry some essential items. I need my phone in case of problems with my father, very convenient I can be in touch if needed. I am not wearing any bulky, ugly cargo shorts stuffed with crap. Yuck. It really bothers me that they have designed some rides, like Banshee, where you can't wear a small fanny pack. Why is the vest a practically full upper body wetsuit and not like Gatekeeper's restraints? Why do they make it harder and harder to attend the park with some essential items? Now someone is saying a ride at CP won't allow fanny packs, they're being turned away???! I am not for people carting luggage around the park but I feel they should think of guests when they design a ride, at least for fanny packs. We are there for fun but no ride should be like some kind of mission where we have to strip everything off.

CoasterGuy15 said:

I'm not "whining" or "having a tantrum", nor am I bringing an "entire EMT kit". I'm just a guest expressing my thoughts on the sudden, drastic change on the locker procedure.

You are 100% correct. My original response was unnecessarily snarky and mean, and I apologize for that.

When I go, I wear cargo pants/shorts (I actually have a pair of shorts that I refer to as my Cedar Point shorts. They look terrible but have large pockets that button shut. I'm not going out there to pick up girls). In those pockets I can secure my cell phone, my wallet, my smokes (I'm gonna try to quit again tomorrow, I promise). I also take JUST my car key, and I safety pin that inside one of the cargo pockets, since I would really like to get home. Really that's all I need, and even the cell is a superfluous item. I can understand that someone may need to want to be in touch with their family if they have a sick loved one, but I think if your presence in an emergency situation is that important, maybe you shouldn't be worrying about how many rides you can get and should be home.

That said... do y'all remember when the phone was on the wall, and when you left home without your phone it didn't induce a panic attack?