Cedar Point Police - Cell Phone Debate

CPVet said:

But Cedar Point isn’t a high school - word isn’t going to spread like wildfire that their enforcement is getting more strict. The idea that this would solve the problem any substantial amount just isn’t going to happen.

It would just piss a whole lot of people off, and as another poster said, there goes a guest with money still in their pocket being told to leave the park, for something that, let’s face it, is not that big of a deal.

I’m glad that Cedar Point feels the same way I do.

I largely agree with this sentiment. Most people are not uber fans, like the people posting on a forum like this. Every single day that park welcomes people that didn't know Steel Vengeance existed until they showed up. They don't know the stats for each ride, just that "this one goes really fast." And for all the discussion this policy has earned on this website, most of the public shows up to the line each day surprised by the sign or the park worker and starts asking "wait, can't I just put it in my pocket? I don't want to buy a locker!" holding up the entry process for those around them. Every! Day!

So I agree that in the big picture it wouldn't help too much because 95% of people out there don't know nor care what is going on at the park in the detail that we all do. You think you're making some kind of statement by throwing one person out, but outside of them and their friends no one will know. And the next day you're just going to have someone else show up and do it. And the next day. And the next. They're all individual incidents with no influence on the rest of the guests.

Heck yeah charge them. Throw em out and if you are a season pass member revoke you pass since you should know better.

Idiots like this are the reaso we can’t even have phones in line on SV anymore.

Put the damn phone away and enjoy the ride. A cell phone traveling at that speed flying through the air can kill a person. Then it’s a felony.

At one point in time the simple flip-phone was actually marketed as a lethal weapon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86OowfGkSwQ

Saw a phone go flying on the hill before the pretzel turnaround on Magnum this past Sunday. Grabbed the boy and pulled him down, it went right over his head. Probably wouldn’t have hit him but still kinda scary.

I noticed that Friday for a while at early entry and until about 7, Saturday till about mid day and only at opening for an hour or so on Sunday that they had extra security and even the CPPD at steel vengeance looking for and asking about phones. Later all three days I saw nothing special other than attendant asking if we had phones. By Sunday evening , It was a monotone "Any cel phones?".

I think a far more effective strategy here would be a simple Time Out say for an hour. Guests are asked to be escorted to an admin building where they will need to discuss the incident with security personnel, watch a cringeworthy safety video. fill out some paperwork and of course wait for processing and approval before being allowed back in the park. Not arrested or detained as they are free to leave the park at anytime if they so choose.

When I was 11 or 12 a buddy of mine and I took the metro bus out to SF Over Mid America (as it was called at the time) for one rambunctious unsupervised day at the park. This was before the Skyride accident in ‘78 and possibly that same year and somehow we got it in our heads that it would be fun to to get cups of ice and have bombing runs across the park. Lacking the proper Norton bomb sights and ice with fins we luckily were unsuccessfull in striking any of our targets but nonetheless someone saw what we were up to and called security. The ride ops were waiting for us and had us sat and to the side as we waited for security and then security gave us a good reaming for 10-15 minutes, publicly which probably isn’t allowed these days. At the end they let us go and told us to go have fun but behave ourselves and they would be watching us.

It worked on us and would likely work in this situation without escalating problem.

Yeah, that isn't going to work. Adults are going to just walk out and/or demand a refund and teenagers will get their parents involved, who aren't going to be happy that park employees "forced" their underage kids to come with them to an office for a "talkin' to". It isn't going to solve the cell phone problem and it's just going to create a whole new set of problems.

And as you pointed out, they’re not being detained or arrested, legal can of worms that you inactuality detained someone against the law, under threat of detaining or trespassing... that will go over great with a lot of these so called parents. There will be media nightmare involved with stories and the inevitable “lawsuit” from some ACLU idiot that will atttempt to push the definitions to fit their ‘cause Du’ Jour ‘.
And again as pointed out above, will do nothing to deter people from taking out their phone.

XS NightClub said:

the inevitable “lawsuit” from some ACLU idiot that will atttemlt to push the definitions to fit their’cause Du’ Jour ‘

I hope to never appear as biased...

Which leads us right back to arrest them for violating the ORC; or, remove them from the park--money in their pocket or not. Guest safety is more important.

I'm puzzled as to how someone trespassing on CP property to take pictures can be a huge deal around here. But removal for actions that could and have injured people is no problem. Quite the contradiction for some of you.

Arrest is going way to far, but removal for the day seems very reasonable. While it won't solve an unsolvable problem those that are removed will likely think twice before doing it again.

^ I had mentioned a while back that I was a bit annoyed that when I saw someone get caught in line with their cellphone, they were allowed to go put it away wherever, and still get right back in line where they were (it was after a significant wait). I got crapped on for suggesting that they should have at least followed their own rule and make the "offender" go to the back of the line after the infraction. That sort of enforcement really won't help the issue.

But getting back to some of the comments here, you can't send someone to "time out" for having a phone in line. You just can't. Cartwright and XS above already explained why. And I don't know that throwing someone out for the day is a great idea either. Yeah, it might help cut down a miniscule number of people willing to risk it, but the other ramifications of that are probably worse. Yeah, they already got their ticket revenue at that point, but they would lose any potential in park spending as well as a potential of return trips. I would imagine someone who got thrown out of the park for having their phone in line would probably not be rushing to buy another ticket and come right back. It really is a tough situation.

While riding Nitro on Saturday night, the girl sitting next to my buddy got smacked in the face with an iPhone X which landed on my buddy's foot after it flew out of the pocket of a guy sitting in front of us...Oopsy! No big deal.

IMO, it's silly that phones are banned on Steel Vengeance and not on EVERY OTHER ATTRACTION.

I was pissed when they turned me back in the SV line originally despite having a phone in my zippered pocket (they saw the outline) I never took out, but I get it. I mean, on a recent trip, a phone fell off Millennium Force right next to the entrance to the Frontier Trail and shattered right in front of me, so I get it and it's a fair policy.

But it seems like a cash grab when it's ONLY policed and monitored at SV, and the policy is so lax on so many other attractions.

That said, I realize Cedar Point is lose-lose on this one. I know it would just take one person claiming they missed a medical emergency for Cedar Point to be at the tail end of some kind of ridiculous lawsuit.

GBB88 said:

That said, I realize Cedar Point is lose-lose on this one. I know it would just take one person claiming they missed a medical emergency for Cedar Point to be at the tail end of some kind of ridiculous lawsuit.

That would be the stupidest lawsuit ever (ok probably not in this day and age) and go nowhere. They aren't forcibly prying phones from people's hands.

GBB88 said:
I was pissed when I tried to sneak a phone in the Steel Vengeance line despite being told I could not bring the phone in line and they caught me trying to do it anyway.

Fixed that for you

Cartwright said:

GBB88 said:
I was pissed when I tried to sneak a phone in the Steel Vengeance line despite being told I could not bring the phone in line and they caught me trying to do it anyway.

Fixed that for you

Actually, no one said anything to me at the queue entrance, and yes there were staff members there. I didn't even know this policy existed -- because why would this policy exist for one ride that doesn't apply to other rides? -- until the patrolling staff member told me.

Live and learn. Hope being cell phone police is paying you well though.

^There is a sign right past the operators that says "absolutely no cell phones" with a display of phones that were destroyed pre-policy, and the ride ops almost always ask. Perhaps you went early in the policy when they weren't used to it.

Either way, I totally see your point about inconsistency. However, I'd rather it be that way than have this policy on ALL the coasters. Please, no... that'd be awful.

GigaG said:

^There is a sign right past the operators that says "absolutely no cell phones" with a display of phones that were destroyed pre-policy, and the ride ops almost always ask. Perhaps you went early in the policy when they weren't used to it.

Either way, I totally see your point about inconsistency. However, I'd rather it be that way than have this policy on ALL the coasters. Please, no... that'd be awful.

I agree it would be annoying, but it's precisely that inconsistency that leads people into entering the line with their phones. Let's take Diamondback for example. Diamondback has a similar display and similar warning signs (Maverick might too?), but they don't actually enforce anything, and if you did have a zippered pocket for instance, no one would make a big deal out of it. So you just get accustomed to bringing a phone in your pocket.

I'll be totally honest: the SV signs didn't even really register with me because my brain defaulted to "I've seen these signs before, but I have a zippered pocket and don't get my phone out in line anyway, so I'm OK".

More than anything, I just can't imagine the resource drain of what I saw on Halloweekends Friday at SV. The SV queuing staff alone consisted of: 1 staff member at entrance, 1 staff member patrolling line, 2 additional security officers patrolling line, 1 staff member in Fast Pass queue checking similar.

^Because those rides truly have a different policy - almost every ride is OK with zippered pockets. TTD, for instance, has a sign specifically saying cargo pockets are OK.

SV changed on July 21 to the current policy we know and "love."