GigaG said:
^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."
Exactly, which is why you wouldn't think about SV having any policy other than the one every other ride has. It's just wildly inconsistent, and I can see why it catches people off-guard or otherwise comes off like a locker-prompting cash grab. It doesn't really make a ton of sense for SV to have the policy, but Maverick, for instance, not to have the policy.
I think it's just the best they could come up with on short notice, when it became evident that escaped cell phones were a problem. Early on, they made repeated announcements in the station that putting things in your back pocket wasn't good enough, which it would be on most rides. I think that really has more to do with it than people taking selfies and video, which is the first thing people assume.
And honestly, if everyone followed the policy, they wouldn't have enough lockers near SV, even accounting for friends and families sharing. My hope is that in the off-season they'll come up with a better solution, whether it's free timed lockers like Universal, or zippered pouches on the cars. (Which wouldn't prevent selfies/video, but again I don't believe that was the primary cause of expelled phones anyway.)
I agree that the policy was hastily put together and hope that they have something better in place for next season. I was there Friday night and rode Steel Vengeance for the first time since opening weekend. Enforcement was pretty random from what I saw. Pretty much on the honor system. And groups of people would approach the entry of the line and stop to talk with CP employees about the policy. While that was happening another group would approach and walk right past them. Sometimes a CP employee would ask them if they had cell phones (often it was when they were 10-15 yards past the entry and may not have even heard the question). Other times nothing was asked (most likely because the CP employees didn't see the second group while they were talking with the first).
I don't have enough info to know if the policy has more to do with phones simply falling out of pockets rather than being dropped while using them on the ride. Could well be the case. Though more items could fall out of pockets than just phones. Last time I was at Universal (7-8 years ago, days after the incident on Dragons), they were requiring you to remove everything from your pockets not just cell phones. And they were enforcing it with metal detectors. Though the lockers were free.
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