Stolen All-Season Drink Cups

Hi All -

Long time (occasional) lurker on the forums but first post. Curious as to others experiences with lost CP all-season cups. My son has now had two of them stolen near the Valravn ride. No, he did not lock them in a locker - he tends to try to put them out of sight a bit. The first one had his name all over it too. After much pleading we got the first one replaced. But after it just happened again yesterday, I'm thinking I'm done with these.

I don't want to pay $30 for the cup, then $6+ daily to keep locking them up. I suppose for that amount of money I might as well buy the green cups and pay the $1 refills. They are probably much less in "demand". I see especially the green cups left all over the park (on top of the lockers) when people go on rides, though I do see the orange ones as well.

I wish CP would consider implementing the following:

• The cups are coded. if one is stolen it can be disabled. If a stolen cup is attempted to be used, it is confiscated and returned to the owner
• If a cup is stolen, the cup can be deactivated, and a new cup purchased for a nominal (not full price) cost.

I'm sure that shifts more work over to CP, but it might dissuade theft...

Any others with stolen cups? Agree/disagree?

Having your name on something isn't going to stop someone from stealing a valuable object.

The cups are unique, but how would they know which one is the stolen one?

If you don't want to pay for a locker, you don't have to, but if you want it as insurance, it may be wise.

Tangent:

Last night I had a customer tell me we should have mailed her ID/license or taken it to the DMV. I couldn't seem to explain to her that we had never found it...
.

And if you don't use a locker, you accept the risk of items getting stolen. Unfortunately, people are greedy and disrespectful.

There has been plenty of discussion on here about the drink cups and what other options might be available for the park to implement. When someone leaves something out for others to find, it will more than likely come up missing and that's unfortunate, but just a reality. Now it would be nice when the thief went to fill it, the park staff would notice its not the same person filling it as to who's picture comes up on the scan.

Tony mentioned at CoasterMania that the park is looking at it but nothing more was said. Hopefully, they will come up with some kind of all-season drink plan linked to your season pass like the meal plan. I personally really dislike having to purchase and lug around those souvenir cups.

codeGR said:

The cups are unique, but how would they know which one is the stolen one?

If you register a cup to a name (or season pass) upon purchase perhaps. They knew the code of our original cup because we bought it at the same time as our pass. The cup was then disabled from further use.

DSShives said:

Tony mentioned at CoasterMania that the park is looking at it but nothing more was said. Hopefully, they will come up with some kind of all-season drink plan linked to your season pass like the meal plan. I personally really dislike having to purchase and lug around those souvenir cups.

That would be awesome. I would pay for that.

I would pay $60 to have the drinks linked to my pass like the season dining plan, that would be awesome.

I had my green Valravn drink cup stolen at Carowinds. You would think with me being out of state, nobody would steal that, but people are crazy!

Oh but now the thief has something you can't get in his or her neck of the woods. If anything being from a couple states away probably made it more appealing. It works in any Cedar Fair park, doesn't it?

If the cup was visible from the midway, it could have been discarded as trash by park services. I witnessed an orange bottle going into the trash at Kings Island on a recent visit.

The amount of drink cups and small bags on top of lockers is quite funny as you pass by.

Cooler packed in car trunk works the best.

If you purchase a souvenir cup and refuse to buy a locker (they're only $1/HR), then it's your fault and you run the risk of someone stealing your cup if you leave it sitting around elsewhere unprotected. Like someone else stated in this thread, perhaps a staff member discarded it. They are instructed to do that to any articles they see laying around unattended. They could care less what it is.
Personally I think the souvenir cups are more of a hassle than a help. I'm fine with getting my two free drinks and free chili fries with my season pass when I buy one regular fry at any participating vendor. If not, I'll just ask for a small glass of water which is always free of charge at any booth you go to.

If you're not a germaphobe, and don't mind washing/rinsing it off before using it again, you could place it in a trash can, off to the side, and then reclaim it when you're done riding the coaster. I know that sounds nasty to some, but a friend of mine did that with a basketball, and it worked perfectly. Cup is a little different story, but still... it's a thought, at least.

Me personally, this is precisely why I don't get those cups, or anything anything else bulky at a park! I would never feel secure leaving my stuff randomly off a ride, without getting a locker, and I'm not interested in paying for a locker either.

Burt said:

If a cup is stolen, the cup can be deactivated, and a new cup purchased for a nominal (not full price) cost.

The park would have to charge quite a bit, I imagine, to keep people from treating the souvenir cups as disposable. Even at their ~$30 cost, people still leave them laying around all the time. If they could be replaced for, say, $5? It would probably be even worse. I mean, your cup cost you ~$30, and you still left it out to be stolen not once, but twice. At a certain point you need to take responsibility for your valuables.

As for the all season beverage plan, I like the idea, but not at the expense of the souvenir cups. We find a lot of value in having a cup with a lid that we can carry around and not have to consume right away. Though admittedly we mostly use it when we're in the park with a stroller. When it's just the Wife and I riding coasters, we stick with the water fountains.

CoasterGuy15 said:

Personally I think the souvenir cups are more of a hassle than a help. I'm fine with getting my two free drinks and free chili fries with my season pass when I buy one regular fry at any participating vendor.

Drinks no longer come with the fry deal.

Burt said:

My son has now had two of them stolen near the Valravn ride. No, he did not lock them in a locker...

Stopped reading there.

But, But... People are supposed to know that cup was MINE!!!@

That's like leaving your car unlocked with your phone inside, and wondering why it's not there when you get back.

I think "Burt" is looking for a story where there isn't one. And it smells like one already told in Cincinnati.

That story is the exact reason I'm extremely cautious of leaving ANYTHING in the loose article bins. I have hats and hoodies that were bought at concerts that may only be $20 items, but they can't be obtained again - let alone a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses or my phone. I'm deathly afraid of something being tossed from my pocket or a cargo pocket during a ride, but the odds of that are much, much lower than someone pilfering stuff out of the bin. Even if my phone is in my pocket, that is held shut by the seatbelt laying across it (or a cargo pocket with a button), I still keep my hand on my phone and keys the whole ride.

On a ride like Skyhawk or Windseeker, where I can see the bin the whole time and it's not easily accessible to anyone who isn't in the ride area, I'm slightly more OK with it, but I still get paranoid.

People are dicks, but you also have to take personal responsibility for your own stuff. (or, that's why you have to take personal responsibility for your own stuff)