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WCPO: Woman asked to upgrade son's Jr Season Pass mid season


BoddaH1994
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WWDD? (What would Disney do....) Well, they used to have a junior ticket pass...that was eliminated and the price was adjusted to age 3 and up prices...no discounts.

Huh? Disney ticket pricing is 0 - 3 (free, of course); 3 - 9; 10+.

This is worth bringing back to the foreground because it's, in many ways, an "honor system."

"Is your child 9, or do you get to pay more because they're 10?" No ID to check. No height to measure. No tell-tale sign.

And thus, this never happens.

You can bet, though, that if a child celebrated a milestone birthday in the middle of an annual pass window, they'd get a "10th Birthday" pin, greetings from every cast member they saw, special meet-and-greets, and a few complimentary snacks during the day. Being hounded for an upgrade fee wouldn't be among the first 100 things that would happen to them. Consequently, it wouldn't something their parents would have to worry about.

Should the woman have run to the media? Eh, we don't know her story. She might be a barker. But it IS good that this kind of policy is brought to the forefront where it can be amended (or not). The media catching wind of abuse of Disney's disability access program led to its complete renovation. It's something that needed to happen, but murmurs and occasional complaints weren't lighting that fire under management's butts.

Hopefully this will force their hand in at least taking another look at this policy and standardizing their response across the chain. It seems to me like a silly fight to pick. Now that it's been picked, I would think the smart thing to do is to admit fault and drop it. The parent probably wasn't cajoling her child into growing just to pull a fast one on the system. "Pick your battles," as they say. Might be time for the park to bow gracefully to this one.

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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

Why would they issue an apology? Regardless of how any of us feel on this issue, the park operated in accordance with their policy.
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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

Why would they issue an apology? Regardless of how any of us feel on this issue, the park operated in accordance with their policy.

The proper talking point is in the spirit of : "We regret any inconvenience that any of our guests experience. We always endeavor to provide every guest with an enjoyable experience every time they visit our parks. We will be examining and evaluating this incident in the interest of providing each and every one of our guests with the best experience possible."

Not the "screw her" response that the media is putting out there.

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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

Why would they issue an apology? Regardless of how any of us feel on this issue, the park operated in accordance with their policy.

The proper talking point is in the spirit of : "We regret any inconvenience that any of our guests experience. We always endeavor to provide every guest with an enjoyable experience every time they visit our parks. We will be examining and evaluating this incident in the interest of providing each and every one of our guests with the best experience possible."

Not the "screw her" response that the media is putting out there.

You're a guy with kids. What do you think a more fair policy would be?
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Slippery slope, apologizing. It means more than it says.

Theoretical step A]

  1. Park apologizes.

Theoretical step B]

  1. Public and recorded apology denotes guilt and wrong-doing;
  2. media-happy mother who has the emotional backing of the community sues;
  3. plaintiff cites child's suddenly-stunted growth as proof of hormonal imbalance issue set-off by the park's relentless and abusive search for profit;
  4. plaintiff reports that son can no longer visit the park with his peers; family psychologist reports that the child has since experienced stunted emotional growth and is not responding to social cues in an age-appropriate way; lasting damage suspected, possibly a side effect of social isolation thanks to Kings Island;
  5. plaintiff has lost sleep in this traumatic ordeal, leading to poor work performance and her eventual dismissal;
  6. plaintiff can't maintain steady employment and must stay at home to care for traumatized son who was emotionally unprepared to face the realities of adulthood, thrust upon him by Cedar Fair's arbitrary height cut-off;
  7. plaintiff claims she's been victimized by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company and was misled by the park's deceptively simple pass tiers into believing her child would be provided with admission for a full season - "Is that too much to ask?" she begs to reporters;
  8. plaintiff adds pain and suffering and lost wages to the respectable couple-hundred-thousand she feels she's owed.

In some alternate universe, this is already unfolding to various degrees.

GYK, who does not practice law in Ohio, Virginia, California, or any of the 50 states, nor in any parallel dimension he's aware of. There is no legal advice contained herein. In fact, I have no idea what half of that stuff means. I just watch a lot of Judge Judy. If you think you have a legal issue, consult with a competent attorney... or take your case to Judge Judy. "Real people, real cases, Judge Judy."

P.S. I obviously believe that the park ought to re-evaluate its policy. I haven't seen, heard, or read anything from the mother in question whatsoever and I don't expect that she's that kind of person. I'm just having fun. So local news, do NOT quote this post or use it in any way. It's full of nonsense. In terms of the actual problem here: How much financial loss are we really talking about if the park were to examine this and say, "The height when you purchase the ticket is what matters?" Meanwhile, the goodwill that'll be lost from this... worth it?

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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

Why would they issue an apology? Regardless of how any of us feel on this issue, the park operated in accordance with their policy.

The proper talking point is in the spirit of : "We regret any inconvenience that any of our guests experience. We always endeavor to provide every guest with an enjoyable experience every time they visit our parks. We will be examining and evaluating this incident in the interest of providing each and every one of our guests with the best experience possible."

Not the "screw her" response that the media is putting out there.

You're a guy with kids. What do you think a more fair policy would be?

Measure the child when the pass is processed and live with the results for a few months. Or offer a "family package" that is unrelated to height.

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I think this is a crazy policy! If said person meets the pass requirements for a kids pass, the time of purchase, then it should be valid for the whole year even if they go over the height requirement or age requirement for that matter. Let's say 500 kids get caught for this and need to pay the extra difference in the "upgrade" in pass (for a standard season pass), over the course of the 2014 season that would amount to: $13,000 in profit gain for the park... That could probably be easily spent in a day or two, for the park!

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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

Why would they issue an apology? Regardless of how any of us feel on this issue, the park operated in accordance with their policy.

The proper talking point is in the spirit of : "We regret any inconvenience that any of our guests experience. We always endeavor to provide every guest with an enjoyable experience every time they visit our parks. We will be examining and evaluating this incident in the interest of providing each and every one of our guests with the best experience possible."

Not the "screw her" response that the media is putting out there.

You're a guy with kids. What do you think a more fair policy would be?

Measure the child when the pass is processed and live with the results for a few months. Or offer a "family package" that is unrelated to height.
Yeah, I agree that the child should be measured at processing. Tough with online renewals, but as Terp said, they're saving a lot of money with the renewals that way.

I still wonder if this was their first visit of the season. If it was (and the article did not specify) then I see the park's point : the kid simply had the wrong pass. But if this was visit number 10 then the kid had clearly grown and it was in bad form to make them upgrade so late in the season.

I think this is a crazy policy! If said person meets the pass requirements for a kids pass, the time of purchase, then it should be valid for the whole year even if they go over the height requirement or age requirement for that matter. Let's say 500 kids get caught for this and need to pay the extra difference in the "upgrade" in pass (for a standard season pass), over the course of the 2014 season that would amount to: $13,000 in profit gain for the park... That could probably be easily spent in a day or two, for the park!

You see, we don't know if the child met the requirement for a Jr pass at the time of processing. For all we know this kid could have been too tall for a Jr pass all along and it was either a mistake or the mother was trying to take advantage of the system.
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What a mess! Apparently the people who thought up Fast Lane forgot that there would be a reduction in the value of general admission tickets and passes and that the market would respond accordingly. Now that, as the second quarter numbers show, Fast Lane has been proven to be the break-even move that the basic laws of economics always dictated that it would be, they are forced to gouge five-year-olds and issue public statements containing no apologies for doing so. What a sad state of affairs.

Why would they issue an apology? Regardless of how any of us feel on this issue, the park operated in accordance with their policy.

The proper talking point is in the spirit of : "We regret any inconvenience that any of our guests experience. We always endeavor to provide every guest with an enjoyable experience every time they visit our parks. We will be examining and evaluating this incident in the interest of providing each and every one of our guests with the best experience possible."

Not the "screw her" response that the media is putting out there.

You're a guy with kids. What do you think a more fair policy would be?

Measure the child when the pass is processed and live with the results for a few months. Or offer a "family package" that is unrelated to height.
Yeah, I agree that the child should be measured at processing. Tough with online renewals, but as Terp said, they're saving a lot of money with the renewals that way.

I still wonder if this was their first visit of the season. If it was (and the article did not specify) then I see the park's point : the kid simply had the wrong pass. But if this was visit number 10 then the kid had clearly grown and it was in bad form to make them upgrade so late in the season.

I think this is a crazy policy! If said person meets the pass requirements for a kids pass, the time of purchase, then it should be valid for the whole year even if they go over the height requirement or age requirement for that matter. Let's say 500 kids get caught for this and need to pay the extra difference in the "upgrade" in pass (for a standard season pass), over the course of the 2014 season that would amount to: $13,000 in profit gain for the park... That could probably be easily spent in a day or two, for the park!

we don't know if the child met the requirement for a Jr pass at the time of processing.

And, that, my friend, is a big part of why we are having this discussion! There is a big difference between a child who is 48 inches even on Labor Day and a child who is 52 inches tall trying to get in with a Jr. pass on Opening Day! Walt Disney is rolling over in his freezer at the thought of this discussion even taking place! :)

Mod edit: fixed quote

Edited by BoddaH1994
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Or not.

The fact a poster here had the exact same thing happen to them, was not amused, asked for relief, didn't get it, posted here, and was ignored (which appears here and elsewhere)?

The fact the park finds this annoying is not dispositive. Nor is the fact they were and are following their policy.

It isn't whether they are following their policy that is key here. The policy is annoying their guests. For every one that complains, there are dozens that didn't, but told their friends and neighbors and won't renew next year.

No matter how you slice it, this isn't good for the park. And it annoys the very demographic they are trying so hard to attract for now and years to come.

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

There comes a time when a corporation, to save face, just keeps right on doing the stupid thing. "We were right. We did no wrong. We aren't changing."

Is this one of those times?

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Guest dtk1376

Just my two cents on a possible better way to enforce the Jr/Adult passes. I think they should have it be that when they scan the JR pass for the first time of the season that it flags the person at admissions to have the JR measured to ensure they are not an adult. If the JR measures under 48 inches, they can go on their way and not be bothered the rest of the year, if they are above 48 inches, upgrade is necessary.

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Why, in August, would the park be worried with such things? I completely agree with The Interpreter on this one.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The news video shows that the family lives in Landon. I would bet all my nickles that the family has visited Kings Island more than once this season.

This story has actually been talked a lot about this morning where I work. The mothers with young children are now concerned that Kings Island will be measuring their children on each visit and if the child is at 48 inches, they will be sent to go pay more money to get in the park.

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I thought poster here got an upgrade for free? I may be mistaken

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In my case, the issue was going to be taken to guest services in hopes of a better explanation of the policy and a resolution. As we entered the park a supervisor (I assume) waived the fee for the day and told us we should expect to pay the upgrade on our next visit.
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I think the whole thing is just awful. This late in the season is plain price gouging to me. You're going to punish the kid for growing? That's not right. KI has been doing a lot of things lately that are making me reconsider a season pass next year. Fast Lane on Diamondback-I have been on DB only once this year due to the horrible capacity and I've only been to the park 3 times this season. And the Banshee lockers? I got on with my fanny pack for my first ride ever and it didn't affect my restraints any more than the seat belts on DB. I think it's just a money grab which totally irks me. And now this. I'm with some others on here, they have priced me right out of visiting and I can do other things than get aggravated on my day off from work.

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Maybe I'm just spoiled by Universal, but it seems to me that if you decide to make a locker mandatory, then make them free. I know the argument is "You could leave it with a non-rider" but c'mon. There isn't always a non-rider. The park knows we're captive and that if you want to ride Banshee, you have to leave carry-on items behind. I think that's fine, and fair, and a great choice! But then, make them free. Talk about a gesture of good will. Because as it is, making lockers mandatory doesn't come across as a rule put forth for safety and to keep the line moving quickly. To say, "You have to do this, and it just so happens we get money when you do, but I PROMISE that's not why we say you have to..." Conflict of interest there haha.

If suddenly guests didn't have to pay $5.00 for lockers throughout the day, they would probably say, "Oh! Well since I don't have to pay for lockers, I might as well get some ice cream." People are so used to getting gouged for the old crappy food the park used to have, and for lockers, and for parking, and for drinks that if the park slowly backed that down to a reasonable level, they'd find that more people would be willing to pay more.

I don't know anything about economics, but I even said years ago that if they charged half as much for a burger, three times as many people would buy them. Seems simple enough to me, and I know the profit would be there. *shrug* Same goes for lockers, but in a goodwill kind of way.

Tripping over dollars to pick up pennies.

+1.

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I believe many need to understand why the policy is in place: With the convienance of online purchases comes deceitfulness (or literal stealing) from those purchasing tickets/ passes.

If the policy is written, then it should not be a surprise. The policy(-ies) are available well before actual payment, if they are not read, shame on you.

Now, the park should pro-rate the increase based on when the over 48" happens & how much time the pass can be used- not charge the pass holder full price. Same goes for under 62- and allow a discount if the pass holder turns 62 during the year.

I'm not sure why so many want to jump on the bandwagon speaking negative of the park. They are in the business if making money. If they are not making money, then they are losing money. This situation is not the park losing a few hundred $$, but possibly thousands upon thousands.

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You call it short sighted when it actually covers the potential height issue long term and will not hurt the park long term. The only ones hurt are those who refuse to read the details.

Those details to any park are as important as letting members know why it is important to capitalize something because it is trademarked. ;)

My daughter has grown 3.5" since April. Should we bring all her Justice clothes & Nike sneakers/ soccer shoes back because she no longer fits into them? Yeah, we would get laughed at. Ironically we purchased her clothes a .5 size big in anticipation for growth.

The park has different pricing to make things easier for those with younger families. Take advantage of the pricing while you can. When a certain level is achieved, take advantage of the bigger rides.

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Working in retail, we broke policy all the time.....All in the name of good customer service.

Depending on the size and structure of the company, a policy may be that certain policies are flexible.

Now, do I expect all of Kings Island's employees to be given empowerment enough to make such decisions? No. That would be chaotic. Case-by-case isn't the way to handle this, either. But someone should be empowered enough to put an end to it and bring it to someone who can do something about it permanently. Unless that's already happened, and the permanent decision is that this is a policy worth fighting for, in which case c'est la vie. We'll see.

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