CF Tech Strikes Again

[The Interpreter]

Soon, the majority of Internet traffic will be delivered to mobile devices. It's bad enough you must have Flash to buy a ticket or season pass from FUN. Don't tell me about Accesso. The average customer couldn't care less--FUN is responsible for its contractors' performance in its name.

So, today I get an email from California's Great America. Like many, soon to be a majority, I'm on a mobile platform. They sent a Happy Holidays video.

That, on an iPhone, at least, defaults to their mobile website.

In 2013.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Really?

Pathetic.

[Tanna]

I love the "Can't see this? Click the link!" Which just takes you to the same webpage using the exact same graphic and tech they just sent you.

[Spectrum91]

It's a pain, reading posts on Twitter and seeing a link from Kings Island. When I click it, I'm first asked whether I want to download the app (even if I've already installed it before). Afterwards, I'm taken to the mobile site, which is different from what I clicked the link for.

At least they (appear to have) stopped using twitpic for their images. Not only did it take longer to load, but I was often met with an obnoxious advertisement I had to click out of in order to see the picture.

[The Interpreter]

Malem has posted the video in the random video thread under Kings Island.

I wish I'd never seen this thing. I cannot believe a Cedar Fair park posted that video. Safety as a cornerstone. Yeah. Sad.

[The Interpreter]

There is now also a link to the Happy Holidays video on California Great America's mobile website.

[malem]

It's good to see that they're keeping the mobile site updated, but maintaining two different sites is much less than ideal in 2013. Most noticeably, links to content malfunction when viewed on the "wrong" type of device, undercutting a key benefit of the web. A properly built website should be able to function on any standards-compliant browser, whether it's running on a desktop computer, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a smart TV.

I understand FUN's reason for maintaining two sites; using Accesso's turnkey solution saves having to contract with another vendor and/or obtain talent outside of their core business. Building a mobile-ready website requires more specialized skills than creating a desktop-only website, as techniques for the former are a much more recent evolution. Of course, customers aren't interested in these types of excuses when they encounter a broken link.

[The Interpreter]

Some lessons for Cedar Fair, Six Flags and Accesso in here somewhere:

http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2014/01/marketing-in-2014.html?m=1

[malem]

Cedar Fair parks' desktop websites are finally, at the end of 2014, using a version of the Accesso store that does not require Flash.

[The Interpreter]

And the mobile versions?

Terp, who likes to ask questions.

[malem]

The mobile stores have never required Flash, as substantially all mobile devices lack it. Flash is on a path to deprecation even on desktop browsers.

The mobile websites themselves, outsourced to Accesso, still leave a lot to be desired.

[The Interpreter]

Uh, the mobile store did not work without Flash...

[malem]

^ Then it didn't work at all.

iOS devices have never had Flash available. Flash has not been available to install on Android devices since 2012.

The Accesso mobile ticket store has not required Flash, at least since it launched on Cedar Fair websites.

[The Interpreter]

And it didnt work on iOS.

[RollerNut]

Umm, aint that a flash thing on the mobile verison of KIC's homepage?

If so it never worked on my android and KIC is even worse on my iPhone. For some reason iOS doesnt fit KIC to screen like my android does. It appears to have something to do with the advertisement.

I rarely turn my desktop on anymore....

To hell with mobile websites!

[Hendrick]

I got all the way to enter credit card info on my iPhone.

As for KIC's homepage, you're exactly right. The ad is too wide which causes all of the content to be way too small. It's a very annoying bug I that I wish would be fixed.

[The Interpreter]

That's because they also fixed the mobile.

Now.

Six weeks ago, it wasn't.

2014.

Wow.

[malem]

For what it's worth, the mobile store worked for me last season in Firefox on Android (without Flash). I can't say anything about its functionality on any particular iOS device, as I don't own any of those.

If the mobile ticket store was broken on all iOS devices, I'd like to think that Accesso's QA department (and any Cedar Fair park manager with an iPhone, for that matter) would have noticed.

[The Interpreter]

They knew.

They each got at least one verified complaint at the highest levels, expressed about every ten weeks.

[malem]

Many factors can cause a poorly designed website to fail for certain subsets of users.

The configuration of your iPhone might vary from popular settings. At a minimum, your list of trusted SSL roots is almost certainly different than Apple's default list.

[jcgoble3]

The Accesso store may not use Flash anymore, but when I opened it, I did get a message from Firefox asking if I wanted to allow it to run Silverlight. I don't know what that was about, but from the little poking around I did, it seems to work fine without allowing Silverlight.

[Oldiesmann]

The mobile store certainly looks much more modern than in previous years. The mobile site however leaves a lot to be desired. It's really sad that Holiday World's website uses modern design techniques that allows it to work fine on devices of all sizes, both desktop and mobile, without the need for a separate mobile site. A small park with a much smaller IT budget. Pathetic. Hopefully things will change for CF in the coming months.