Sam
TS Member
Screamscape brings us this wonderful news, from the frontline of the revolution against the petite bourgeoisie enemy that is Fastrack.
Seize the means of throughput production!
It thrills me to see that the public, even if it is in Belgium, feel so strongly about this. We seem to accept it in the UK, even celebrate it, despite it being grossly unfair. The worst thing about it in the UK is that parks don't even attempt to hide the fact that it's simply paid queuejumping. They don't even bother attempting to pretend that it increases capacity or overall guest experience.
Of course, it'd be great to see public pressure force Walibi into a U-turn, but even better if the government (presumably the Belgian equivalent of Trading Standards) stepped in. To see the practice outlawed would be a dream come true.
Obviously, I'm not against businesses offering different standards of service for different prices. What I am against is offering one standard of service at one price, and that actually (and in a very measurable way), reducing the quality of service for those who have paid less.
People staying in a penthouse suite at a hotel doesn't worsen the quality of the other rooms. If someone orders an expensive meal at a restaurant, it doesn't make other people's meals taste worse. If you send something first class in the post, it doesn't slow down all the second class post. We would be outraged if any of the above examples were true. So why do we accept it in our theme parks?
Edit: Didn't see Al's post in 'Farce-track' until a few seconds ago but I think this wonderful news deserves its own topic anyhow!
Seize the means of throughput production!
Screamscape said:Park News - (6/13/13) Interesting news is coming in from Europe this week, as Walibi Belgium was hit by an unexpected wave of negative press about the launch of a upcharge fast pass style system called ‘Speedy Pass’ this year. While this kind of thing has unfortunately become all too commonplace in America as well as many other parks in Europe, this is the first queue-cutting system to open in Belgium.
Several news articles have come out calling it an unfair system, with guest’s comments about how it is sending the wrong message to their children. Instead of teaching children that whoever was in line first gets served first, the parents are angry that Speed Pass is instead sending the message that you can buy anything with money, in addition to creating a tiered park experience where ‘normal’ guests will have to wait longer than before as the wealthy skip to the front.
Apparently the criticism has hit home, as I’m told other Belgian attractions have also commented that they have no plans to put such a system into place ever and would rather add more attractions to address capacity issues rather than Speedy Pass tickets. One news article goes so far to call the system discriminatory as well as antisocial.
I’ve got to admit, I’m actually happy to see that somewhere in the world basic citizens can see these systems for what they really are. And while the Disney “FastPass” system is free for all guests at their parks, I’ve gone on record for saying that I think it was the single worst invention to hit the theme park industry back in 1999 that has since been corrupted into the current pay to play systems that have spread world-wide. I’m just reading the rough online translations, but it also sounds like the government has been asked to get involved, which could create an interesting result in Belgium.
It thrills me to see that the public, even if it is in Belgium, feel so strongly about this. We seem to accept it in the UK, even celebrate it, despite it being grossly unfair. The worst thing about it in the UK is that parks don't even attempt to hide the fact that it's simply paid queuejumping. They don't even bother attempting to pretend that it increases capacity or overall guest experience.
Of course, it'd be great to see public pressure force Walibi into a U-turn, but even better if the government (presumably the Belgian equivalent of Trading Standards) stepped in. To see the practice outlawed would be a dream come true.
Obviously, I'm not against businesses offering different standards of service for different prices. What I am against is offering one standard of service at one price, and that actually (and in a very measurable way), reducing the quality of service for those who have paid less.
People staying in a penthouse suite at a hotel doesn't worsen the quality of the other rooms. If someone orders an expensive meal at a restaurant, it doesn't make other people's meals taste worse. If you send something first class in the post, it doesn't slow down all the second class post. We would be outraged if any of the above examples were true. So why do we accept it in our theme parks?
Edit: Didn't see Al's post in 'Farce-track' until a few seconds ago but I think this wonderful news deserves its own topic anyhow!