Hixee said:
I've never encountered the early shutting thing though Joey, what so they'd just shut the queue lines early if the park wasn't that busy? That's pretty unacceptable to me! The rides should be open till the advertised time of them shutting, not decided on a day-to-day basis.
I've seen a couple of parks do it and heard of many more.
Blackpool are terrible for it. If the turnout isn't good, if the park empties out in the afternoon or if it's raining, they just shut the park early. Or they certainly used to.
I witnessed Six Flags Great Adventure do it. To give them credit, they did warn us at the car park entrance that the park "might close at 6 due to bad weather." That would have been fine, except the weather cleared up by the afternoon. You could tell they'd already made the decision, knowing that bad weather in the morning would reduce numbers. The closing really had nothing to do with the rain at all. So when you tell someone "the park might close at 6 due to bad weather" and the weather then clears up, one would assume it'll stay open to the previously advertised 8. The real reason for the closing is gate figure.
On top of that, Six Flags are notorious for closing queue lines whenever they feel like it. Whilst most parks operate the "lines close at park closing time" so there is a definite, unarguable and tangible time that all guests are informed of, Six Flags just don't care. It means that many rides are not only closed, but clear of all guests with staff on their way home, before the park closes. If you argue with them, they just say "the park closes at 6, not the rides..." and if you ask "so when do the rides close" they say "depends on the queue". I'm surprised they get away with it, I really do. The amount of complaints must surely be overwhelming, considering that EVERY other major park plays the closing queue line game fairly?
I've heard that Cedar Fair do it occasionally, but never actually witnessed it. In fact, I have a very good opinion of every Cedar Fair park minus Cedar Point when it comes to fairness. I've witnessed Kings Dominion, due to close at 10, have a storm roll through at 9... And then with only a half hour to spare, reopen the rides for the remaining 30 mins. THAT is impressive. To the point of being unnecessary, I'd even say.
Cedar Point on the other hand see a grey cloud at and fear the apocalypse, giving up all hope. And so help you if they feel a spec of rain!
I've never seen or heard of Merlin parks closing early for undue reasons. Chessington in particular is amazing with their customer service in this department, often opening later than advertised when the park is crowded or a major ride has been down for a while that day.
