Alex's Antics

The essay below was writting for my leadership class during my fall 2024 semester. The information contained within the essay may no longer be accurate, however I have cited my sources for the time it was written. My overall thoughts on standardization have remained, ans such I will leave this essay up for anyone to read.

How Standardization of Ride Operations Would Increase Productivity

Standardization is a key change needed in all fields. Every big firm or company needs it to function properly. The amusement industry is changing rapidly at this point in time, with the Cedar Fair and Six Flags companies merging to form Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in July 2024, it has rocked the North American sector of the industry. With one company managing 51 different properties, in 3 different countries, and with potential future expansion on the horizon, it truly is a powerhouse on a scale never before seen in North America. This sheer size, however, does have some drawbacks that come with corporate mergers.

Standardization allows for the best use of resources, optimal time management, and easy integration of processes that happen throughout a company. Neomind, a reference for technological solutions in information management, talks a lot about standardization. They discuss 5 main reasons to standardize, Proper resource utilization, consistency and transparency, increased productivity, reducing errors, failures and rework, and facilitated training. While Six Flags might not have reasons to standardize in all categories, the company, as well as the industry as a whole, can standardize and improve themselves in many key ways.

While the Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has 27 amusement parks, and 15 water parks, the current season pass system is clunky and can be confusing for park guests. While the legacy Cedar Fair parks had largely the same system at each park, with the Silver Pass working at the amusement park through labor day with parking, the Gold Pass, working at both the amusement park and the water park through the end of the season with parking, and the Prestige Pass, which is the same as the Gold Pass but has better perks, this system seems easy on the outside. The All-Park Passport add-on, however, makes it confusing for the average park goer to understand. The wording and functionality isn’t immediately clear to the average park guest, and given the Prestige Pass used to work at all parks in the Cedar Fair chain in the past, this system can be confusing.

Legacy Six Flags, however, is a different ball game. Over the last few years, the pass system in the Six Flags Chain changed a lot. Between 2019-2024, the system would change a total of 4 times, which was very confusing for everyone involved. In fact, Six Flags would change the passes 3 times in one season, something that would be very confusing for many people, even employees who work within the company.

Thankfully, as of right now, the passes between the two chains are slowly becoming standardized. Legacy Six Flags parks Have 2 pass tiers currently, Gold, and Prestige Passes, however the price for these passes are not consistent between the parks, unless you add the All-Park Passport addon, which, for the gold pass, standardizes the pass prices to $185. Legacy Cedar Fair parks currently have 3 pass tiers, Silver, Gold, and Prestige Passes. Again, the price for these passes are not consistent between the parks, unless, again, you add the All-Park Passport add-on, which, for the gold pass, standardizes the pass prices to $185.

Season pass add-ons between the two legacy chains don’t work yet, and this can cause confusion for park goers. As of right now, the Dining, Drink, Photo, All season locker, and all season skip-the-queue are all chain specific, meaning if you bought your pass add-ons at a legacy Cedar Fair park, it would only work at the 11 legacy Cedar Fair parks. Guests who might be under the impression things like their photo plans or dining plans would work at all 42 parks in the chain, might get angry learning the add-ons only work at the legacy parks in the half of the chain they bought the add-on in. Currently, the only add-on that works at all 42 parks is the All-Park passport.

These season pass changes discussed here can be put into the category of standardization to increase consistency and transparency. As Neomind explains it, standardizing processes allows for the delivery of the product to be consistent, with no significant variations. While having standardized pass tiers and perks is a good idea, some regions or parks might not need to have as expensive passes, so allowing for variability in the pricing structure is a tolerable variation. Standardization of the pass structure allows for efficient and clear communication, which would allow for guests to make better choices in their purchases without the frustration of making a wrong purchase, because the guest assumed a perk or deal was one thing while it was a different thing.

There are many different ways to operate amusement rides. Each ride is different, and different parks have different rules for their staff on how they should operate rides. However, in recent years calls for standardization of the operations are increasing. International Ride Training, a 3rd party certification of ride operator safety, efficiency, and professionalism, has introduced iROC, a standardization for ride operator certification. Currently, few big parks use it, however one key component of the industry did, Cedar Fair. Cedar Fair has been using iROC for several years, and has heard from its employees on how it benefits them to have a standard to rely on between the many different rides they may operate.

The industry does suffer from a problem where operators face a lot of stress from the many different rides they operate, and it causes burnout. This burnout causes higher turnover rates. However, having this sense of standardization helps operators have tools and support necessary to not only operate the rides, but for the safety audits from management and IRT auditors to keep the rides and guests safe. Afterall, the idea of iROC came from the observation that lifeguard certification exists, why not the people who operate our amusement rides.

With the new Six Flags company standardizing the operating procedures, other chains should look into doing something similar. Seaworld Parks, and Merlin entertainment (who operate the Legoland parks) both operate a decent number of parks in North America, but they don’t have a good standard for ride operations. They should strongly consider standardizing with iROC, as not only would it boost safety, but it would allow for easier hiring and training standards.

This kind of standardization would be in the category of reducing errors, failures, and reworks. Working on a process that can be easily taught to new people, helps reduce workplace errors and failures in structure. Having these set rules, and detailed documents, the steps to operate the rides and attractions are clear and concise. There is little room for safety critical issues to be missed, when everyone at every ride is trained the same exact way.

The guest experience is critical for a good amusement park. Every guest is unique, and each guest may need special accommodations to fully enjoy the park and its offerings. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, parks are required to make reasonable accommodations to accommodate guests with disabilities in their park properties. Parks across the United States have different systems to accommodate park guests and their disabilities. Some parks, like Walt Disney World before the 2024 changes, were incredibly accommodating, to a point where nearly any person could attend without issues.

Before the changes made in 2024, the Disability Access Pass, also called the DAS pass, was far more accommodating to guests with a variety of disabilities. However, due to the number of people who needed the DAS pass exceeding the projected number of guests who needed the DAS pass, Walt Disney World, and Disneyland Resort, made changes to the pass system. Before the May 2024 changes, the DAS pass, according to disney, was intended to assist guests who “have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability.” The May 2024 rework now specifies that the DAS pass is intended for guests with, “a developmental disability such as autism or a similar disorder, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.”

These changes made at Disney are seen by many as a step backwards for accessibility, as there are other disabilities that would make it harder for guests to stand in a conventional queue. Other parks across North America have been working on keeping their parks accessible for as many people as they can. Parks like Hersheypark have generous accommodations for their disabled guests, simply giving a free unlimited skip-the-line for the day. Other parks like legacy Cedar Fair parks have a different system.

Legacy Cedar Fair parks had a consistent system that was, in terms of the actual usage, consistent across the chain. The way you would obtain the pass, however, was different. The legacy Cedar Fair parks had a system where you would go to guest services, and after discussing with the park officials, you would be given either a green paper or white paper. The white paper allowed you to have 3 other people go through the ADA line with you, while the green only allowed you to go through the ADA line. This paper is to be signed by the ride staff on the ride platform and dated with a time. This time is the next time you can board a ride, and is based on the current queue for the ride. For example, if you boarded the ride at noon and it had a 75 minute wait, you would be able to use the pass again at 1:15pm. The color of the paper mattered as well. Green allowed you to bring 3 people with you on the ride, while white meant you could meet your group on the load platform.

Legacy Six Flags used a similar paper system, but different requirements to get it. In order to qualify for ADA at legacy six flags you had to apply for the IBCESS pass. The IBCCES, or International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards, is a standardized accessibility card that many parks and attractions use around the world. Legacy Six Flags and Universal Parks are famous for using it. It requires proof of disability, from either government, school, or doctor.

Once in the park, you go to guest services and show them your digital IBCESS card and they enter it into their system then give you a sheet similar to legacy Cedar Fair. The only major difference is the return time when used wasn’t based on line ride when you got there, it was based on the average of the major rides in the park when you got the pass. In terms of using it, you walk up the designated entrance and they board you within a train or two and sign your paper like Cedar Fair. The only difference was they signed it after you ride at Six Flags and Cedar Fair signed it before you rode. This would make it around a 10 minute difference usually by the time you board, ride, and get off.

This kind of standardization would be a healthy mix of proper resource utilization, and consistency and transparency. The IBCESS system used by legacy Six Flags is a very solid system with little flaws in its system. The fact you would only need to go through the process once every year to get the information taken care of saves a lot of headache for many park guests. If more players in the industry would adopt such systems, including the new Six Flags company, it would be the largest and best form of standardization that the industry as a whole could benefit from. By properly allocating the resources to make the guest experience smoother, and having it be consistent across the industry, parks could see an increase of park attendance with such changes.

Standardization would only save money, time, and frustrations, for both the consumer, and the parks. The industry has a shockingly high number of unstandardized practices, and would greatly benefit from the large standardization of their operations. Having such standardized practices, the workplace would see an improved operation sequence, and increased consumer satisfaction. The effects of standardization can also be felt at the corporate level, as more employees would be able to be reallocated throughout different departments and locations more effectively.

Thoughts on Standardization

How Standardization of Ride Operations Would Increase Productivity

References