I don't know what that employee does, but that statement is simply untrue. In fact, our contact at the park acknowledged the issue and said it is being addressed.
Christmas Town
- Thread starter Thomas
- Start date
I had a quick question because I have only been to Christmas town once and the park was packed to capacity, but which if I could pick a day of the week would be the best to go? I was planning on trying next weekend but wanted some input on when I should plan.
Looking at the discounted ticket calendar I'd guess that Sunday is still the best day next weekend.
I went Sunday and entered through the employee entrance. We had no problems getting in around 3 and the lot was barely a third full. When we left around 8 there were still not many more cars in the England lot. Either Sunday was that dead or they were saving that lot for preferred.
Also Sunday was showing it as a $30 something dollar day, but was not very crowded. I was surprised.
Also Sunday was showing it as a $30 something dollar day, but was not very crowded. I was surprised.
So the park seems to have addressed the employee/platinum pass gate issue. Security has been moved further into the employee lot to a different gate which is accessed via the right turn before the main gate. The old employee entrance is now manned by regular parking staff. Everything is nice and labeled and should do a better job of separating out pass holders from employees as well as not relying on security to handle guest parking needs.
This news is fantastic!
If anyone is going tonight, can you report back on how well the new system works?
If anyone is going tonight, can you report back on how well the new system works?
I hope so. But, we never had issues with a guard. The one that turned us away at the employee gate was a younger "parking dressed" guy. Not one of the normal uniformed guards.
MAZ said:
This is a fair statement. It was a headache for BEC employees when they moved to the new entrance because there wasn't the two lane design like now and it stayed a source of contention for quite some time even with employees questioning why it was allowed. I'm extremely surprised it's lasted as long as it has even though the BEC sale.
The funny part on this was at the old entrance was there was no extra entrance for guests/drop-off/buses/employees on most days. The construction entrance was only used during certain parts of the summer and there was no allowed guests to cut through around the mass of people sitting on Rt 60. Think 64 is a parking lot now, should have seen it when the old entrance was in operations and 60 really became a parking lot.
I almost feel as if the more complaints that are made on a perk that's not technically an advertised part of the AP the more closely the park will start scrutinizing it. Maybe just me.
The train appears to be running I haven't seen it but I saw the gates cycling as if it was inbound in Scotland so I assume it is.
Update it is running in route on it now to new France.
Update it is running in route on it now to new France.
acrossdapark said:
Not necessarily. If they get a lot of complaints, they would know that it is a perk people really care about.
And, it would be foolish to take away a perk people care about that costs the park practically nothing in both actual cost and unrealized revenue.
I think it's a perk for the park, as well as the guest. On the park side, it keeps the platinum pass holders away from the main gate, allowing their employees to deal with paying customers. There's really no sense for us to be taking up space at the main gate, waiting in line for lord knows how long, only for someone to point us to a lot we would've been in about 20 minutes ago. On the pass holder side, we're just lucky to avoid the wait at the main gate. That in itself is the actual perk.
PrincessArlenasDad said:
People only care because they can skip the lines. I hate to play devils advocate but you already get preferred parking for free, this isn't about the spot this is about caring that you get to skip the main parking line and go straight to England parking.
Trust me I use the same as everyone else does and I'm just as guilty. But at the end of the day it's not about you getting a preferred parking spot, it's about skipping the main parking line.
And yes if they do get too many complaints from people of something not technically allowed and it becomes a hassle for them and they begin to spend a disproportionate amount of time to manage it then yes in reality they just like any other company would begin to shift resources to maintain control on the situation at hand and/or remove it all together.
How do you know what is in the mind of others. I hate to be disagreeable, but I usually arrive in such a time that a parking line is not an issue. I like the back entrance because I like to park in England, and that does not always happen when you go in the front.
The way I see it, platinum benefits have been slowly devalued over the past few years as the park gives them to other levels, and sometimes are removed in general. I disagree with the notion that this is not an official platinum perk. While certainly not advertised, clearly the ability to go through the rear entrance is official since the park has communicated it to the staff. Removing this ability would be just another devaluation of the platinum pass.
The way I see it, platinum benefits have been slowly devalued over the past few years as the park gives them to other levels, and sometimes are removed in general. I disagree with the notion that this is not an official platinum perk. While certainly not advertised, clearly the ability to go through the rear entrance is official since the park has communicated it to the staff. Removing this ability would be just another devaluation of the platinum pass.
While I understand the fear that complaining will just make the park decide to close down the entrance to us altogether; and while we cannot predict the future; I would argue that based on what we have seen over the past week, we are not likely to lose that privilege.
They have already taken steps to formalize our ability to enter through the employee gate, at lest for CT. I can't say what that will mean for next year, but historically, people have had more problems using the back gate during that event than during the regular season.
Honestly, it makes sense for them to continue to provide Platinum Pass members that perk. It clearly is something that matters a lot to us (enough to motivate a barrage of complaints in a single day), and it doesn't seem to be tremendously expensive for the park.
They have already taken steps to formalize our ability to enter through the employee gate, at lest for CT. I can't say what that will mean for next year, but historically, people have had more problems using the back gate during that event than during the regular season.
Honestly, it makes sense for them to continue to provide Platinum Pass members that perk. It clearly is something that matters a lot to us (enough to motivate a barrage of complaints in a single day), and it doesn't seem to be tremendously expensive for the park.
Zimmy said:
I know because in my first paragraph I said the same thing about skipping the line and going straight to England parking. I learned a lot working for BEC over many years before moving onto a different career.
While it may be communicated to staff it's still not an official perk. The officially stated parking perk is guaranteed Preferred parking prior to noon etc. but we all know what it is so I'm not going to quote it directly. Anything outside of that is merely the park and it's management continuing a "gentleman agreement" I guess would be the best way to phrase it that's been in place back since the entrance was moved to it's current location and the PAP was introduced along with old park management allowing it to happen. Therefore since it's an "un-official" perk it can be rescinded/modified at anytime.
Nicole said:
That's agreeable and I for one doubt we would lose such a privilege either unless something of consequence were to happen or some abuse of the privilege were to occur.
Just was more or less pointing out where I stood and having been a BEC for years and fighting the old entrance and then the changes with allowing pass holders sitting in the employee line before more changes were made to the old entrance.
And true over the years it's been debatable as to who was at the gate if and when you could use it. Personally seen days with 1/3 England parking lot full and been turned away and yet during Saturdays at HOS told to go on through on occasion.
Interesting debate that still lingers many years later even after the moving of the entrance.
Went to the park this past Sunday and ran the Christmas Town Dash and both were great experiences.
8k - Great event as usual. The race sold out on 12/1 so the field was packed but they did a great job with the corrals. Only complaint is with the walkers of the race. If you're a walker, DO NOT, DO NOT, go to the front of the corral. Someone will get injured. BG did a great job keeping the course clean and dry and I'll run it again next year.
Christmastown - Got there at 2pm and parking wasn't an issue but I will say I was kind of confused why they started moving us to a further lot as the France lot still had a LOT of spaces open and England was half full.
The crowd was reasonable, about 15,000, but there was a lot more people actually buying gifts than last year. We were able to get in almost all the shows, no Miracles, and Fireside Feast, my son loved it and we only waited about 20 minutes for Rudolph at about 830PM. I think that was a great addition by the park and I hope they keep it for a while. it should a solid money maker as they sold a lot of pictures. By the end of the night it was light at the park but the light rain had people leaving.
Overall I give my experience a 100% improvement over last year, made Christmastown enjoyable again.
8k - Great event as usual. The race sold out on 12/1 so the field was packed but they did a great job with the corrals. Only complaint is with the walkers of the race. If you're a walker, DO NOT, DO NOT, go to the front of the corral. Someone will get injured. BG did a great job keeping the course clean and dry and I'll run it again next year.
Christmastown - Got there at 2pm and parking wasn't an issue but I will say I was kind of confused why they started moving us to a further lot as the France lot still had a LOT of spaces open and England was half full.
The crowd was reasonable, about 15,000, but there was a lot more people actually buying gifts than last year. We were able to get in almost all the shows, no Miracles, and Fireside Feast, my son loved it and we only waited about 20 minutes for Rudolph at about 830PM. I think that was a great addition by the park and I hope they keep it for a while. it should a solid money maker as they sold a lot of pictures. By the end of the night it was light at the park but the light rain had people leaving.
Overall I give my experience a 100% improvement over last year, made Christmastown enjoyable again.