I was pleasantly surprised to find that Disney offers free lockers at the Kali River Attraction. You got 2 hours of free lockers rental. They are very similar to the new BGW style lockers so I was familiar with the process. With all of the extra fees that Disney has been adding recently, it was nice to find this freebie while visiting over spring break. Seems like something other parks could easily implement if they wanted since they appear to be using the same style of lockers.
Locker Policies
- Thread starter jpcommons
- Start date
I have renamed and moved this thread to the Industry Discussion board.
There seem to be a lot of cross-chain comparisons on this topic, so it made sense to have a single thread to discuss all of the systems.
There seem to be a lot of cross-chain comparisons on this topic, so it made sense to have a single thread to discuss all of the systems.
jpcommons said:
Lockers located near rides aren't common at the WDW parks because all of the attractions except Kali River Rapids allow you to carry your bag/backpacks with you. So they won't charge locker use for one ride on the entire property.
The WDW resort does have paid lockers you can use that are usually located near the entrance of each park.
And as Nicole said, the Universal Orlando parks have them too. However the time limit depends on the actual standby time. So if you wanna ride Forbidden Journey at IOA and the standby wait is 2 hours, your time limit will include that entire wait time plus another cushion of 10-15 minutes to retrieve your belongings after your ride ends.
I was pleasantly surprised by Universal's freeby policy as well, though I thouht it was a bot odd that your pass was used to unlock the locker, as I wanted to leave all of my stuff in it if they're going to make me use it. Since we had to use full sized pieces of paper for each pass, carrying around 4 of them was not the least bulky thing I carried around. I'm not sure what the alternative is, but if I'm going to put stuff in a locker, I want to put ALL my stuff in a locker.
[split] 2018 Park Changes and Projects
Eh. Disney doesn't have coasters or water rides that completely soak you like BGW (or really any theme park) has. Also the no charge for 2 hours....that's because that's how long it takes to get through the queue.
Six Flags costs:
Cedar Point costs:
Dollywood costs:
Universal costs:
Six Flags, Cedar Point, Dollywood, and Universal do not offer moving lockers as far as I'm aware. So $6 to jump around locker rental is a deal, even if WDW does charge or have them for most rides. (FWIW part of the season WDW doesn't have them is aesthetics)
jpcommons said:
Eh. Disney doesn't have coasters or water rides that completely soak you like BGW (or really any theme park) has. Also the no charge for 2 hours....that's because that's how long it takes to get through the queue.
Six Flags costs:
Cedar Point costs:
Dollywood costs:
Universal costs:
Six Flags, Cedar Point, Dollywood, and Universal do not offer moving lockers as far as I'm aware. So $6 to jump around locker rental is a deal, even if WDW does charge or have them for most rides. (FWIW part of the season WDW doesn't have them is aesthetics)
[split] 2018 Park Changes and Projects
One possibility of why offering lockers for free isn't an option for BGW is that they lack the lockers and space to accommodate the increased demand. If lockers were free, a lot more people would likely use lockers to store trivial items that they otherwise carry with them (phones, keys, glasses). Unlike Disney and Universal, which offer enormous locker facilities with hundreds of lockers for each attraction, most locker facilities at BGW are squeezed into tiny shelters and repurposed structures. I don't think BGW has the supply to meet the demand that would come with free lockers.
One possibility of why offering lockers for free isn't an option for BGW is that they lack the lockers and space to accommodate the increased demand. If lockers were free, a lot more people would likely use lockers to store trivial items that they otherwise carry with them (phones, keys, glasses). Unlike Disney and Universal, which offer enormous locker facilities with hundreds of lockers for each attraction, most locker facilities at BGW are squeezed into tiny shelters and repurposed structures. I don't think BGW has the supply to meet the demand that would come with free lockers.
warfelg said:
THIS! Disney rides don't have a habit of throwing loose articles at high speeds or soaking your electronics until they die. Loose articles are not a concern on those slow type rides.
If you noticed, BG allows bags on most flat rides just not coasters, water rides, and BfE all because of the safety concerns of a loose article getting thrown off at high speeds or it getting water damaged on the ride.
Universal’s lockers are free for the first two hours, as well. Those rides will get you very wet and/or pose a real risk of flying objects.
Additionally, you can get wet on a few of Disney’s rides.
Additionally, you can get wet on a few of Disney’s rides.
it Just seems like a cash grab to me. They don’t allow loose articles of any kind and then have lockers next to the ride that charge to store the items that they don’t allow on. Again, $6 is not bad. And I actually had no issues with that until I went to Disney and got a free locker for the one ride I did not want to get items wet. A free locker with a 2 hour limit at BGW would probably be enough to deter people from taking lockers for all day use. As it is now, even with the moveable locker deal, I believe you can’t stay in one locker more than 2 hours or they charge you more. But I may not be remembering correctly.
To me, the most annoying thing about all of these lockers is when you get behind a large line because the people have no idea how to use the locker system. It can addd an additional 15 minutes to the ride just because of the locker selection process. This was true at Disney as well.
Disney does have some more intense rides. Disney even allows items on their roller coasters. Even the one that goes upside down. Maybe Disney allows you to take stuff on their rides because they are tamer and also don’t usually go over the general public that could get hurt by randomly falling objects. And yes, I am aware that I paid a ton more for my Disney annual pass and vacation this past spring break. And when I was done, I felt that vacation may have been my best theme park vacation ever.
Keep in mind, I would like to have spent that money locally. And I did for many years. I finally got tired of feeling like each time I went to BGW there was less to enjoy.
To me, the most annoying thing about all of these lockers is when you get behind a large line because the people have no idea how to use the locker system. It can addd an additional 15 minutes to the ride just because of the locker selection process. This was true at Disney as well.
Disney does have some more intense rides. Disney even allows items on their roller coasters. Even the one that goes upside down. Maybe Disney allows you to take stuff on their rides because they are tamer and also don’t usually go over the general public that could get hurt by randomly falling objects. And yes, I am aware that I paid a ton more for my Disney annual pass and vacation this past spring break. And when I was done, I felt that vacation may have been my best theme park vacation ever.
Keep in mind, I would like to have spent that money locally. And I did for many years. I finally got tired of feeling like each time I went to BGW there was less to enjoy.
Nicole said:
Universal's policy is you get free locker use depending on the actual wait time and ride duration. If you wanna ride Escape from Gringotts and the posted wait time is 180 minutes, you get that free with an additional 10-15 minute cushion to retrieve your belongings after your ride ends. If it's a 30 minute wait, you'll get about 45 minutes to get your stuff. If you go over the allotted time, you get charged $3.00 for every 30 minutes you leave your stuff in the locker with a maximum $20 daily fee.
As far as IOA's water rides go, they do not require you to leave your belongings in a locker. However, they do have pay lockers at the entrance of Ripsaw Falls, Popeye & Bluto and Jurassic Park. The prepay cost is $4.00 for the wait time and ride duration plus $3.00 for every 30 minutes after your allotted time ends.
Universal Studios seems to have changed their policies, since I was here last. We were still able to get a free locker at Hulk, but it was half-sized. The full-size locker was an upcharge. Similarly, we had to pay $5 for a full locker at Dudley Do-Right. All of the lockers at Jurrasic River Adventure were $4.
I know I have never actually paid for a normal locker at IoA before.
I know I have never actually paid for a normal locker at IoA before.
I was pointing out that their pricing structure has changed for roller coasters and the prices for water rides seem to be driven by the relative threat to your possessions. I have no idea if the latter is new, since I usually go to Uni in the winter, and therefore, rarely ride the wet attractions.
I will add an update, while not all of the lockers has been halved, the ones I used at Uni — Mummy and Gringotts — were, as well.
I probably wasn’t clear enough. My general observation was that Uni, to which I used to give credit for not charging me to use a mandatory locker, seems to moving to the profiteering model we see elsewhere in the industry.
I could only just barely fit my ParkPurse into the free locker, because it was so short. In fact, I had to squish it so much that my hand sanitizer squeezed out into the wet stuff ziplock I keep it in. I didn’t test it, but since you use your park ticket to open and close the mini-lockers, I’m not sure if I could have gotten a second one for myself. Luckily the two of us could fit all of our stuff into two, but if I had bought anything big in Hogsmead or Diagon Ally (a standard occurrence for me), we would have had to pay for a full-sized locker.
I’m sure sure Uni has the data, but they seem to have created a disincentive for me to shop in their parks. I will never stay more than one night at their resorts, since I only care about the ExpressPass and early entry (I can’t imagine needing more than two days of either). So, I can’t really send my purchases to my room. Further, the merch I generally want isn’t available in the big Universal stores. So, I guess I now have to choose between paying for a locker or buying things.
I will add an update, while not all of the lockers has been halved, the ones I used at Uni — Mummy and Gringotts — were, as well.
I probably wasn’t clear enough. My general observation was that Uni, to which I used to give credit for not charging me to use a mandatory locker, seems to moving to the profiteering model we see elsewhere in the industry.
I could only just barely fit my ParkPurse into the free locker, because it was so short. In fact, I had to squish it so much that my hand sanitizer squeezed out into the wet stuff ziplock I keep it in. I didn’t test it, but since you use your park ticket to open and close the mini-lockers, I’m not sure if I could have gotten a second one for myself. Luckily the two of us could fit all of our stuff into two, but if I had bought anything big in Hogsmead or Diagon Ally (a standard occurrence for me), we would have had to pay for a full-sized locker.
I’m sure sure Uni has the data, but they seem to have created a disincentive for me to shop in their parks. I will never stay more than one night at their resorts, since I only care about the ExpressPass and early entry (I can’t imagine needing more than two days of either). So, I can’t really send my purchases to my room. Further, the merch I generally want isn’t available in the big Universal stores. So, I guess I now have to choose between paying for a locker or buying things.
I was going to point out the send back to the room until I saw that in your post @Nicole. I tend to stay multiple nights when I do UO, and if I decide to tie my card to my pass, I leave the hotel room with only my key, pass, and phone. I can't remember if they use ApplePay or not.
I'm admittedly a very very light packer for parks, and if I take a backpack in (Like for Soak City or Boardwalk) I take it out to my car quickly before going onto the rest of the park.
To me it really is a shame that parks are putting profiteering over guest happiness though for people who do take bags/purses/packs in with them by charging to store them, not allowing them rides, or doing away with in station storage.
I'm admittedly a very very light packer for parks, and if I take a backpack in (Like for Soak City or Boardwalk) I take it out to my car quickly before going onto the rest of the park.
To me it really is a shame that parks are putting profiteering over guest happiness though for people who do take bags/purses/packs in with them by charging to store them, not allowing them rides, or doing away with in station storage.