Five Cedar Fair theme parks, including Knott's Berry Farm, have announced that they will be implementing chaperone policies starting this weekend.
In addition to Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, and California's Great America have posted chaperone policies on their websites today. The policy will require guests age 15 and younger to be accompanied by a chaperone age 21 or older to enter or remain in the park after 4pm. One chaperone may accompany up to 10 minors. That person must remain inside the park after entering with the children and must be available via phone throughout their stay. Children found unaccompanied inside the park will be subject to ejection.
The policy takes effect this Saturday, April 22, but applies on all operating dates until further notice.
"Over the past two years, there have been increasing incidents of unruly and inappropriate behavior across our industry and at other major entertainment venues," each of the parks said on their websites. "We believe these changes will help ensure that... (the park) continues to have a positive atmosphere where generations of families and friends can gather for a day of safe fun and good food. Millions of guests have counted on us for exactly that, and we will continue to deliver on that promise for generations to come."
*Update April 21: Dorney Park and Valleyfair announced chaperone policies this morning. Worlds of Fun implemented its chaperone policy last weekend, after an incident the week before. As of now, Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, and Michigan's Adventure have not announced chaperone policies. Those parks open later this spring.
Several parks across the country, including Cedar Fair parks, implemented chaperone policies last summer following several incidents, including a mass panic event at Knott's - the second in two years. [Knott's to Require Chaperones for Minors on Weekends] Knott's eventually lifted its policy, but has brought it back now, as we approach the start of this year's summer vacation season.
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This is apparently a chainwide decision by Cedar Fair after both Worlds of Fun and Kings Island experienced major incidents caused by minors on their opening weekends. While I wish it wasn't necessary, Cedar Fair can't let this pattern continue, as developing a reputation for unruly teens would hurt their business worse than the chaperone policy is likely to. The big question in my mind is why Cedar Fair has been disproportionally affected by this problem, as while they're by no means the only parks experiencing incidents, it seems a majority of those that became newsworthy occurred at Cedar Fair properties.
Well, in Six Flags’ case, if you have no guests coming to your parks anymore, they can’t cause problems, can they?
Worlds of Fun in Kansas City already opened on April 8 (weekends only), and there was a fight on that opening day that is prompting Cedar Fair's new policies on unaccompanied minors.
I'm glad they are trying something, but I don't see how this is going to be policed.
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This is a pretty disappointing development, but I guess we shouldn't be surprised. There have been an increasing number of incidents again, most notably at Carowinds. It's unfortunate that Cedar Fair is taking this one-size-fits-all approach to this problem instead of beefing up security and taking more swift and punitive actions against offenders. In the end, these incidents impact the safety of Cedar Fair employees as much as they do to guests, so it's in the chain's best interest to protect their own staff, which would be most easily accomplished through improved security and enforcement.
I just wish we lived in a world where we didn't have to constantly cater to the "least common denominator" instead of using common sense that allows more freedom while cracking down on the few bad apples that cause the biggest programs.