Universal Has Started Charging $2 for Some Ride Lockers

[Bpmorley]

This is going to come back and bite them in the . I won't go or I won't purchase anything. I don't understand why they make you take everything out of your pockets anyway.

 

[RustySpork]

This is going to come back and bite them in the ***. I won't go or I won't purchase anything. I don't understand why they make you take everything out of your pockets anyway.

It's raining change, hallelujah!

 

[Disneyhead'71]

It's raining change, hallelujah!

That is the issue with the vertical lift hill on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

Dragon Challenge had a specific element that, while cool, proved to be an injury liability. 2 trains coming straight at each other into vertical loops. Some obnoxious trouble makers discovered that if you set a penny on your knee, when you hit the loop, the penny would be launched with great force straight at the other train. 2 trains coming at each other at 50mph works out to 100mph of force, add to that the centrifugal force from the loop and you have a projectile traveling at damaging speed straight into the oncoming train.

Universal was aware of the issue and were working on a plan when the eye injury happened. That ended the dueling aspect.

Shortly after that, a cell phone was launched into the crowd exiting the attraction, approximately where the photo below was taken, when someone lost their phone during this element:

No one was injured by the phone, but the incident led to the existing "no loose articles/metal detectors" situation we see now.

Universal is aware of the guest unfriendly nature of the policy and all future coasters/attractions will be built in such a fashion that metal detectors won't be required.

 

[ToTBellHop]

That is the issue with the vertical lift hill on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

Dragon Challenge had a specific element that, while cool, proved to be an injury liability. 2 trains coming straight at each other into vertical loops. Some obnoxious trouble makers discovered that if you set a penny on your knee, when you hit the loop, the penny would be launched with great force straight at the other train. 2 trains coming at each other at 50mph works out to 100mph of force, add to that the centrifugal force from the loop and you have a projectile traveling at damaging speed straight into the oncoming train.

Universal was aware of the issue and were working on a plan when the eye injury happened. That ended the dueling aspect.

Shortly after that, a cell phone was launched into the crowd exiting the attraction, approximately where the photo below was taken, when someone lost their phone during this element:

No one was injured by the phone, but the incident led to the existing "no loose articles/metal detectors" situation we see now.

Universal is aware of the guest unfriendly nature of the policy and all future coasters/attractions will be built in such a fashion that metal detectors won't be required.

They’ll use electromagnets to suck all metal away from guests?

 

[monykalyn]

Alright, after finally making it to the parks, I gotta say... The free lockers are pretty roomy.

Fit my wallet, my phone, my sister's bag, and my mom's bag. Comfortably. Not holding the refill cup while full is ridiculous. But that problem was solved by simply not buying soda and drinking free water. But if we ever really wanted soda or Icee, it isn't the worst thing ever to have to dump out and refill after rides.

Overall, it's a definite added frustration. But the free lockers aren't that small really. And only having the small size be free doesn't really make things much more annoying than requiring lockers on everything already does.

We were just there - my daughter carried her Hogwarts Express backpack every day- standard size and kinda bulky, especially after she shopped. Only had to use the pay locker once- Gringotts- and that was likely due to it being stuffed with extra clothes (water ride day) and the mug and Spider-Man bank she bought near end of day (non smooshable items). We did gringotts at end of day so pack was full. And the locker policy gets more insane on busy days- only single riders were allowed entrance to locker area before entering line, everyone else had to go through part of extended queue (EP was split off in the extended queue) and only one member from your party was allowed to go into locker area with the bag. So we didn’t have option even of separating out items to use two smaller lockers. I understand the need to limit congestion in the locker area but that annoyed me to be charged $2 for something that is required. It’s not the amount but the principle. Universal does a lot of things right (security to get in is a breeze compared to Disney) but this change annoys me as much as Disney’s pay for access to less of a line bs with all the paid EMH they do.

 

[RustySpork]

That is the issue with the vertical lift hill on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

Dragon Challenge had a specific element that, while cool, proved to be an injury liability. 2 trains coming straight at each other into vertical loops. Some obnoxious trouble makers discovered that if you set a penny on your knee, when you hit the loop, the penny would be launched with great force straight at the other train. 2 trains coming at each other at 50mph works out to 100mph of force, add to that the centrifugal force from the loop and you have a projectile traveling at damaging speed straight into the oncoming train.

Universal was aware of the issue and were working on a plan when the eye injury happened. That ended the dueling aspect.

Shortly after that, a cell phone was launched into the crowd exiting the attraction, approximately where the photo below was taken, when someone lost their phone during this element:

No one was injured by the phone, but the incident led to the existing "no loose articles/metal detectors" situation we see now.

Universal is aware of the guest unfriendly nature of the policy and all future coasters/attractions will be built in such a fashion that metal detectors won't be required.

Yep, unfortunately even if they do build future attractions to not need metal detectors that won't solve the Darwin Award candidates problem, or the I lost my phone, it's Universal's fault entitlement problem.

 

[RustySpork]

We were just there - my daughter carried her Hogwarts Express backpack every day- standard size and kinda bulky, especially after she shopped. Only had to use the pay locker once- Gringotts- and that was likely due to it being stuffed with extra clothes (water ride day) and the mug and Spider-Man bank she bought near end of day (non smooshable items). We did gringotts at end of day so pack was full. And the locker policy gets more insane on busy days- only single riders were allowed entrance to locker area before entering line, everyone else had to go through part of extended queue (EP was split off in the extended queue) and only one member from your party was allowed to go into locker area with the bag. So we didn’t have option even of separating out items to use two smaller lockers. I understand the need to limit congestion in the locker area but that annoyed me to be charged $2 for something that is required. It’s not the amount but the principle. Universal does a lot of things right (security to get in is a breeze compared to Disney) but this change annoys me as much as Disney’s pay for access to less of a line bs with all the paid EMH they do.

What you wrote though contradicts the locker being "required" though, it's not "required"..you had too much stuff and that necessitated the need for a locker. The only time you need to pay for a locker is if you are carrying so much stuff that you can't use a free one. That isn't Universal's fault in the least.

 

[monykalyn]

What you wrote though contradicts the locker being "required" though, it's not "required"..you had too much stuff and that necessitated the need for a locker. The only time you need to pay for a locker is if you are carrying so much stuff that you can't use a free one. That isn't Universal's fault in the least.

Except if two of us had been allowed into locker area we wouldn’t have needed the larger locker. I’m all for going with “less is better” or no bags when we can. Last year there wasn’t a charge for larger locker. Now there is. Yes it’s an annoyance. At least give the option of an all day “pass” to use larger lockers for one price

 

[RustySpork]

Except if two of us had been allowed into locker area we wouldn’t have needed the larger locker. I’m all for going with “less is better” or no bags when we can. Last year there wasn’t a charge for larger locker. Now there is. Yes it’s an annoyance. At least give the option of an all day “pass” to use larger lockers for one price

I don't discount that it was probably very inconvenient.

 

[Tom Morrow]

So I kind of don't like these new lockers at all, free or not. Here are a few things I've noticed:

- very often the inside of the locker is sticky and dirty, most likely from people putting their drinks inside.
- some locker areas are also completely filthy, with drinks dumped all over the ground because people are just dumping them there instead of properly in a bush or drain.
- Like always, the setup forces people to push and shove you around trying to get stuff in and out of their lockers. Universal never learns how to not make a stressful locker setup.
- Get stuck behind someone who doesn't know which ticket they used to rent their locker, so they cycle through 10 tickets, renting 9 new lockers. Oh no! Now the locker bank has no more lockers to rent! Now you must wait or move to a new one, hoping the same thing doesn't happen.
- The old lockers had multiple languages available and prompts such as making you click Agree to end your rental. These have neither, leading to even more confusion especially among guests who don't speak English.

A friend of mine didn't know that the small lockers are still free, and ended up paying $2 for a small locker, which, laughably, it does allow you to do with no warnings.

 

[adamlathmsmith]

That's what annoys me about this new charge. The next time we visit Universal it will be with a relative who has an ostomy, which requires her to carry a bag of medical supplies and extra clothing with her wherever she goes. It would be nice if Universal could exempt storage of medical equipment from this "pay to play" rule -- e.g., offering a "Locker Card" for those who need a larger locker for medical reasons, just as they offer Guest Assistance cards for expedited line access...

guest who medical supplies etc should be able to use big lookers for free with something like card that you tap with

 

[DRD]

A friend of mine didn't know that the small lockers are still free, and ended up paying $2 for a small locker, which, laughably, it does allow you to do with no warnings.

That is truly remarkable. Hard to argue against a money grab when the "...but you can rent the small ones for free" still allows the possibility that you can rent them for a cost by accident.

 

[Tom Morrow]

That is truly remarkable. Hard to argue against a money grab when the "...but you can rent the small ones for free" still allows the possibility that you can rent them for a cost by accident.

It also seems to be a good indicator that the small lockers won't remain free.

 

[JoeCamel]

It also seems to be a good indicator that the small lockers won't remain free.

Hard to make that connection, your bias is showing throughout this thread.

 

[Prince-1]

guest who medical supplies etc should be able to use big lookers for free with something like card that you tap with

Well said.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Hard to make that connection, your bias is showing throughout this thread.

They didn’t bother to program a menu that tells guests the small lockers are free. Either they’re really inept, or... they don’t want the screens to show a “free” option because it won’t be free much longer.

I’m sorry but even if they don’t change to charging for all lockers, literally tricking your guests into paying when they don’t need to, if intentional, is sleazy.

 

[JoeCamel]

They didn’t bother to program a menu that tells guests the small lockers are free. Either they’re really inept, or... they don’t want the screens to show a “free” option because it won’t be free much longer.

I’m sorry but even if they don’t change to charging for all lockers, literally tricking your guests into paying when they don’t need to, if intentional, is sleazy.

Or they expect the guest to read if they care about paying for a locker. You have to do months of research and planning if you want to make the most of your vacation at the world, why is getting informed about where you are spending your money any different here? You plan where you eat on a nightly basis if you care what you eat. If you don't care it does not matter.

For any rides that require a locker there will always be a free option.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Or they expect the guest to read if they care about paying for a locker. You have to do months of research and planning if you want to make the most of your vacation at the world, why is getting informed about where you are spending your money any different here? You plan where you eat on a nightly basis if you care what you eat. If you don't care it does not matter.

For any rides that require a locker there will always be a free option.

At a place where a minimum of 1/3rd of the guests do not speak English, they made kiosks that are only in English but you're right, it's their own fault.

And that doesn't matter anyway because nothing on the payment kiosks says "small lockers = free".

Some of y'all jump through some crazy mental hoops to defend any hint of criticism at Universal.

 

[RustySpork]

At a place where a minimum of 1/3rd of the guests do not speak English, they made kiosks that are only in English but you're right, it's their own fault.

And that doesn't matter anyway because nothing on the payment kiosks says "small lockers = free".

Some of y'all jump through some crazy mental hoops to defend any hint of criticism at Universal.

That's not true, for example you can say what ever you want about Fast and Furious except that it's good. I'm generally not in the "learn English if you want to be here camp", but if people are coming to the US to visit a US theme park and they don't take the initiative to learn enough of the local language to understand the signage, that's not really Universal's problem.

 

[Tom Morrow]

If you're wondering how someone can end up paying for a locker that is free while not being totally oblivious:

Some of the locker set ups have payment kiosks situated prominently in front of the locker sections. Your attention is drawn to them. There is minimal to no signage indicating the small lockers are free. If you follow the on screen instructions of these kiosks, it gives you only one option: Large Locker - $2. With some of the setups it is not clear that there are two different sizes of lockers. It allows you to pay for a large locker and then still open a small locker with the same ticket that the payment was assigned to.

Trust me, my initial reaction was to think my friends were idiots but it's a totally reasonable mistake for a first time or infrequent visitor to make.