Knott's anti-fighting move just the first round
What is the toughest thing for a theme park to do?
Like many businesses, theme parks can solve a lot of problems by throwing money at them. Need new rides, shows, more employees? Open the checkbook.
But Knott's Berry Farm is trying to achieve something right now that money alone cannot buy.
It's trying to change its audience. Following an evening of fights that drove the park to close early this month, Knott's implemented a new “chaperone” policy that requires visitors under age 18 to be accompanied by adults 21 or older. One chaperone can accompany up to three minors and must remain with them at all times when inside the park. The policy is in effect Fridays and Saturdays until further notice.
The goal is to eliminate from the park the unaccompanied minors who seemed to be the main participants in the fights, at least according to the many videos posted to social media. Obviously, many teenagers have visited Knott's on their own or in groups with their friends over the years without incident. Let's also not forget that some of Knott's own employees are too young to visit the park unescorted under this new policy. But Knott's clearly felt like it needed to do more than just ban people caught fighting in the park to prevent these incidents from happening in the future.
Knott's is not alone in facing the challenge of unruly guests. Since the incident July 16, there have been widely publicized fights and panics involving guests at both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando in Florida. In California, Disneyland has seen such incidents in the past (remember the Toontown fight that went viral?), and Six Flags Magic Mountain worked for years to keep out brawling teens.
Any venue that attracts large numbers of people — including malls and arenas as well as theme parks — needs to have a plan for managing disturbances. But the best way to manage a disturbance is to prevent it. Scanners and security checks can help keep weapons out of a park but do little to prevent fists flying. Knott's is betting that some additional adult supervision will help do that.
Fans who visited the park during the new chaperone policy's first weekend reported all was calm … and that the park was relatively empty, as well. Did the chaperone policy keep kids away, or did visitors avoid the park due to the previous weekend's fights? Knott's chaperone policy will be a failure if it preserves the peace at the cost of tanking the park's revenue. Knott's ultimately needs its new policy to attract more visitors than it turns away.
Changes in pricing, programming and community outreach offer Knott's opportunities to attract a different mix of customers on weekends, as well. Responsible
young people ought to be welcomed as part of that mix, too. Knott's needed to move swiftly to shut down what was happening, and it did. But a long-term fix will require a long-term effort.