SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Social media was abuzz last week over the news of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom’s chaperone policy.
The new policy states that all guests ages 15 and younger must be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old “in order to be admitted to, or remain in, the park” after 4 p.m. until closing.
- Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom recently announced a new policy requiring chaperones for visitors 15 and under after 4 p.m.
- The park’s Public Relations and Communications Manager Ryan Eldredge answered specific questions about the policy, such as how it will be enforced, whether there will be chaperone discounts and what caused the policy change
- Overall, Eldredge said the new policy will likely not impact visitors who are not being disruptive
People had many questions about what the policy would look like and how it would be enforced.
LehighValleyNews.com sat down with Dorney Public Relations and Communications Manager Ryan Eldredge to get some answers.
“The knee-jerk reaction is to look at this like it's super-punitive and that we're gonna be this enforcement arm that's coming out to ruin your family summer," Eldredge said.
"And the reality of it is that this is just another tool for our safety team.
“Families, teens, children who are well-mannered and are coming to the park to have a good, fun, immersive experience are going to be just fine."
"This policy is going to have little to no impact on their experience.”
Specific rules of the policy
Eldredge said that under the new policy, after 4 p.m., visitors 15 and under need a chaperone to enter and remain in the park.
Chaperones “must accompany their party during entry, remain inside the park during their visit, and be available by phone throughout their stay.”
He said many parents were concerned they would need to constantly be with their children, but Eldredge emphasized that children could go off on their own as long as the chaperone was available by phone.
The chaperone must present a valid government-issued photo identification with a date of birth at ticket entry, according to the website.
One chaperone can accompany up to 10 guests per day and needs to be available by phone.
How will the policy be enforced?
Eldredge emphasized that the park authority will not be “ID police” asking all visitors who look younger than 16 for identification.
He said that is not practical with the amount of staff the park has, and it could be difficult to enforce for people under 18 who do not have IDs.
“If they're not being a disruption, and they're not breaking rules, no one is going to bother them for identification,” Eldredge said.
“No one is going to ask them their age. The age policy is not an enforcement mechanism.”
Eldredge said park visitors likely will not be penalized or ejected just for being 15 and under without a chaperone, but visitors may be asked about their chaperones if they are behaving inappropriately.
“If one of our ride operators or one of our park staff cannot clearly indicate that a rule was violated by that group or that alleged teenager, then that individual, that group will have nothing to worry about.”Ryan Eldredge, Public Relations and Communications Manager for Dorney Park
When asked about the possibility of bias or discrimination in the policy’s enforcement, Eldredge said the park officials will only ask about chaperones if the visitors are violating the code of conduct or talking about doing so.
“This policy in and of itself is not the thing that we're going to be policing,” Eldredge said. “We're not going to respond to every call from within the park or every complaint from within the park of individuals who say, ‘Hey, these teens over here are being rowdy.’”
“If one of our ride operators or one of our park staff cannot clearly indicate that a rule was violated by that group or that alleged teenager, then that individual, that group, will have nothing to worry about.”
Eldredge said the policy is not meant to be punitive, but rather another tool the security team can use to discourage and stop bad behavior.
Will there be chaperone discounts?
Eldredge said there are currently no plans for any discounts associated with being a chaperone.
Some people have asked if there could be a discount for chaperones who don't plan to go on any rides, but Eldredge said the park is an “immersive environment” that provides entertainment beyond just rides.
Eldredge said there will be many opportunities to get other types of discounts throughout the season.
What caused the policy change?
Eldredge said despite rhetoric about rowdy teenagers at Dorney Park, the park actually has seen a decrease in behavioral issues in the past decade.
He said the policy change was sparked by several recent incidents at other parks owned by Dorney Park’s parent company, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.
This month, about 100 teens who did not appear to be accompanied by adults were involved in a fight at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. That park implemented a similar chaperone policy a few days later.
And at Kings Island in Cincinnati, a teen was arrested and accused of having a gun at the park on the day the park opened.
Eldredge said Dorney Park has not recently seen behavioral incidents of that level, but the policy is an attempt to prevent them before they happen.
Eldredge said the chaperone policy begins at 4 p.m. because such incidents tend to happen at night, and park officials did not want the policy to be a burden for youth groups and camps that come into the park when it opens.
