Everytime me and my family go to a themepark, we bring food. Lots of food. Sandwiches, tacos, water, orange juice, lemonade, food. It's a tradition to bring alot of food when we go to any theme park.
Cut to Universal Studio Hollywood. We don't normally go to USH too much these days, however our aunt was visiting from mexico, and she wanted to go, so off the family went to USH.
Of course, we brought food.
So we bought our tickets. 45 dollars for adults. Ouch...They have a lot of gall charging disney prices, but southern california kids go in free, so we saved two admissions.
Now, we all know that Universal has a close eye on what disney does. And if disney does something, they feel it's okay for them to do it too. Now, we noticed they were checking bags...naturally, disney started checking bags since 9/11, and since disney did it, Universal felt good to do it too. And they looked in to our backpack with sandwiches and tacos, and said "You can only bring fruit, and water. None of this stuff" Looks like their main motive wasn't checking for weapons or dangerous material, they were turning away EVERYONE that carried food! Give me a floogin' break! At this point, I would have turned around and went straight to disneyland if it wasn't so far away. It seems USH is rather desperate to get people in to their gate, what with all the discounts they're having, but do they really have to slap guests before they get in? We noticed many other guests were turned away, all of them resorting to throwing away their food to enter. I hope USH learns their lesson when an uncontrolable amount of homeless people raid the trashcans all over the citywalk.
What's your opinion about this?

Don't know why you're taking it personally and viewing it as a slap in the face. It's common for lots of places, especially theme parks, to disallow people bringing in outside food. Just because Disney has apparently gotten very lax on that count doesn't mean others don't.

The rules are the rules. Not really sure why you're screaming about them following them.

I can see both sides of this argument. On the one hand, cstephens is right that theme parks, movie theaters, etc. have long-standing policies preventing people from brining outside food into their venues. On the other hand, it sounds like the Universal employees were kind of rude in the way they handled this. And when a rule isn't followed for a long time then is suddenly enforced, people will complain--it's only natural.

Iceman, well said, and I agree.

Perhaps what Universal should have done is posted "friendly" signs at the entrances, saying "Please remember: Only the following food & drink items may be brought into the park. <list> Thank you for your cooperation." The security personnel could then refer to then sign in informing the guests, but make some allowances.

The signs would address the policy, and as long as the signs were placed in front of or in clear view of the security tables (and in several different languages), anyone approaching the tables would then be presumed to have looked up and read the signs.

The security personnel could also have had two bins there: one for perishable foods (garbage) and one for non-permitted, but store-sealed foods, that would be clearly marked for donation to a local shelter or food bank. They could even have coupons made up for anyone who had to toss/donate food, for something like a small drink with the purchase of an entree or X% discount of some sort at a USH eatery.

Bottomline: yes, the policy is in place, always has been. But customer service/guest relations has to deal with perceptions and past practices as well as rules and regs. They can definitely be kind and put a positive spin on things. After a few weeks or more, tighten up a bit, but still be kind. Release a press release or two highlighting the positive and reinforcing the rules.

My two cents. :)

Well, the main reason is angers me is that universal never used to do this, nor did they ever put up signs. But now since disney takes the liberty to check people's bags, USH feels they can do it too, and while they're at it, take advantage of the ability to see what's inside people's bags, and tell them to put away their food. Marklodi, kudos on your idea about donations bin.

It's a common practice to not allow guest to bring in food. The Paramount Great America in Santa Clara, Ca is worst. I believe it's the little nasty tactic to force 'you' to spend lots of money on their 'bad' food.

As for USH, I believe the no food, fruit, and drink sign was posted outside.

Originally posted by FatAl
I believe it's the little nasty tactic to force 'you' to spend lots of money on their 'bad' food.


LMAO!:p

Originally posted by The RX Droid
Well, the main reason is angers me is that universal never used to do this, nor did they ever put up signs. But now since disney takes the liberty to check people's bags, USH feels they can do it too, and while they're at it, take advantage of the ability to see what's inside people's bags, and tell them to put away their food.Times are tough; I can see why theme parks and other venues have tightened their policies on bringing in food. A lot of sports stadiums don't allow this, either (not to mention most music concerts).

I understand your desire to eat a nice picnic... does Universal provide lockers outside for you to keep your picnic coolers, like they do at Disneyland? That may be the best solution. That way you can step out at lunch and have a wonderful picnic with your family in a grassy area. That way you also get a nice break from the hecticness of the park inside, so you'll feel more refreshed and ready to go back into the park for some more fun.

Personally, I've never been too hot on taking a whole picnic spread into a venue (snacks and drinks are different, of course). It makes me feel like I'm visiting someone's house, and then sitting down in their living room and spreading out my picnic lunch -- I may be a finicky eater or I just might not like their food in general, but that doesn't mean I have to eat my picnic in their living room.

As some of you know, I work at USH. A few comments on this topic:

1. Not allowing food into the park is a relatively new thing. No rationale was ever given for this new policy--so most of us assume it's a way for the park to make more money.

2. That said, people with religious, personal or medical issues with food (i.e. Hindus, diabetics, or vegans, among others) are allowed to bring food into the park but only with a supervisor's approval. The guards at the front gate do not have the authority to allow food inside. (Hint: If you really do need to bring in your own food, go to Guest Services, politely ask for a supervisor, and 99.9% of the time the sup will let you bring in your food.)

3. Universal is not checking bags just because Disney does, as the original poster stated. If you'll recall, shortly after 9/11, a credible threat against movie studios was made. This was a real thing--for some time, security was extremely tight not only on the studio lot but at the theme park. Because guests of the park do travel through the studio on the tram (and are close to it in Studio Center), the park made the decision to search guests before they came inside.

4. Re: signage. For some time this spring and summer, there was *no* signage telling guests they couldn't bring food inside. However, there is now signage in the parking garages (so guests can leave the food in their car and come back for it later, also an option instead of throwing food away) and at the main entrance, and there is information about the food ban on the website.

5. Finally, guests need to take care of themselves before coming to the park. $45 a head is a lot to spend; so, before you spend that hard-earned cash, check out the website. Call Guest Relations or the park's information line. You'll learn a lot and enjoy your day more if you know park/attraction hours, ride closures, and security policies IN ADVANCE. You'd be amazed how many people come up to the information booth and ask what's inside the park. Please, do some research!

That being said:

--The park should provide lockers outside the main gate so that food can be stowed.
--The food donation idea is an excellent one.
--And the security officers at the gate need to deal with guests in a better way and offer them options (ie returning the food to the car) rather than just being brusque.


WordyOne

Wordyone, it has been over six years since I worked for USH, so correct me if I am wrong.

Isn't the security at USH an outside contractor? They do not report directly to USH personnel unlike Disney does.

I occasionally run in to these security guards at USH when I am working (not at USH) (don't ask me to clarify) but they are not the brightest people in the world. It does not take much to get a guard card in CA.

Thomas, I don't know all the details about the security officers at Universal, but...

Park security is definitely contracted out. You are right--not everyone is particularly brilliant. It seems to me that, while it must be cheaper or in some way advantageous to contract out security services, if they were park employees USH would have some control over their behavior.

Studio security is a combination of an outside company and Universal employees. As far as I can tell, the blue-blazer security folks are Universal.

I had a need for a security officer at work on Sunday--I won't go into details, but let's just say that if you lose track of your kid at USH, you'd better hope the sheriff gets called in. (An L.A. County Sheriff station is on CityWalk.)

WordyOne

THe guys in the blue blazers are off duty LAPD police officers and LA County Sheriff deputies (LASO). These guys generally work citywalk. The guys at the vehicle gates entering the studios are not contracted out either. A lot of them also are LAPD/LASO (mostly retired or reserve).

Just to clarify, the blue blazers I was referring to are down on the *studio* lot--typically the people checking ID and issuing passes, as opposed to the uniformed, contracted officers checking underneath cars.

You're right, blue blazers on Citywalk are often off-duty officers.

Wordy