Well lookie-look! Alton Towers Resort, located in the heart of Staffordshire, UK, is a family-friendly place! According to their web page:
Alton Towers Resort will be piloting a “PDA Free Zone” during May Half Term (May 25th — June 1st inclusive), to encourage parents to disconnect from the office and reconnect fully with their families.
“Encourage” is an interesting description of what they’re doing because the very next sentence reads,
PDA police will be onsite [sic] to enforce the ban and any adult caught using a PDA whilst at the Resort will be asked to report to one of five “PDA Drop Off Zones” where they can safely leave their PDA’s [sic] for the day. If the scheme is successful, it will be introduced full time.
From one sentence to the next, encouragement changed to a ban enforced by PDA police. Nothing says family-friendly like dad getting beaten by baton-wielding PDA stormtroopers because he won’t surrender his mobile phone when asked if he would care to leave it with a bunch of strangers. Not that I know this will be the result should a patron give the wrong answer when asked a question, however. So how to find out? Simply ask. There’s a feedback link, which I followed and made use of.
I read with interest your new PDA policy. In particular, the phrase from your site that reads, “PDA police will be onsite to enforce the ban and any adult caught using a PDA whilst at the Resort will be asked to report to one of five ‘PDA Drop Off Zones’ where they can safely leave their PDA’s for the day.”
These parents will be asked, you say? What is the resort policy should they politely decline? You are merely asking, after all.
I look forward to your response.
Welcome to Alton Towers “you’re going to spend quality time with your family the way we tell you to” Resort!
Jonathan
No sex please, we’re British!
Yay! A public display of affection police!!