A poll released by the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) yesterday showed that five out of the nine amusement parks it surveyed prohibited guests from bringing their own food and drinks.
The commission conducted the inspections on nine recreational centers, theme parks and amusement parks around the country in May. While all nine parks passed the safety tests for hardware and facilities, five did not allow visitors to bring their own food and beverages, the commission said.
While there is no law governing the bringing of food and drinks into amusement parks, the commission said the parks should follow the lead of movie theaters, which recently loosened restrictions on moviegoers bringing their own food into theaters.
Amusement parks should not put up notices telling visitors they are not allowed to bring their own food or drinks and amusement park staff should not have the right to search guests' bags or backpacks to check whether they have brought food, it said.
The commission also found that three parks had a number of rides and attractions under maintenance or repair, namely the Leofoo Village Theme Park (六福村主題遊樂園), the Yamay Recreation World (月眉育樂世界) and the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村).
Consumer ombudsman Chang Chia-lin (張嘉麟) said parks that do not have certain facilities or attractions open should allow visitors that have already purchased tickets to ask for a refund.
Some of these rides are the main attraction at the parks, Chang said, and when these rides have been under maintenance for as long as a month, they could constitute an infringement on consumer rights.
The commission said visitors who have had disputes or problems with amusement parks can call 1950 to report the case to the authorities.
Tseng Mei-hua (曾美華), a section chief at the Tourism Bureau, said the bureau would talk to the amusement parks and report back in two weeks.
Even though amusement parks abroad typically do not allow guests to bring their own food, Tseng said the bureau would discuss the matter with local amusement parks to determine whether to follow other countries' examples or provide guests with locker rooms to put their food and drinks.
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