Plastic-Friendly Theme Parks Provide Extra Thrills

In the Greater Toronto Area, there has been a noticeable change at a lot of venues where “cash only” used to be the norm. Last summer, we blogged about the fact that The Canadian National Exhibition (more popularly known as “The Ex”) had begun to accept credit cards and debit cards. Many vendors throughout the downtown Toronto grounds, in fact, used wireless terminals in order to accept payments from visitors.

Most notably, visitors were allowed to pay for their entry tickets using their choice of plastic. “I remember going to the ATM to take out cash before I went there,” recalled one of our colleagues this week, “When I got to The Ex and I noticed they had the machines, I was surprised. But I was glad, because I knew that from now on, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting any cash. Plastic is much more convenient.\”

The Ex proudly proclaims its plastic-friendly nature on its website. In addition to accepting credit cards and debit cards as methods of payment, the site notes that there is a number of Interac banking machines located throughout the grounds. Although the annual summer-ending theme park doesn’t open until August 21st this year, Toronto residents and visitors will be happy to know that they can visit without having to worry about getting cash beforehand.

According to the site, Interac banking machines can be found at the Toronto Star Food Building, the Casino, the Direct Energy Centre, both inside and outside the Arts, Crafts & Hobbies Pavilion and the south side of Kids’ World among various other locations. One of the reasons that plastic acceptance at theme parks is so important to visitors is because they like going on rides. While fun, they present situations where cash money can be lost.

“I remember a whole bunch of change falling out of my pockets when I was on a ride once,” commented our colleague, “I think I lost about seven dollars or so. With all the change that I was getting back from buying food and drinks, my pockets were full. I actually didn’t even think of it until I was flying upside down on a roller coaster and these coins just came flying out. I won’t let that happen again!”

For residents and visitors of the Greater Toronto Area who are already in the mood for some thrill-seeking via a theme park, you’ll be happy to know that the ever-popular Canada’s Wonderland has been open for about a month now. And, as another associate of ours discovered, this summer-long theme park located in Vaughan, Ontario is also plastic-friendly. In fact, the parking lot accepts credit cards and debit cards via wireless terminals.

“I think the price of parking has gone up,” laughed our associate who visited last week, “But, at least they accept cards now. I was so sure they were going to ask for cash. I haven’t been to Wonderland in years, so I guess I wasn’t aware of the updates. But I was glad to know that I could just pull out my card to pay for parking – as expensive as it was. It was cool because they just gave me the (wireless) machine, so I processed the transaction in my car.”

Clearly, Toronto-area theme parks are catching on to the trend that has pretty much become commonplace with merchants of all kinds. No matter what type of business you own, it pays to be plastic-friendly. Evidently, “cash only” businesses are becoming things of the past. For more information on the terminals available from Canadian POS Corporation, please don’t hesitate to call 1-877-748-2884 or email info@localhost.