SRL policy on DP is ridiculous IMO

[Dalefan]

I was waiting on the single rider line passes to come up and seen 2 guys who was together try to use the single rider line. The worker doing the line said no because they wasnt single riders after telling the worker they was together and the 2 guys left. The wait time for the main ride line was 35 mins then. I only use the single rider line if i am alone.

[Raptor Jo]

I only use the single rider line if i am alone.

OMG someone using the SRL the way it's supposed to be used!!!

[74Gibson]

Even odd numbered groups splitting up shortens the wait for those in the main queue. They would be divided up into seats that would have been empty, so the main queue isn't waiting on them at all. If there was no single rider line they would also leave an empty seat adding to the wait in the main queue. The SRL gets everyone on the ride quicker and is a wnoderful thing.

Would you rather see an empty seat or someone enjoying a short wait at the cost of riding alone?

[Kawana]

Actually, you can't just jump from one one line to another. To ride while in the sRL, you have to give the station attendant your SRL pass. Yeah, you could jump into the main line, but why would you?

You could, if the passes were being handed out, which they weren't on the 15th. The Diamondback SRL is wildly inconsistent, to say the least and should be fixed before daily operation.

[mac2008]

I defintely saw two girls up in the srl as i was on the stairs and when i got into line to get on looked over and they were both getting ready to get on together. IDK how they did it but i was heated because i just waited a half hour and they had like a 4 ppl line.

[Tchu]

I know there's been a lot of debate on these forums about the SRL and KI's policy of not letting groups into the line. Many people seem to think that there's no harm/no foul in letting in groups, so long as those groups are willing to split up and ride separately.

But yesterday was a prime example of why the park has often been enforcing a 'true single riders only' policy.

On Friday, the park was not enforcing a "no groups" policy (nor were they handing out Single Rider cards) and since it was Math & Science Day, there were thousands of jr. high and high school students at the park. As a result, this meant there was an extraordinary amount of groups at Kings Island. Many of these groups of kids were looking at the main queue for Diamondback, seeing it was almost full (and not understanding that a full line is still only about a 45 minute wait thanks to B&M building people eaters), and hopping in the SRL.

Most of these students were actually willing to split up and ride single rider, but so many groups were flocking into the SRL... that it became a longer wait than the main queue.

Early in the day, the SRL was often closed because it had gotten so long that it was taking longer to empty than the main line. And why? All because of large groups being allowed in because these people didn't want to wait in a "long line" (I use the term long in reference to the number of people, not the actual wait time... but many park goers don't understand how fast this line moves).

At one point, I was in the SRL and waited almost 30 mins. The two times I rode DB and waited in the regular line, I waited about 35-40 minutes. In fact, the occasion I did use the SRL... it was so long and moving so slowly due to all the groups of students who had flooded it... that the seat assigner actually held the main queue and started assigning seats strictly from the SRL. He'd point and say "two single riders in row 1. Two single riders in row 2. Two single riders in row 3" He filled half a train strictly by pairing up single-riders before turning back to the main line... all because the SRL was too long and taking more time than the main line. They even announce the SRL is a stand-by line only... the seat assigner technically shouldn't have been assigning single riders together. But he almost had too.

And it seems to me that yesterday was exactly why KI had been enforcing a "no groups" policy for the SRL. The purpose of the SRL is to fill empty seats on trains, moving the lines more quickly, but also to allow true single riders the opportunity not to have to stand in line for an hour all by themselves. If Mom and Dad take litte Jr to the park, and Dad wants to ride DB, but Mom needs to stay with Jr who's too short to ride... they have to split up. The SRL should (in theory) allow Dad the opportunity to only be split up from his family for 10 minutes instead of an hour or two.

For portions of the day, the SRL was closed, and I watched numerous 'true' single riders get turned away... all because groups had flooded the SRL, causing it to be a longer wait than the main queue. That's a problem.

Yesterday made it clear, feelings about the SRL policy aside, that if the park does let anyone and everyone into the SRL... there are going to be problems. And this was just a Friday in mid-May. Wait till Saturday's in June and July

[HandsUp]

Yesterday (5/15) I was there by myself and the SRL was not open when I got in line. Then they opened it up, so I hopped over there (since I was a legit SR)...only to have the main line pass me by since they were assigning SRs very sporadically. Luckily, by the time I did get up there, the op was nice enough to let me wait for the front seat. But the SRL was much slower-and no sure if it saved any time.

Later (right around dark) the SRL was open and it was a 15 min wait....about 25 min. in the main line after they closed the SRL.

The best would be to have stricter screening at the beginning of the line..but it begs the question-how many times do you have to ride it before you become a 'group' with the other singles doing the same thing?!?

[rhoustonh]

there were two teenage girls behind us in line today and we reached the stairs, so about roughtly another 5 mins. in line or so, these girls noticed the line next to us was shorter so they ducked under the rails and got into the SRL i must tell you the SRL was to the bottom of the steps, my wife and i couldn't help but laugh at them. the lady in front of us noticed this too and asked what those girls just did. i replied, 1. bought themselves another half hour in line, 2. i belive they are supposed to have a ticket, and 3. an attendnt in a shirt and tie watched them do it and hasn't taken his eye off them. they thought they were being tricky, i wish i could have seen this play out, but we were already off Diamondback and heading to beast (if not on it already)

[KIfan1980]

SRL pass policy now seems to be gone completely and has been replaced with the "SRL closed/SRL open" announcment based upon the length of the SRL. As someone above mentioned, it seemed to get closed when the line made the turn under the lift tonight and reopened when the line was close to the top of the stairs.

In my 6 rides in the SRL this evening, the wait time averaged 10 minutes, with a long of 25 and a short of 2. Main queue was about 30-40 minutes; I did the main 2 times when the SRL was closed when I got there even though waiting for the SRL to reopen would have meant a shorter wait - it allowed me to ask for a row 16 night ride (which I was granted by a nice ride op who I believe is a member of this site)

Bottom line, I still can't complain about the SRL, especially considering the alternative (no SRL) that would mean a longer wait for everyone every time (as trains would leave with empty seats). I'll again say though, that you have to understand that being a Single Rider does not entitle you to a shorter wait. The SRL is something extra that the park has to reduce the wait for everyone - don't get mad when it's closed and you'll enjoy the wait much more.

[TheCryptRaider]

Can someone explain to me how it works? Do you get the little SRL pass at the entrance to the ride? Or at the gate to the park?

[TheCryptRaider]

Oopsies, double post. Sorry.

[Tchu]

When they're actually using the passes, they are handed out at the entrance of the ride. Usually there is an employee (or two) stationed who manages the SRL passes, height checking, test seat, etc.

Lately, however, it appears as if they have abandoned the use of Single Rider passes.

This has led to people crossing over from one line to the other at the steps. I saw a couple of instances of groups of two or four getting in the SRL, walking all the way up to the end of that line (usually on the steps up to the station) and then duck under the railing and cross into the main line. Thus, they bypassed 90% of the wait and still had the ability to ride together and request seats.

If that sort of thing continues, I expect them to quickly go back to handing out passes.

[coaster_junky]

you get it at the entrance of the ride.

edit: i was beat to it.

[ZosoBeast]

I used the SRL line a total of 6 times last night, never waiting more than 10-15mins for my ride. I recognized a person getting into the regular line the same time I got into the SRL and by the time he got his one ride, I had ridden TWICE. Say what you want about the SRL, but until they get rid of it, I will be using the HECK out of it!

[TheCryptRaider]

Do you use the same pass all day?

[ZosoBeast]

When they would use the passes, the greeter would give you a pass at the entrance of the SRL and you would surrender the pass when you were given a seat. I was told yesterday that they were no longer using the passes, so take it for what it is worth.

The very best thing I can say about the SRL is if it is closed when you walk up to it, wait it out and give it a couple of minutes. When they reopen it, head on in and you will be darn near the top of the steps!

[gad198]

I know there's been a lot of debate on these forums about the SRL and KI's policy of not letting groups into the line. Many people seem to think that there's no harm/no foul in letting in groups, so long as those groups are willing to split up and ride separately.

But yesterday was a prime example of why the park has often been enforcing a 'true single riders only' policy.

On Friday, the park was not enforcing a "no groups" policy (nor were they handing out Single Rider cards) and since it was Math & Science Day, there were thousands of jr. high and high school students at the park. As a result, this meant there was an extraordinary amount of groups at Kings Island. Many of these groups of kids were looking at the main queue for Diamondback, seeing it was almost full (and not understanding that a full line is still only about a 45 minute wait thanks to B&M building people eaters), and hopping in the SRL.

Most of these students were actually willing to split up and ride single rider, but so many groups were flocking into the SRL... that it became a longer wait than the main queue.

Early in the day, the SRL was often closed because it had gotten so long that it was taking longer to empty than the main line. And why? All because of large groups being allowed in because these people didn't want to wait in a "long line" (I use the term long in reference to the number of people, not the actual wait time... but many park goers don't understand how fast this line moves).

At one point, I was in the SRL and waited almost 30 mins. The two times I rode DB and waited in the regular line, I waited about 35-40 minutes. In fact, the occasion I did use the SRL... it was so long and moving so slowly due to all the groups of students who had flooded it... that the seat assigner actually held the main queue and started assigning seats strictly from the SRL. He'd point and say "two single riders in row 1. Two single riders in row 2. Two single riders in row 3" He filled half a train strictly by pairing up single-riders before turning back to the main line... all because the SRL was too long and taking more time than the main line. They even announce the SRL is a stand-by line only... the seat assigner technically shouldn't have been assigning single riders together. But he almost had too.

And it seems to me that yesterday was exactly why KI had been enforcing a "no groups" policy for the SRL. The purpose of the SRL is to fill empty seats on trains, moving the lines more quickly, but also to allow true single riders the opportunity not to have to stand in line for an hour all by themselves. If Mom and Dad take litte Jr to the park, and Dad wants to ride DB, but Mom needs to stay with Jr who's too short to ride... they have to split up. The SRL should (in theory) allow Dad the opportunity to only be split up from his family for 10 minutes instead of an hour or two.

For portions of the day, the SRL was closed, and I watched numerous 'true' single riders get turned away... all because groups had flooded the SRL, causing it to be a longer wait than the main queue. That's a problem.

Yesterday made it clear, feelings about the SRL policy aside, that if the park does let anyone and everyone into the SRL... there are going to be problems. And this was just a Friday in mid-May. Wait till Saturday's in June and July

Excellent post. I got turned away twice from the SRL on Friday due to the SRL being closed. Granted, the SRL line was probably as long (if not longer) than what the main queue was, but the way they've had it working this weekend is asking for trouble.

I really do appreciate the SRL and the provision they've made to have it, but I do not like the fact that it's not regulated via the passes right now. I'm very curious to see how they handle this going forward.

[Kawana]

Yesterday (5/15) I was there by myself and the SRL was not open when I got in line. Then they opened it up, so I hopped over there (since I was a legit SR)...only to have the main line pass me by since they were assigning SRs very sporadically. Luckily, by the time I did get up there, the op was nice enough to let me wait for the front seat. But the SRL was much slower-and no sure if it saved any time.

Later (right around dark) the SRL was open and it was a 15 min wait....about 25 min. in the main line after they closed the SRL.

The best would be to have stricter screening at the beginning of the line..but it begs the question-how many times do you have to ride it before you become a 'group' with the other singles doing the same thing?!?

The park will say it's not meant to be a time saver, which it's not. It's purpose is to dispatch full trains.

[coaster_junky]

in the video that plays in the line, doesn't it say that the single rider line is only a standby line?

[The Interpreter]

When they're actually using the passes, they are handed out at the entrance of the ride. Usually there is an employee (or two) stationed who manages the SRL passes, height checking, test seat, etc.

Lately, however, it appears as if they have abandoned the use of Single Rider passes.

This has led to people crossing over from one line to the other at the steps. I saw a couple of instances of groups of two or four getting in the SRL, walking all the way up to the end of that line (usually on the steps up to the station) and then duck under the railing and cross into the main line. Thus, they bypassed 90% of the wait and still had the ability to ride together and request seats.

If that sort of thing continues, I expect them to quickly go back to handing out passes.

This type of thing is easily fixed with a barrier between the two lines such that a person cannot duck under it or go over it....anything from plexiglass to more narrowly spaced rails to the ugly chainlink fencing found in the station between the two sides of Racer (which at one time had the same issue, right after the station was changed to load from the interior sides as opposed to from the exterior sides)...

[coasterville]

Hold it - Racer used to board from the outsides, like its cousins at Kings Dominion and Carowinds??? I don't remember that, in fact I think even as early as the Brady Bunch television show they show the Bradys using the old exit, which was when they had a STEEP ramp that came down between the queue house and a beer booth that is no longer there, but lets just say its on the Sweet Tooth, uhm, make that the Subway side. The much longer exit ramp that goes around the back of the station and cmes out between the queue house and the basketball game was added in the 90's when the park was eliminating a lot of the steep ramps from the park. (See also, the original KCKC exit, the insanely steep hill from Rivertown down to the Swan Lake bridge, changing Beast from one steep ramp to the tri-fold ramp it has today, the Fairly Odd Coaster exit, and so on. )

I saw some of the last minute crossing between the SRL and the main line this weekend. Part of the problem is the parks iron fist grap on line jumping (note sarcasm in use). A big ugly barrier might solve the problem, but I don't think the SRL tickets would have.

Tickets only restricted who could enter the ride platform from the SRL, they would not have prevented a crossover from the SRL to the mainline. Unfortunately this relies on the park to enfore the line jumping rules, which might be made harder due to guests being too intimidated to cause conflict, most likely due to having witnessing the non-response in the past.

Tickets could prevent a crossover from the mainline to the SRL, but what is the point there. If you want to leave the mainline at that late point, after waiting through 95% of it, to join the end of the SRL, no skin off my back. Tckets restrict program usage to authorized guests, well they dropped the screening process, so thats irrelevant. Limiting the length of the SRL, well by monitoring the line and closing the gate when it reaches a certain point, they have solved that one. In fact, I'd say MOST of the people I saw using the SRL yesterday were in fact groups, and for the most part they understood the whole'will get split up' nature of the program. I also know it cut my wait time by 10-20 minutes a ride over the main line, there is a reason I managed 17 D-Back rides in 5 hours on Sunday. Thats only slightly worse than my ride count productivity during the night ERT a wek ago, where I did 10 rides in 2.5 hours.

[gad198]

^ I think the main thing with the SRL that most can agree on is that it is really annoying when you walk up and have the attendant out front tell you the SRL is closed. Most people who post on this board or veterans of the park realize that if the attendant tells you the SRL is closed, and if the queue is less than half an hour then you probably need to just get in the main queue anyway.

I was shocked to see that on several occasions this past weekend that the line was all the way down at the bottom of stairs and just around the corner. My brother and I went on twice on Sunday and in both circumstances the line the people who were allowed in the SRL perhaps five minutes after we got in line were getting on after we were.

It would be nice if someone would be able to come up with a quick and dirty guide as to how to best maximize your DB wait time via either the SRL or main queue. For instance, if the main queue looks to be a half hour long and the SRL line is right at the bottom of the stairs, which queue would be better to wait in statistically, etc.

[coasterville]

I'd like a camera mounted showing the stairway with a monitor at the ride entrance. IF the SRL is halfway down the stairs or less, go SRL, somewhere in the lower flight, its a gamble, all the way down the stairs, forget about it.

[The Interpreter]

I'll say it and say it now. I predict the single rider line is apt to share the fate of the single rider line Behemoth opened with...which is to say, it will soon go bye-bye. It's just not worth all the complaints it generates. I bet guest relations has been inundated with complaints about it...

Odd that other companies have single rider lines they use quite well (think Disney and Universal, for example)...

[gabelogan99]

I'm not really sure that the park will be quick to take something away just because it's being abused by a few groups. It has been open less than 20 operating days and they've already got rid of the passes. They're trying to perfect the system. They realized it didn't make any sense having not one but two lines. At least, that's what I'm assuming. From what I can tell, the passes are gone for good. The SRL itself still lives. If a group chooses to go into the SRL knowing full well that they will be paired with a stranger, that's their prerogative. Of course, it's stupid for them to do so because a group of say 4-5 people wouldn't have to wait that much longer to ride together on an average day. A group of six or more using the SRL would be even more stupid because they will end up waiting longer than they would if they chose to ride together. I don't think it will take too long for this illogic to sink in, and groups will eventually stop using the SRL.

What I do have a problem with are the reports that at least one ride op has sent two single riders at a time. Hopefully that is an isoloated incident and will not occur again. (Again, I'm having patience with the new system.) If I ever saw that, it would be cause for an official complaint, because it's obviously not acceptable and I don't think anyone would agree that it's acceptable. I would compare that to a ride op on any other ride allowing someone else to go in front of me without any given reason.

At this point in time, I don't have a problem with the Single Riders Line. It was made for a purpose, it's serving that purpose, and it will stay.

[The Interpreter]

Then why didn't it stay at Canada's Wonderland on Behemoth? It was about this time it disappeared, actually...in terms of days into the season...

[gabelogan99]

I would like to point out that I am not trying to directly challenge any certain individual or their ideas. I'm simply stating that what's done is done and it will remain that way whether we like it or not so we had better get ourselves used to it. A lot of time was clearly spent in developing the system and it takes a lot of dedication and work to employ the system. I just can't imagine a scenario where they would give all of that up.

[DaveStroem]

All they need to do is open the SRL and have the ride ops only seat people in empty single seats that are created by odd numbered parties in the regular queue. If the SRL line is too long, go back out and get in the regular line. This would be your choice and not require a attendant to police the line for groups.

BTW, my daughter & I lined up in the SRL one time, got to the top of the stairs and after a short wait the ride op gave her a spot, I guess something happened with the odd party so he gave the other empty seat to the next person in the SRL which happened to be me. We did not expect or request to sit together as it really did not make a difference to either one of us.

[Gabe]

Another easy fix would be for the greeter at the SRL to have a clicker, like some other ride ops have (Firehawk, some flats) that count how many people enter. Once the count reached 50 or so, the greeter would close the SRL for a few mins until the line emptied. This, in conjunction with a loader assigning one train out of say 20 or so to nothing but single riders would, in my mind, go a long way towards solving the problem.

[violakat03]

This has led to people crossing over from one line to the other at the steps. I saw a couple of instances of groups of two or four getting in the SRL, walking all the way up to the end of that line (usually on the steps up to the station) and then duck under the railing and cross into the main line. Thus, they bypassed 90% of the wait and still had the ability to ride together and request seats.

If you ever see this happening, alert the ride operators immediately. That is line jumping and should not be tolerated. If no one alerts the ride operators, they can't do anything about it.