SRL policy on DP is ridiculous IMO

[dr_humor]

Confusing. Maverick never had an issue with its SRL, and in all my trips to the park I've never witnessed someone "abusing" the line. What's up with people who are visiting KI?

If I am correct, waiting in the SRL also 100% negates your ability to choose a seat, at least that has been my experience. So yes, the advantage is a shorter wait time (once you make it all the way up to the SRL which is embedded in the queue near the load) but you end up wherever fate puts you.

[skaterboy22101]

They stoped using the SRL passes last Friday. Smart, yet dumb move in their part.

[FireBeast]

Confusing. Maverick never had an issue with its SRL, and in all my trips to the park I've never witnessed someone "abusing" the line. What's up with people who are visiting KI?

If I am correct, waiting in the SRL also 100% negates your ability to choose a seat, at least that has been my experience. So yes, the advantage is a shorter wait time (once you make it all the way up to the SRL which is embedded in the queue near the load) but you end up wherever fate puts you.

Remember that Maverick's SRL is very short compaired to Diamondback's. When people see that they can skip the entire line, they go for it but when they can skip 5% of it, they won't.

[74Gibson]

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.

I read in other threads that they need complaints from two different groups before they can do anything about it, so get the peopel around you involved.

[Diamondback FOF]

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.

Actually, we got in line at the bottom of the stairs on Saturday and we only waited about 20 minutes and the main queue was full. Also, during that same visit, there was a group of probably six 11-ish year old boys in a group in front of me in the SRL. The all split up and had no problem with it, but they rode within about two trains of one another. Also, I went with my sister and my friend on Saturday. We didn't care if we split up, for one reason its not like we talk to each other during the ride, and someone would ride bythemselves anyways. I ended up riding with a guy that was in a group of three so I think small groups should be allowed in the SRL, but not groups of 6, 7, or 8+. That is just too big.

BTW the SRL passes weren't being used on Saturday, so the SRL ended up closed. I tried to ride DB again, this time by myself, and the line was closed. I stood there waiting for a few minutes and the attendent guy told my it would be a while before the line was opened again. So I go and sit down with my family and talk to them. I check back after a couple of minutes and the line was open! Now, can you honestly tell me that they thought the line would be closed for a while and then in two minutes them open it back up? I know, the SRL isn't a right, it's a priveledge. Anyways, I ended up waiting about 15 minutes.

[Tchu]

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.

I don't go to the park to spend time going rounds with the ride-ops/unruly guests/Guest Relations. I'm there to have a good time, to enjoy the park environment and all the great rides. It shouldn't be the guests responsibility to police lines. I understand the staff can only see so much on their own, and that's just an unfortunate face of amusement parks, but that shouldn't shift the burden on the guests. And as was just mentioned above, often they won't do anything if there aren't multiple complaints or some sort of proof.

In this particular case, I was standing where the SRL rounds the corner practically. A couple kids a few people in front of me crossed over into the main queue. I couldn't have really played line-cop even if I'd wanted to. I was stuck at the end of a thirty person SRL. The nearest Ride-op was nearly forty feet away at the top of the ramp. Unless I screamed at the top of my lungs (and even that might not have worked) he wasn't going to hear me. I can't very well push past 30some people, pushing to the front of the line, assuring them I'm only going up to discuss line-cutters. And I couldn't just wait till we got up to the ride-op, then point out the kids who cut in line. They'd jumped from SRL to the main que. They were on a train before I'd moved 5 people closer to the station.

I'd have loved for those kids to been removed from the park (even though they actually saved me time) because using the SRL to cut ahead of 90% of the main queue is just pathetic. But even had I thought it would have led to something, and even if I'd been willing to wait for security and give my word against there's and do that thing, my position in the line, and the dual nature of SRL/main queue left me with basically no opportunity to point out the misconduct in a manner in which anything could be done about the transgression.

This all gets back to the, at times, crazy and out of control antics the SRL lends itself too. And there's little that can be done about it. Outside of stationing an employee to specifically police the line. This is why I tend to agree with Terpy, in that I could see the SRL becoming extinct before the end of its first season.

Also, I tend to disagree with the prevailing sentiment in this thread that the SRL is not meant to save single-riders time.

First of all, promoting an entirely separate line that gets to stroll right past the main-queue and its endless switchbacks immediately gives that impression. Secondly, calling it a "Single Rider Line" and promoting it via passes (well, up until the past week), a separate entrance point, announcements etc... doesn't sound like something that is meant to just benefit the park and keeping the main line going.

Also, we're talking about a coaster with a 1600pph capacity. It's not like sendind a train out here and there with an emtpy seat or two is a big deal in terms of slowing up the line. In fact, if every train were sent out with 2 empty seats, DB would still move 1500pph... and would still be among, if not the fastest moving line in the park. Let's not act like the SRL is necessary to fill all seats and prevent the ride from becoming a capacity nightmare.

If it was just about filling single seats to keep the main queue moving... why not do like Maverick? Why not do like MF and many other rides where the ride-op simply asks for a single rider. That single rider moves up through the line and fills the seat... problem solved and train filled.

The fact that DB has a specific 'SRL' that has its own separate main entrance, moves past the entire queue etc seems to state to me that one of the main goals of the SRL is, in fact, to save single riders time.

And that's likely why they want (or wanted initially) to keep groups out. A couple groups of six people jumping in the main queue adds approximately 25-30 seconds to the wait time based on the DB's capacity. That same dozen people entering the SRL could easily add a many as 10-15 minutes to the wait.

And that leads to Ride-ops assigning trains solely from the SRL... whether they should be or not.

[Gabe]

I won't be as quick as Terpy to say the SRL will be gone before the end of this season. Keep in mind that this coaster is a first for the park in many ways, so the park staff is likely trying out diff ways to manage the SRL in the hopes that one or a combination of some efforts will work. My guess is they go with Terpy's suggestion and retrofit the end of the line to prevent hopovers at some point. The passes, while a good idea, were simply not an efficient way to manage the line. The way the passes were used, the greeter was at the mercy of the loaders as to when they would get a new supply of passes..when the ride was busy, it was easy to put that task on the back burner. Give it some more time, and I'm sure the SRL will (hopefully) be a huge success.

[HTCO]

The way I look at a SRL is you need to be a SINGLE RIDER, not reffering to your relationship status, as in you came to that attraction by yourself. That way if their is an odd numbered group in the regular queue, the seat can be filled. Not nessesarly to get on the ride quicker, which just happens to be a plus. It just bugs me when I see a whole big group of people go to the SRL and the SRL is all the way down to the bottom of the steps.

[KIfan1980]

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.

What problem would this solve? The SRL is almost always a shorter wait than the main queue - what would assigning trains to single riders accomplish except causing more problems. I'd be talking to Guest Relations in a heartbeat if I'd waited 30-40 minutes and then saw people who are already waiting less than me get get on even faster.

[HTCO]

^ I would be furious also. But the goal of the SRL is to fill empty seats like I stated above, not to give single riders a shorter wait, its just a plus.

[DaveStroem]

The only thing needed for this to work well is a stern seat assigner. No seat selections and no ride together requests.

I did hear of a clever gate greeter that asked people when they got to the SRL "how many in your party" if they said anything but 1 they were sent to the main queue.

Now that they got rid of the passes, all they need to do is put up some banners to stop people form jumping from the SRL to the main queue and I think it will work fine.

[Diamondback FOF]

If it was just about filling single seats to keep the main queue moving... why not do like Maverick? Why not do like MF and many other rides where the ride-op simply asks for a single rider. That single rider moves up through the line and fills the seat... problem solved and train filled.

I totally agree with everything you said except for what I left up in the quote. When ride ops do this, it takes up more time. Even if it only 15 seconds to find a single rider, if there were two single riders per train and one train every 1.5 minutes, then it adds about a 20 minute wait per hour. So, that one hour wait is now a 1 hr. and 20 min. wait. Also, it's more of a hassle for the ride ops. The way it is done now, ALL of the seats are filled in advance (usually, although they're sometimes having to hurry because there's no one in line) and it is a lot easier for the ride ops. They have single riders right by them, so they don't have to go through the line to find one.

Just my 2 cents.

[Tchu]

The only thing needed for this to work well is a stern seat assigner. No seat selections and no ride together requests.

I did hear of a clever gate greeter that asked people when they got to the SRL "how many in your party" if they said anything but 1 they were sent to the main queue.

Now that they got rid of the passes, all they need to do is put up some banners to stop people form jumping from the SRL to the main queue and I think it will work fine.

I don't see how a stern seat assigner fixes any of the SRL's problems. It doesn't prevent people from switching lines. It doesn't prevent the SRL getting too long and outta control. It doesn't prevent the park feeling they need to shutdown the SRL or go back to passes.

And I assume you are referencing just the SRL when you say "No Seat Selections" (taking away seat requests from the main queue would cause a whole other set of problems/complaints), but I personally haven't seen this being a problem. In my time spent in the SRL I haven't heard any Single Rider request a seat. Even if they did... I don't see how it adds any real time to the wait. Either the Ride-Op can accomidate, or they can't. Either way, it shouldn't hold up the line.

The idea of building tall fences/barricades between the SRL and main queue would almost certainly prevent line-jumpers and is definitely something for the park to look into. But, it's not without its own problems. One, it costs money to build a barricade. Two, while it might work, it would likely be an eye-sore. And three, the park is just a day away from beginning its daily operations. When is the park supposed to go in and tear down the existing railing and build a barricade? Unless they did it in one 8 hour shift overnight one evening... but that seems unlikely.

[Dvo]

If the SRL was separated from the main queue, I think it would be perfect. There wouldn't be line jumping and as long as the single riders are put wherever they are needed, I think it's fine.

[DaveStroem]

The only thing needed for this to work well is a stern seat assigner. No seat selections and no ride together requests.

I did hear of a clever gate greeter that asked people when they got to the SRL "how many in your party" if they said anything but 1 they were sent to the main queue.

Now that they got rid of the passes, all they need to do is put up some banners to stop people form jumping from the SRL to the main queue and I think it will work fine.

I don't see how a stern seat assigner fixes any of the SRL's problems. It doesn't prevent people from switching lines. It doesn't prevent the SRL getting too long and outta control. It doesn't prevent the park feeling they need to shutdown the SRL or go back to passes.

And I assume you are referencing just the SRL when you say "No Seat Selections" (taking away seat requests from the main queue would cause a whole other set of problems/complaints), but I personally haven't seen this being a problem. In my time spent in the SRL I haven't heard any Single Rider request a seat. Even if they did... I don't see how it adds any real time to the wait. Either the Ride-Op can accommodate, or they can't. Either way, it shouldn't hold up the line.

The idea of building tall fences/barricades between the SRL and main queue would almost certainly prevent line-jumpers and is definitely something for the park to look into. But, it's not without its own problems. One, it costs money to build a barricade. Two, while it might work, it would likely be an eye-sore. And three, the park is just a day away from beginning its daily operations. When is the park supposed to go in and tear down the existing railing and build a barricade? Unless they did it in one 8 hour shift overnight one evening... but that seems unlikely.

Yes, I was talking about seat requests from the SRL line. As to the line barricades, I would just add some vinyl banners with graphics to the existing railing. While this would not completely stop it, it would discourage it. Now to the amount of people in the SRL. I feel that is the chance you take when you get in the SRL just like it is at WDW. Most every time you will have a shorter wait but nothing is guaranteed. If you see the line reaching back past the stairs then you may want to turn around and get int he regular queue. But that would be your choice just like getting in the SRL in the first place is.

[Cort]

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.

Two people that came together using the SRL is the problem. To me, Single Rider Line means just that "Single Rider"!

[The Interpreter]

To you, sure. But, a single rider line should mean it is available to anyone who doesn't wish to sit with someone else. Who they came to the park with, are married or not married to, or intend to leave the park with is, quite frankly, no one's business. Not the park's, not the ride operators', not mine and certainly not yours.

[DaveStroem]

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.

Two people that came together using the SRL is the problem. To me, Single Rider Line means just that "Single Rider"!

Just to further clarify, we were not seated at the same time. She was seated first then the other people bailed or went for the front row after she was assigned. Then he assigned me to the other empty seat. If she had already gone, then I would have been seated with the next single rider. So the same issue would have happened.

Please get over yourself

[The Interpreter]

Amen. If he wants to have rules like that, he can have them when he runs his own park. And then he can wonder why the customers don't come back!

[HandsUp]

I think it works great...in the SLR you're giving up the ability to ride with your friends and any possible requests of where to sit. I love the front and back, but the idea of the SLR is efficiency-and it makes for full trains.

[Cort]

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.

Two people that came together using the SRL is the problem. To me, Single Rider Line means just that "Single Rider"!

Just to further clarify, we were not seated at the same time. She was seated first then the other people bailed or went for the front row after she was assigned. Then he assigned me to the other empty seat. If she had already gone, then I would have been seated with the next single rider. So the same issue would have happened.

Please get over yourself

I need to get over myself just because I have a different opinion than you on the subject? No thanks I’m good! Just how much fun would it be if everyone on here had the same beliefs and opinions? I bet there would not be as many people hanging around and the posts would become rather boring.

[gigacoaster2k]

The bashing and insulting in this thread is getting more ridiculous than the abuse of the SRL.

[House]

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.

Ive always wondered how you alert the rider operators if you are way back in line. Do you just wait until you get to front?

[74Gibson]

Nemo told me he likes it when people throw stuff at him .

Gibson, now scared to enter DB loading platform.

[Gabe]

when the coaster formally known as Italian Job first opened, there was a sign and i think still is that says singles will be paired..rather than a SRL, the ride ops asked who were singles as they neared the front of the line..as noted above, it caused the coaster lines to back up more, since those people then had to squeeze past 10-20 other people to the loading platform. I didn't see it used much after that first season. give the park credit for trying to tweak the db srl while the park is open, rather thanw ait until the offseason to address it.

[Beast79]

I'm going to try it the next time I go, I don't get to ride much when I bring my daughters since they are not tall enough. I think it would be perfect to use while they are occupied with eating lunch.

[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.

Ive always wondered how you alert the rider operators if you are way back in line. Do you just wait until you get to front?

Usually you wait till you get close enough to get a ride ops attention. I have seen people actually get out of the regular line, walk up the single rider line, tell the ride op, and then return to their place in line, and I find that perfectly acceptable. It also gives the people in front of you the chance to say "hey, they're complaining about that line jumper. I'm going to tell them "yeah, I saw it too ,they definitely jumped."

[HuktAwnFoniks]

I really don't understand their policy on the Single Riders Line, but I have a hunch they'll soon drop it and just keep the SRL open constantly. Keeping people waiting in a line outside of the queue, confusing guests that are just trying to get into the normal line ("What's going on, is it closed?"), just so that the line inside of the queue doesn't go past the bottom of the stairs is absurd to say the least. There is a lot of wasted effort on the part of the employees working the front of the queue, needing to direct normal riders past the Single Rider queue. So long as there is a considerable line for the ride, the SRL should be open to anyone willing to fill an empty seat regardless of how long it gets.

My buddy and I went to get into the SRL on Saturday right when they opened it up and the girl tried to tell us we couldn't do it since we were together. He was all worried that we were doing something we weren't supposed to (clearly an amusement park amateur ), but I assured him there was nothing they could do. It was nice waiting ten minutes instead of 45 since we don't have season passes and wanted to get as much in as we could. We weren't trying to cheat the system, we just wanted to get on the ride. We were willing to ride separate from each other, and we did. I even lucked out and got to ride in row 16, which was fantastic.

Single Rider means you're willing to ride alone to fill what would be an otherwise empty seat, not that you don't know anybody else in line. Unfortunately it's not a logistical possibility, but I'd love to see more Single Rider lines. So many times I see empty seats on The Beast thinking, "Ah, but that could be me!". I remember my last trip to Universal Studios five years ago was greatly improved by the Single Rider Lines they've got.

[Jasper]

My opinion on the SRL, if you are with a group of 6 people and you want to ride together, get in the normal queue. But, if you are with a group of 6 and you don't mind riding by yourselves, quite possibly even on a different train then you can. That's my opinion.

[HandsUp]

Today was a little frustrating, as the main line was relatively full, but the SRL was often closed. Every time I'd be in the main line, the SRL would open, but I'd stay in the main queue...I'd ride-then find the SRL closed because it had built up past the bottom of the stairs. One time, I was able to get in the SRL as soon as it opened, and was on a train in about a minute. But more often, I waited it out in the main queue (~30 min). It was really just bad timing.

While it seems OK to get in the SRL even if you're in a group (and don't mind not sitting together)-today may have made me reconsider. Basicly, the fact that many groups were filling up the SRL caused it to be full very often, and caused single riders (myself) to have to wait out the main queue. I coul have waited until the SRL opened again, but that would be a gamble. It just seems like a guessing game, and in my case, my timing kept me from being able to really use the SRL. At least I got 2 front seat rides though!