Does Fast Lane encourage line jumping?

[Browntggrr]

There have been numerous discussions across many fan sites about the increasing trend of line jumping over the past handful of years.  Part of me thinks it may be due to Fast Lane opportunities at most parks.

Full disclosure: I am not a Fast Lane supporter, likely due to being more "old school" but truly want to understand how other park enthusiasts feel about line jumping and the increased trends.  Please let me know if another question should be asked!

[Benjamin22]

Maybe it slightly contributes to it, but to be honest I think lack of enforcement of the no line jumping policy is more to blame for an increase in line jumping.

[flightoffear1996]

It does not I don't think. I like the idea of fast pass but I do think it needs to be adjusted. Only allowing so many rides in a row ect. To help spread out the users. 
while at Carowinds we had someone try to like Jump Us in the fast pass lane. 

[MoreFogPlease]

I don't think this is exactly what you meant, but I have seen people enter the Fast Lane, get almost to the very end, then just before they get to the attendant they pretend like they didn't know what they were doing and go under the railing from the Fast Lane to the normal lane, cutting in front of all the people in the normal lane.

[BeeastFarmer]

They need more of a staff presence in the more popular lines or video monitoring.  In other words, put some teeth with the warning about line jumpers.  

Back on subject:  With the exception of what @MoreFogPlease said, I don't think FL or FL+ encourages line jumping explicitly, but maybe implicitly.  

[disco2000]

Line jumping has almost always happened (can't speak to like Coney back in the roaring 1920s LOL).

I think FL has given some that do not have the money for FL the idea that it is ok to line jump.  With many of the queues being close together, I have seen as someone else pointed out, someone entering the main line to get past the front of line employee, jump into FL line and then re-enter regular line just out of site of the ride separator at the station.

I remember when the park used to have signs posted that was just about line-jumping and being ejected from the park at the entrance of many rides.  Now they are non-existent and/or buried among the wall of text sign at almost every entrance, so nobody reads them, just like my wall of text posts LOL.

Like everything, social media has allowed our knowledge of it happening to be more front and center.  Most people post negative on social media "The place sucks - long lines and line jumpers all day" type posts.  Very few post about the wonderful, event-free day they experienced.

But in my opinion the bigger issue are those that feel it is necessary to vape and smoke in a queue line.  I see that way more often than line-jumpers.

More employees in the queues would be a start to solve both problems.

While it sucks to see line-jumpers, I do not think it is to the point that much will be done at this point.  They say you can tell an employee or text the hotline number. 

Unless they hand out numbers at the entrance and the line separator checks numbers and boots out anyone out of sequence or without a number, you really cannot put enough staff in the queues to prevent it.

 

[flightoffear1996]

44 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Line jumping has almost always happened (can't speak to like Coney back in the roaring 1920s LOL).

I think FL has given some that do not have the money for FL the idea that it is ok to line jump.  With many of the queues being close together, I have seen as someone else pointed out, someone entering the main line to get past the front of line employee, jump into FL line and then re-enter regular line just out of site of the ride separator at the station.

I remember when the park used to have signs posted that was just about line-jumping and being ejected from the park at the entrance of many rides.  Now they are non-existent and/or buried among the wall of text sign at almost every entrance, so nobody reads them, just like my wall of text posts LOL.

Like everything, social media has allowed our knowledge of it happening to be more front and center.  Most people post negative on social media "The place sucks - long lines and line jumpers all day" type posts.  Very few post about the wonderful, event-free day they experienced.

But in my opinion the bigger issue are those that feel it is necessary to vape and smoke in a queue line.  I see that way more often than line-jumpers.

More employees in the queues would be a start to solve both problems.

While it sucks to see line-jumpers, I do not think it is to the point that much will be done at this point.  They say you can tell an employee or text the hotline number. 

Unless they hand out numbers at the entrance and the line separator checks numbers and boots out anyone out of sequence or without a number, you really cannot put enough staff in the queues to prevent it.

 

Virtual queue could solve this. 

[Honorarius]

I think it's getting worse because people see others doing it and getting away with it, so they figure they can do it too.

I don't think Fast Lane factors into it at all.

[KI Guy]

Pay-to-cut systems like Fast Lane probably contribute to line jumping in a small way.

I can imagine a very small subset of folks see the Fast Lane  people getting ahead of them in line and decide "if they can do it so can I" and they jump the regular line. They may feel a little like Robin Hood at that point.

It's funny to me that the only reason Fast Lane is tolerated at all is that they try to make the regular line not see it. If Fast Lane was replaced by a system where they just were able to walk through the regular line past 80% of guests people would absolutely lose it.

[Honorarius]

1 hour ago, KI Guy said:

the only reason Fast Lane is tolerated at all is that they try to make the regular line not see it. If Fast Lane was replaced by a system where they just were able to walk through the regular line past 80% of guests people would absolutely lose it.

Next thing you know, they'll be letting people pay more for better seats at Reds games!!!

[disco2000]

2 minutes ago, Honorarius said:

Next thing you know, they'll be letting people pay more for better seats at Reds games!!!

LOL - yep people have been buying cheap seats and sneaking down to better seats for as long as there has been different price tickets.

[KI Guy]

14 minutes ago, Honorarius said:

Next thing you know, they'll be letting people pay more for better seats at Reds games!!!

I know you are saying this somewhat in jest, but the reality is that's always been the business model for sporting events and theater. Amusement parks pre-FL hadn't offered tiered experiences on a large scale since the days of ride tickets. It's a big change and it needs to be thought of as such.

In time FL could become as normal as pay one price admission was. Alternatively, we may see a move away from it should there be long-term negative effects, we just don't know yet.

[Honorarius]

1 minute ago, KI Guy said:

I know you are saying this somewhat in jest, but the reality is that's always been the business model for sporting events and theater. 

Not "always". Those businesses just realized that they can get people to pay more for an upgraded experience earlier than theme parks and movie theatres. 

What you're seeing now is just the latter catching up.

[KI Guy]

^Yes, I meant 'always' as in within the frame of memory of the customers, which is what matters when talking about how a business model is seen by the public. Of course there was a time when any business operated differently than it does now.

It's always been a reality that some people will pay more for a better experience. There was likely caution against implementing a Fast Lane system in previous years because of the potential for backlash and bad long-term effects.

When they implemented FL they decided to take a chance. Right now they seem to be doing ok with it, but it will take a long time to see if it has been a long-term positive for the business.

[Honorarius]

^^^ And I'm saying when those changes happened, it was "now" to someone. Just like these changes are to us now. 

And it's spreading. Someone, somewhere, is figuring out a way to upcharge me for even more stuff that I haven't even considered I could be upcharged for.

Someone's doing the math on "lost money from disgruntled customers unhappy with our business model" vs "Earned money from people willing to pay extra for" and their calculator just shows one of them old timey bags with the dollar sign on it.

Like you say, it'll be a while to see if it's positive long-term. Wouldn't be the first time a company ran over a cliff trying to squeeze every nickel they can out of people.  But they've also got a lot of examples of "it worked for them, we can do it too"

[KI Guy]

^ Solid post all around.

One additional thing I'd like to add is they, like all public companies, are susceptible to people who only care about pumping revenue now at the potental detriment of the business long term. Long-term investors and people on the board who care about the company outside of its monetary value should be vigilent.

[BoddaH1994]

I don’t think it’s the mentality of, “I see people with the wrist bands bypassing the line so I can too.” That’s absurd. 
 

I think a lot of people are very entitled and know that, although the rule is you have to wait in line, there likely won’t be any repercussions if they skip pass hundreds of people to meet up with their group. 
 

I do think, and have seen, Fastlane affect line jumping. People get in lime, cross over info Fastlane, and then cross back over in the front of the line to join their group. So it makes the logistics much simpler. 

[KI Guy]

^ I know that was directed at the thread in general, but I never said it was the predominant motivator. I said I can imagine a very small subset of visitors see FL and decide to cut. You can disagree with that possibility, but it's hardly absurd.

[FUN&ONLY!]

Occasionally Kings Island does have employees walk around the queue lines for some of their major rides, but it is inconsistent. When there are employees watching, either people are scared to line jump or they easily get caught. However, when there is not an employee in the queue lines, line jumpers often get away with it. I believe the policy is that if two separate parties report line jumping to an employee (most often this happens in the station) then the line jumpers get kicked out of line. Unfortunately, most park guests don’t report line jumpers, and they get away with it.