Jasper Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I believe that they should have a speed pass system because i think that it would save the congestion of all the ride queves and generate more customer happiness. Dont get me wrong there is still a lot of happiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 ^I agree with you Jasper, they shouldve have started an electronic speed pass system with the installation of TRTR where those useless lockers are now. However, PKI does somewhat have a system like this on gold pass weekends or whatever. This system however is ran manually by employees and extremely flawed and thats not jsut on the parks fault but on the gold passholders who fail to read instructions. To use this system, which only operates on certain days, you must show your gold pass at the eifel tower info booth and receive your speed tickets however, most people are too alzy to read and jsut ocme to the ride flashing their gold passes expecting to be let in......this creates uncecesary stress and tension and problems. PKI needs a system as efective and reliable as Disneys. I went to all 5 Disney parks for a week last summer and never once was their system flawed nor did we notice anyone with problems. Kings Island needs a speed pass system........but they need to be able to do it right. Hopefully the new owners will see the value in this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 The system is further flawed. At SDatHC, at the point where the lines merge, I have seen numerous occasions where they have no employee there monitoring the line. That is a disaster waiting to happen. Whereas on The Beast, they have an employee in the station controlling the amount of people on the boarding platform, and checking for the speedlane tickets. Remember back in the day when they used to do that at The Beast regularly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 ^RZ is right, at some rides its easier to monitor than others but altogether its a hard system for the employees to monitor and enforce. I remember times last year when we had to have guest relations employees sent to The Beast line to give us a hand because we were worried we oculdnt enforce it well enough. Just another example of how Disney does things right, for example on space mountain in florida.........two que lines, one for speed lane one for regular....they are far apart so no one can hop over and if they try they fall pretty hard. KI needs a better system. Any word yet on if this one was going to return? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I haven`t heard anything. I know at WinterSoar some people expressed some concern over the system. Particularly the fact that the times on the tickets were all spaced like two to three hours apart. So in order to use them for Drop Zone, Delirium, and The Beast, and IJST, you have to spend almost 8 hours at the park, which is the opposite of what most people with season passes want to do. They want to spend a few hours in the park and then leave. But, that is the park`s way to try and get them to stay in the park, and play that game, buy that hamburger and a drink or that souvenir in that shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I liked how PKI kind of started to do this with their new rides like iwth IJ and having the speed pass available every operating day.....that ride seemed to have the most effective system and you knew pki was slowly going to transition into this type of speed system when they renovated PT into SDATHC since they built the line and when they reprofiled The Beast que lines a few years back. Lets jsut hoep whoever runs the park next manages this system effectively, isnt avatar suppsoed to get one of these speed lines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I have heard that Avatar is supposed to have one of those lines. Not sure if it will. Two rides I find surprising that have not had a Speed Lane line built is Face Off and Flight of Fear. These are two very popular rides, which tend to have slow moving and long lines. If Cedar Fair were to buy the parks, one would have to wonder about the fate of the Speed Lane. Cedar Fair discontinued their Free Way System last year, and they do not intend to bring it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 ^hmm why did they discontinue it? Is that the same one disney uses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 No it was not the same one that Disney used. Essentially, you would get your hand stamped with a color and a time (the color corresponded to which ride I believe). You were only allowed like two Free Way passes a day. I`m not exactly sure how it worked as I did not use it when I went to Cedar Point back in 2004. But I don`t think that they promoted that well. It was a free system and open to anyone in the park, not just season pass holders like at PKI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Do any of the six flags parks ahve a system like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 9, 2006 Author Share Posted April 9, 2006 If PKI had a system like Disney i believe that it would change all of the ride queve times. But one thing i noticed at Disney was that most people did not take advantage of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Do any of the six flags parks ahve a system like this? Yes. It's called Flash Pass, and it costs money at most parks. BIG money. As in an extra $50--less for larger groups, less at some Six Flags parks, too--puts you at the front of every line in the park. Cedar Point is quietly doing something similar, but only for very large amounts of money. Universal just quietly ended their free version too (though you can still participate if you stay on property, which is hardly free). Six Flags also has a system where you wait the same as other people, just not in line. It costs less, but it is also additional to either admission or a season pass. That's what worries me about these express pass systems. If the parks are going to charge (and Disney does NOT), they may as well go back to tickets per ride.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 9, 2006 Author Share Posted April 9, 2006 When i was at Cedar Point las summer they did not charge money for the Spee Pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Right, it was called FREElane or FREEway, I forget. And they don't offer the FREE whatever it was anymore... They do quietly offer exclusive front line access, for a very large fee... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reclaimer Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I'm sure Cedar Point discountinued Free Way partly due to the fact that, well...STAMPS! People can kinda cheat the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 $350 a person. Go to http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/visit/vip.cfm You get: The Millennium Package, purchased at a “per-person†price, is designed for a special and unique experience, whether you’re here for one day or for one week. The individual package includes 1 admission to Cedar Point, exclusive parking, front-of-the-line ride access to all of Cedar Point’s 68 diverse rides, complimentary on-ride photos (where available) and more! ONE-DAY VISIT TO Cedar Point* $ 350.00 per person includes: * Admission to Cedar Point * Exclusive parking * Exclusive front-of-the-line ride access * Exclusive restaurant seating * Exclusive live shows seating * 7 complimentary on-ride photos (where available) * Personal Cedar Point escort * MINIMUM OF 4 GUESTS REQUIRED. Parties of 2-3 guests will be assessed a $50.00 fee per person. Sorry, no single-guest parties. By the way, Cedar Fair is not alone in doing this. Six Flags offers it, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 10, 2006 Author Share Posted April 10, 2006 i guess if you really think about it it is not such a bad deal but when you first look at it it looks horrible. 350$? Thats a lot but you save a whole bunch of money if you include the ride photos which are about 14$ a pop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Minimum of four people required, or it's $400 (with at least two people...)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersNSich Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 A "speed pass"/virtual queueing system would be nice, but honestly, the best way to move the lines and shorten waits is simply to make them efficient: - Placing a "greeter" at the entrance of the line, along with a test seat, so that guests who are either too short or too large know about their restriction before they get to the station. - A "line separator" before the loading gates, making sure all seats go full. - Implementing a single rider line: singles may not get to choose their seat or their riding partner, but they help out the capacity, and end up waiting very little if all. - Some recorded spiels, so people know what they're doing before riding. - Running all available, working trains/cars vehicles Supposedly, another reason why CP ditched FreeWay, is so they could staff the line separators better, rather than someone having to guard and manage the Merge Point. I thought FreeWay was a nice option, but when I was in the park, I had to alter my schedule to line up for the stamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Speaking of which, Paramount's Carowinds has ended its single riders line for Borg. Drat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 That is the one thing that makes Cedar Point consistently ranked for one of the parks with the best capacity. They staff theire stations very well, and are very efficient in dispatching the trains and making sure that there are no empty rows. They regulate how many people are in the station platforms so that as many people as possible are leaving on each train. Also, they have people at the greeter position checking heights. Part of the problem with rides like The Racer, is that they have to pull people out of the seats and height check them. If it would be done at the entrance, then there would be no delay in the station. But from what I have heard, rides that had greeters in the past at PKI, may not have any this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Meanwhile, at Six Flags, almost all rides now have greeters, and they even tell people why rides are down in many of their parks... What is the world coming to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 10, 2006 Author Share Posted April 10, 2006 Meanwhile, at Six Flags, almost all rides now have greeters, and they even tell people why rides are down in many of their parks... What is the world coming to? Six Flags having courtesy? Its a sign of the Apocolypse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarketingExpress Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 I have heard that Avatar is supposed to have one of those lines. Not sure if it will. Two rides I find surprising that have not had a Speed Lane line built is Face Off and Flight of Fear. These are two very popular rides, which tend to have slow moving and long lines. If Cedar Fair were to buy the parks, one would have to wonder about the fate of the Speed Lane. Cedar Fair discontinued their Free Way System last year, and they do not intend to bring it back. You also have to remember that you need plenty of room for these speed lines. If a ride was not already designed with this in mind, it would be very difficult to do on rides like FO and FOF. However The Beast has a large amount of que area so they were able to transition it into a speed lane. While it is a good idea to have this, a majority of guests are to lazy or do not want to go up to the tower to get tickets. If each ride that had these speed lanes had machines, then the park would need to pay per machine. They would either have to hire more people to do maintenance on these machines, or train existing maintenance staff members on how to maintain these machines. Also PKI is not what you would call "busy daily" its not like Disney where you have +40,000 everyday. There are days we have under 15, 000 and then there are days (mostly weekends) that we have way more than that. Having these machines in place would be a waste of an investment until we get a large enough crowd on a daily basis. I think we should continue on the same course we are on, but continue to add these speed lanes to future new attractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Punk Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 You know, single rider lines are a good idea only if you have a ride like a B&M in the sense that there are four seaters. Or like Disney has on Fast Track because they are 3 across. You get my idea though, they are good if you have seats with more than two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMayChew Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Couple of Parks i have been to in Europe had a speed pass system if you paid like $10 more u could scan ur ticket through an automated scanner at the ride, and youd get your little ticket Seasonpasses got theirs sooner than just the normal day pass. But its a good idea, even if you dont buy the speed pass the wait never exceeds an hour, which is more than i would wait for any ride. And whats this i see about No Greeter? .... I loved greeter at TRTR, it was nice and in the shade, almost secluded DMC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium33 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 There is no reason pki can't create a daily speed pass system. It needs to be for more rides, too, and not that 'pick one of the following' crud. And finally they need a system of signs throughout the park that display updated ride wait times (or if the ride is running) like they have at Universal. That would save me the trouble if i just got of The Beast- i wouldnt have to walk across the park to see if Delirium has opened back up or not -- or if SoB's lines have died down yet. The problem would be keeping it updated to the minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Well, given that Cedar Fair did away with their speed pass in favor of selling VIP experience type tickets for scads of money...I don't think you will see a speed pass system at Kings Island in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 And finally they need a system of signs throughout the park that display updated ride wait times (or if the ride is running) like they have at Universal. That would save me the trouble if i just got of The Beast- i wouldnt have to walk across the park to see if Delirium has opened back up or not -- or if SoB's lines have died down yet. The problem would be keeping it updated to the minute. Now THAT is a good idea. You win the PKIC Nobel Peace Prize of the day. How about marquis around the park with ride closures and wait times? I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 About the ride wait times. The only parks that have come close to perfecting that concept, IMO are the Disney parks. They send cards with guests through the line that are scanned when they are given to the guests, and then again when they board the ride to determine the exact wait time. The problem is, the ride may experience a delay, such loading a handicapped person, which may cause the wait to increase. Secondly, at a park like Kings Island, various displays showing the wait time, while they could be beneficial during some days and situation, are almost assuredly more expensive than the justification to put such a system in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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