Amusement parks offer ways to skip lines, for free or for a fee

Helbig, at Kings Island, said the park has gotten no negative feedback from guests who resent these legal line-jumpers.

Thought this was worth noting.

I was just at King's Island at the end of last week. I wasn't about to pay $50. Especially when I was able to get on all the rides I wanted to and not even stay the whole day. By my observations.....I never saw more than just a few people at the most popular rides using the pass, so of course, no one would object to it.

Interesting that he calls them line jumpers. Would have thought there is a more PC term that the park would use.

^Haha. I know I would be offended if someone called me that while I was forking over an extra $50 to do it legally. ;)

-Tina

I was hoping the term Differently Queued would catch on, but so far no luck. :)

^Perfect! :)

Shades, I doubt if Helbig used that term. The paragraph I quoted wasn't an actual quote by him.

Vater said:

Helbig, at Kings Island, said the park has gotten no negative feedback from guests who resent these legal line-jumpers.

Thought this was worth noting.

I guess most enthusiasses have been to busy to visit otherwise they'd be here complaining about it. Oh, wait.

Interesting article. I like this part...

"We're always looking for ways to reduce wait times," said Robin Innes, Cedar Point's director of public relations.

Allowing people to cut in front of others will not reduce wait times. That makes the lines longer, Robin. Don't bring Fast Lane to Cedar Point, please.

Then Robin said this about why the failed Ticket To Ride front-of-the-line scam was discontinued...

"We believe in first-come, first-served," said Innes. "And these people were moving in front of other people in line."

The article writer even said that he felt kind of like the system split the park guests into haves and have nots...

Honestly, though, it made me feel a little sheepish walking past all those people waiting in longer lines. The pass creates a kind of amusement-park caste system -- the folks who can afford the go-to-the-front-of-the-line passes, and everyone else.

LostKause said:
Allowing people to cut in front of others will not reduce wait times. That makes the lines longer, Robin. Don't bring Fast Lane to Cedar Point, please.

1. Sometimes your screen name is too appropriate. ;)

2. If I use Fast Lane, my wait is significantly shorter.

3. Since we're lobbying...

Robin, I have $40 for admission and $50 for Fast Lane that says you should bring it to Cedar Point...and I have a family of four.

My response to Travis' post is at the top of this thread. :)

Seriously, I wonder how many complaints the parks that implement VQ systems receive. Obviously not enough to get rid of them, except at Cedar Fair...which is reinstating it in some form or another once Dick is out.

Well, Helbig isn't being completely honest, or was misquoted. The proof of that is on their Facebook page when the announcement was made. About a third complained about the line-jumping aspect of it, a third complained about it being too expensive, and a third loved the idea.

...And if a third of those who love the idea buy it when they are at the park, that accounts for the about ten percent of the park visitors who are buying it. :p

Or bitching and moaning by 50 or 60 people online doesn't translate to anything tangible in the real world.

I think there's an important lesson here.

Shouldn't the theme song from the Twilight Zone be playing here?

The lesson to be learned here is that those 50 or 60 people are representative of the opinions of everyone, and is telling that everyone is not super happy and excited about the park offering a way to cut in front of everyone else...

I mean, even you chimed in on that Facebook discussion, Gonch. The 50 or 60 people praising the park for giving them a way to cut without getting kicked out doesn't translate to anything in the real world either. :)

LostKause said:
The 50 or 60 people praising the park for giving them a way to cut without getting kicked out doesn't translate to anything in the real world either. :)

Precisely.

I think I contradicted myself there. Is it too late to add a winkie face?

:)

I'd love to see a ballpark ratio of VQ users to complaints to guest services about the system. I'm thinking the difference is somewhere in the astronomical range.