Bad and Good Stations - layout wise

*cough* Disaster Transport *cough* ;)

Magnum's station is definitely horrible when it's busy. When you stand in line for the front and the line moves, the people in line for the second row yell at you for line jumping because they think they're in line for the front. It's just too crowded in there.

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I can't think of a good signature.

We usually packed the Magnum platform on busy days for two reasons: first, it makes the line appear shorter and more people will get in line, and second, it gives us a bigger group of people up on the platform to try to find single riders out of and thus have our trains fully packed. With the new gates, I don't know if it makes as much sense to pack the platform for the second reason because yelling for single riders will be difficult since the gates might already be closed and they won't be able to make their way to the train anyway. I suspect they will still try to pre-group on busy days. I never had a problem when I rode last year - in fact I kind of liked it packed because I could go for 1-2 or 1-3 (always the shortest lines) while the rest of the people just stand there. The problem of a crowded station on opening day was compounded by all the lapbars not working. Normally if the person at turnstyles stops the line for about 2 minutes, the station empties out substancially. This wasn't the case last weekend because of so many lapbars having problems. Also, I don't know why they took out the extended railing for front seat queing. It makes the whole mess up front even more confusing than it was since you really aren't sure if someone is in line for 1-1 or 1-2.

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

Viper at SFGAm has a bad station. It gets so packed and nobody can move. You can't tell what row you are waiting for. Sometimes, they have a person let the people in, but that's usually not the case. Batman at SFGAm also is horrible. The front row people clog the path and the station is empty. Iron Wolf's is really bad now. It was always fine until that stupid Fastlane. There used to be a front row line and then all the other rows line. But stupid Six Flags turned the other rows line into a Fastlane line, so you can't get to the station now. The front row riders block everything. It is one of the dumbest decisions I have ever seen. I don't what Six Flags was thinking when they did this, but it really irks me. Deja Vu also has a really bad station. It is really packed in there. You can't tell what row you are waiting for. But that is nothing compared to the boarding problems. You can barely get through to the other side of the train. If you have an outside seat, you have to go in front of the inside seat people to get across. Imagine if you have to take your baggage into the bin and get back across! It takes a long time just for everyone to sit down. Vekoma should have made normal 4 across seating. SoB's station is kinda weird too. You think you are there and it won't be much longer, but then you have to weave! Most Arrow loopers have easy to follow stations.

Yankee Cannonball is one station that is rediculous. It is so small that it's not even funny. I can see how it was possible for that station faliure that cuased the crash. The station is too small to operate. It's okay to have a transfer track, but when you have a station that's half the normal size why do they store the train ddirectly inside the station? The operator's view of the ride is completely blocked by a utility shed for the park. the final brakes were deperately in need of replacing. The final brake run were these extremely old skid brakes and the final brake run is not flat either. They're slanting down at a 15 degree angle. I'm glad they hired GCI to fix all this stuff, and in doing so, since they have strong magnetic brakes, the two sets of trims aren't really going to be needed. It's just said that it took two ride crashes to notice that.

So far I'd have to say that the worse stations are Viper @ SFGAm and Magnum @ CP. You could also throw in the queues for most SLCs, of particular offense T2 @ SFKK. It has they same "every-man for himself" feeling as the others listed above.

But from the moment I saw it, I thought that the Son of Beast station was the most perfect design to date. It seems like it was designed by someone who actually *visits* theme parks. Too many stations fail to take into account that people prefer the front or the back and tohave the line end at one of these two points is asking for backups (see Wild One and S:ROS @ SFA). The Sonny station eliminates all this.

Oh, and one other queue that confuses the hell out of guests is the Dueling Dragons station. First, you disorient the guests by widing them through this long castle, then when you get in the station, it's still very poorly lit so most people miss the sign that says the extended queue is only for the front seat.
lata,
jeremy
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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01

Another horrible station is Stealth. With many people's vote for the worst queues for any coaster. With extremely slow loading times, single station, and breakdowns so often you would think that they'd at least have something in the line to keep you occupied.

There isn't anything! Not even one patch of grass or dandelion to stare at. Under the hot California sun, you're standing in a 3 hour looping que over a flat slab of concrete. there is one shaded spot on the entire que, and a big empty pit of concrete that you loop around is the only thing there. When you get to the bland station at least there is something new to watch....STEALTH BREAKING DOWN

Average train dispatch is:

-Gates open

-Riders get in train

-Strapped in and checked

-train don't go down

-train reclines halfway and comes back up

-train goes down again

-comes back up 4 inches and stops

-train stuck for ten minutes

-train goes back down and finally leaves

Isn't that a great show? Beats standing in the sun for 3 hours on hot pavement.

My idea for a good queue is like Superman:Rid of Steel at Six Flags New England. When it gets crowded the line can seperate into three seperate lines. About a quarter of the way through the queues, it will break up into three section for different parts of the ride and the lines will stay that way until you get to the station and hop on board the part that you want. It's not a cramped break up for front and back in the station house or the time of decision at the front of the line. Enter in one place and have some time to decide which part of the train you want to ride in after watching the twisted ending of Superman flying over your head.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

I think SFMM's Viper is pretty good. Three lines (front 2 cars, middle 3 cars, and back 2 cars) is a pretty good idea, but there should be some signage in the station to help.

I really like Disney's system. Even though you dont get to pick your seat on most rides, you spend very little time in the station and the lines seems to keep moving. (im not talking about fast pass rides)

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"ok everyone go ahead and pull down on your shoulder restraint so you feel nice and stuck!"

Space Mountain at Disneyland has one of the best queue systems I've ever seen, Although all their other rides are horrible due to their "fast pass" gimmick. Tip of advice to out-of-towners...DONT DO SUNDAYS...You WILL regret it.

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Remember The Future?

Deja Vu. What were they thinking? Oh wait, this is a Vekoma ride, so maybe thought wasn't put into it. It's a shame that the station and queue process is so complex becuase it adds to a horrible dispatch time for what I feel is a fun ride, otherwise...

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I sing sometimes for the war that I fight, 'cause every tool is a weapon, if you hold it right. -Ani Difranco

The worst station I can think of is Riddler's Revenge at SFMM. The reason it is so bad is because the first row has the longest line and each row after that has a shorter and shorter line. The back row queue line, for example, can hold maybe 8 guests while the front row queue line can hold 30+ guests.
For the best station, I would say probably Ghost Rider because you enter through the center and it is set up so that everyone can get to different rows.
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http://home.earthlink.net/~sfmm84/
Six Flags Magic Mountain Xtreme Guide

S:RoS @ SFNE is great. Line empties into middle of train. Long lines for front and back (although they are for front CAR and back CAR, not row).

Worst is B:DK. by far. The line enters in the back, and there isn't even room for four people to stand abreast. There is barely enough room for 28 people in the station at all. If anyone is waiting for the front or back, you can forget about it. Rows will go completely empty just because people don't go around the people waiting for the rows. Same thing with S:RoS SFA, but worse.
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AC?, RB?, MF?, DD?, PR? Who can keep track of it all?

I would have to say X's station is pretty bad. There is this klump of people trying to get to other parts of the station and it's a mess.

Millennium Force's station is good... The loading and unloading platforms make the process of each easy, and quick! A+ Millennium Force!

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Top Gun at PGA, because there is the staircase leading up to the station and everyone waits on the stairs for the line for the front. You get up to the top and there are empty cars sometimes. They should make it so the stairs are split or something.

you know what, kbf has the best and WORST stations. ghostrider is very good. the turnstile is in the center, and you turn left into a seperate line to wait for the front train, or turn right to the back car. right in front of you is 5 center car loading. the gates are nice, and the railing separating rows is nice and adequate length. my only complaint is that there are sometimes to many people. the worst station is jaguar. there are large pillars almost blocking rows and making them unvisable. then, you need to just about leave the station to get to the back 3 or front 3 cars. this is a very narrow walkway. to top it off it is always packed and there is no railing separating rows. i know its the worst i've been on someone clarify me.

I thought Wicked Twister had a great station. You enter at the center of the train and exit at the center as well. In addition to that the exit gate is within 100 feet of the entrance. Look at the other stations around the park and notice you have to take another hike to get back on: Raptor, Magnum, and especially Millennium Force.

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Proud to be Arrow DYNAMIC!

I think that a really bad station and que line is the Canyon Blaster in Las Vegas. The station is small and que line is non-existent. The station is right on one of the main paths so when there is a long line noone know what that big crowd of people on the crowd is. One station that i like is B:TR because it is inside and there is no SoCal sun shining all over you when your in line. (Well, at least the last part).

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Treat others as you would want them to treat you.

There are only a couple of things that I do not like about SOB station (my home ride... always like going home :) ) and that is that 1) for the load operator, there is no place to stand in the back of the car to dispatch. This causes us to wait for that person to walk all the way to the front then dispatch.

2) The gate for the exit needs to be moved where the shelf is so that ride ops trying to get to the front dont get trampled.

3) Something to cover the turnstyles. Whenever we have a small line, people like to just line jump over them (just a little warning, dont do this. We have kicked people off the ride for doing this)

The worst station I have ever seen is the Racers at PKI. They are so small that you can barely get 3 people in the station from train to wall.

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SOB crew in twenty 02