Cedar Point - 8/24/13

Timber-Rider...

You would make the people who paid to not have to wait their turn, wait their turn?

And park operations need a count of all riders, not just the ones who waited in the regular line. People who use Fast Lane are riding too, so they need to be counted. How many riders ride per hour every day is crucial information that the park uses to determine where to place new attractions and which rides need more staff and at what times. Duu.

I for one liked the TR. And you have my utmost respect for the Ferris Bueller reference at the end, despite the fact that you're (by your own admission) still a kid.

As a CP local, I'm anxiously awaiting September when the lines will become reasonable again and I don't have to go through what you did.

And Josh, if Boogie and I were in line, we'd do the same thing. And have in the past.

Timber-Rider said:

Where the M-Force split is at the bottom of the ramp, which is about a half hour wait from that point for regular riders.

I timed the ramp yesterday at about 10 minutes. The first main queue was full save for the last row and I waited about 25 minutes. The ramp usually runs about 10 to 15 minutes, not 30.

Also, GK's line from the split is about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on where you sit and how well the ride host is doing at keeping the station clear.

Tommytheduck said:

And Josh, if Boogie and I were in line, we'd do the same thing. And have in the past.

Which is why there needs to be an attendant there that actually pays attention. They need someone that stops the regular line, and lets the fast lane go for a certain number of people or length of time - then, stop that line and lets the regular line resume.

Personally, I like it better when there are completely separate entrance points. I don't think the $75+ price tag is worth it when the fast lane lines get to be so long. I'd rather just spend my day walking around and hanging out, at that point.

There was an attendant there the time I'm talking about, she just didn't seem to care. (Which is exactly the point you just made...) That poor attendant at the merge has probably the toughest job in the park. They spend the entire day holding up the line to let people in front. I can only imagine the amount of complaints they hear and the amount of unwarranted abuse they must take. After about 5 minutes of this, I assume they just give up fighting. Because it's just not worth it. And trust me, I work in an industry that knows a thing or two about pissed off customers. I'm just lucky that I have a bulletproof door between me and said pissed off customers. (Yes, that's right, I work at a Subway restaurant in Gary, IN.)

I've stated before my dislike for fastlane and even my 10 year old is smart enough to notice when he's being cut. But as I alluded to earlier, we simply don't go on days when it's an issue. Kinda sux having a season pass for 6 months and not even using it for 2 of those 6, but what are you gonna do?

Tommytheduck said:

I've stated before my dislike for fastlane and even my 10 year old is smart enough to notice when he's being cut.

Or young enough not to understand how the real world works for big people - bless his cute little heart.

I was not saying I would hold back the fast lane line. What I was saying, was if I were the person in charge of watching the queue, I would keep both lines moving, by alternating between fast lane, and the regular line.

At one point on Magnum when I was there, a large group of fast lane people entered the line at the same time, and held the regular line back another 10 minutes as they were all allowed to go ahead of the regular line, and they just kept on coming, maybe 40 to 50 people at one time. And, the queue op never stopped them. Yet made everyone else stand idle. I wonder how many more fast lane people might have passed before the regular line moved again. Where is the time to say...enough?

I would ask how many people in each party and alternate between the two, and keep both lines moving. The Fast lane people are already skipping an hour and half wait, I don't think a couple minutes would hurt them. One reason why I think Cedar Point is selling fast lane tickets to anyone who will buy them, and has no cut off point.

Surely park officials have given the 'merge managers' guidance... for every X form this line let Y from that line. It's that simple.

I'm sure they have, but the girl who was working the merge at MF on Saturday was certainly not caring about any rules.

I wish I'd have taken a photo - she was sitting on her stool in the corner of the railings, her arms laid out on each hand rail with her sleeves rolled up, and her legs were wide open, each foot on the opposite side of the stool with her shorts rolled a bit. She had her sunglasses on, and her head laid back, just soaking up the sun.

I'm not one to normally complain or find fault in people who are slacking a bit (I'm on CBuzz at work...), but that was over the top.

Timber-Rider said:

One reason why I think Cedar Point is selling fast lane tickets to anyone who will buy them, and has no cut off point.

I think it was stated elsewhere that their Fast Lane wristband sales can be up to 20% of the days forecasted attendance. I'm sure that on really busy days they cap it at some number well below 20%, but there have only been a few reports at any Cedar Fair park where someone has reported a sell out of the bands. Even when there have been those reports they've usually been sold out at one location at the park but still available at others.

One of the issues I think they're discovering is that the demographic of Fast Lane purchasers tends to skew towards a younger audience. I would imagine the reticence to raise prices substantially - particularly at Cedar Point - has to do at least in part with not wanting to price out younger patrons. They've found a way to make a ton of money from a group that was never really spending much of anything at the park (single/married people without kids between the ages of 13 and 30) and it seems that they don't want to upset the balance quite yet.

I've said it a bunch of times, but I'm going to point it out again because it's important to the discussion:

This is all a worst-case-scenario situation.

This rarely happens and when it does it's only on a couple of rides at certain times. You don't revamp the whole system based on outliers.

Raven-Phile said:

I'm not one to normally complain or find fault in people who are slacking a bit (I'm on CBuzz at work...), but that was over the top.

Whistling past the graveyard, so to speak....

But yes, that. I leave CBuzz *religiously* when customer needs arise....because slacking a bit is cool and all, but dereliction of job duties is unacceptable.