Coaster stations that could use a makeover.

Unless they re-did it from last year, the DL hang-n-bang queue was begging to be line-jumped!!

On a different tangent, I think they should take that entire queue at the entrance of Lightning Racer (did anyone ever actually have to wait in it? ever?), keep the structure and the cool architecture, remove most of the railings, and install some kind of flat ride that would go with the theme of Midway America.

^Agreed. Even games would work in that (midway) section. But ALL those excess railings, most certainly not...not even on a Saturday in July do they come into play. Alarming how many coasters have queues that might have been needed at one point (when the ride was brand-new and all over the media), but now there's just fugly railings sitting unused and making the parks look deserted.

tigellinus - you read my mind, the DL Mind Eraser was exactly what I was thinking of. I was there last summer and it was one of those days when most of the customers had climbed out of a school bus. That ride had the longest line of the day, and the kids just kept climbing over the rails to get to their friends ahead, backpacks and all. I was furious, and got hotter and hotter waiting. And all for a stupid credit on a production model.

My vote goes to Gemini as well. I bet it was something special when the ride first opened. But its 2009 now lets update it please.

The reason that gemini has the front side closed down, is because everybody wanted to ride in the front row and it blocked the ramp.

Besides, is there really a need for it?

When the ride was running six trains, yes. There was a definite need for it. The ride was capable of putting more people through than were able to board the train and the station would empty out when only one entrance was open and the crew knew their butt from a hole in the ground.

The front entrance wasn't closed because people who wanted to ride in the front blocked the ramp. It was closed because now that the ride only runs 4 trains there's no need for that extra throughput of people.

Isn't it true that Gemini originally opened in '78 with just one entrance to the station? (the front one) The rear entrance was added the following year right?

~Rob

I think so, but seeing as how that was before my mother even met my father my history is a little fuzzy.

I've often thought about those extra queue sections that end up sitting around and never getting used. I wonder if there's a better way to do that than to pour all this cement and make a garish eyesore, only to dig it up a few years later. (I also think all queues should meander a bit and have a few smaller cattle pens. I can't stand rides that just have one enormous cattle pen.)

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to attend parks during off-season periods when crowds are low. The amazing thing is when we have a walk-on kind of day at a place like Islands of Adventure and on our way to the station (which does not need a makeover) we pass by huge areas with miles of empty rows. I always think to myself, "Holy crap - I can't imagine being here on a day when this place is full!"

One that strikes me as uncomfortable is the queue and station for Screamin' Eagle at Six Flags STL. Narrow, hot, cramped, and stinky. If it hasn't had one since my last visit, that ride deserves a new entrance.

How about entry exit points that need to be changed (ie they are way too far away from each other, CP is the king of that one. Magnum, Raptor, TTD, Maverick all have exits that are miles away from the entry point, makes reriding a pain, wish all of those rides had Dueling Dragonesque reentry points closer to the exit on lighter days.

And yes only enthusiasts and kids really care about something like this.