CP Freeway (virtual queue) Expanding

Let's just call it an improbability. They are doing amazing things with prosthetics these days. But a third arm would be a bit impractical, and a second head would rule out rides on Corkscrew, Iron Dragon, Wicked Twister, Mantis or Raptor...

I do think that Freeway is really nothing more than window dressing so that when people like the Wall Street Journal and Consumer Reports complain about Cedar Point having long lines, CP can say they have a reduced-wait program just as Six Flags and Disney do. When in fact, the real trick at Cedar Point is that they keep capacity up and keep the lines moving. That, and they have enough rides to give lots of people something to do.

Of course, I am biased. I think it was last year that a Wall Street Journal reporter visited Cedar Point and spent the whole day waiting in long lines to ride four rides. That same day, I was in the park, and I managed to ride all but two of the coasters before 2:00pm. Just because I know enough not to ride Raptor at 10:00 in the morning. Who needs a virtual queue system when a little knowledge of crowd patterns lets you bypass all but the worst of the long lines?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

That would require thinking, Dave-- something that we have determined over and over again that many park guests stop doing upon entering the gates.

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- John
Dag, yo
[edit: typo]
*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 5/30/2003 12:36:46 AM ***

....and something that most reporters stop doing right out of college. ;)

Later,
EV
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Remember that if you're one in a million, that means that there are 5000 other people on Earth just like you.

This is why I think a park like Cedar Point would benefit from having a system in place to notify guests of ride wait times throughout the park. I know money is the motivating factor in why there isn't one, but even a low-tech solution would have some merit.

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Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com

Low tech solution:

Have big boards located near each entrance and at major crossings.
List all major rides with a little display wheel for wait time, like those that sit at the ride entrances.
Have person with walkie-talkie call each entrance and update wait times every half hour.

Cost: Wood and paint for making the signs, a couple of extra "board operators" wages, and a few extra walkie-talkies

Cheap - Simple - Effective

Later,
EV
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Remember that if you're one in a million, that means that there are 5000 other people on Earth just like you.

As elaborate as Disney's Fastpass system is, both DCA and DLP both use such boards at their parks. There is only one board in the park and they're at the "hub". I always find it ironic that you have a high tech ticket system at each ride, highly themed all the way, but there's a guy with a simple board in the middle of the park basically directing traffic. CP, or any other park that monitors waits, could easily do something like this.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Really? I was at DL on 5/1. I must've walked through that freakin' hub a thousand times and I never saw that board. Man, I gotta pay more attention!

Later,
EV
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Remember that if you're one in a million, that means that there are 5000 other people on Earth just like you.

I saw exactly the system Scott is talking about at IOA, but I also noted the major flaw with that system: there is one board with all the major attractions on it, but it's located at the park entrance. What good does it do there? You go by that spot twice during a typical park visit: once on your way in, once on the way out.

I've often wondered why Kings Island has not put this kind of system in place, because they already have all of the infrastructure in place: all they need to do is use the same equipment they use for their messaging system and put the information up on QTV, which is visible all over the park. The only thing missing right now is the data collection! That park has the added advantage that its layout makes it fairly easy to walk from one end to the other if that's where the short wait is!

Eventually, somebody will work it out. Heck, it only took ten years for a park to catch on to the shoulder bar thing, and I haven't been talking about queue management that long... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

"I saw exactly the system Scott is talking about at IOA, but I also noted the major flaw with that system: there is one board with all the major attractions on it, but it's located at the park entrance. "

Dave, actually IOA has two. There is one with all of the attractions at the end of Port of Entry between Marvel and Seuss -- and they have one with the half-dozen major rides right by Jurassic Park River Adventure. At least they used to.

I think USF has may have two also, but every Disney World park only has one.

How about Electronic boards with wireless capabilities to recieve the exact wait times for the major rides ;) Big investment but i think it would be cool, instead of having somebody always change the time which doesnt always happen and people forget to update them.

The last time I went to IOA, there was also a wait board time near the exit of Dueling Dragons in the Lost Continent.

deathstalker said:
They say you can only get one stamp per day but I'll tell you right now they wash off pretty easy. As long as your ride time is early sometimes you can get a second stamp be fore they run out.

I was told by the staff you can get Two stamps ("legally") a day. One for each hand. However, yes they do wash off easily. If you were to get the two stamps you would have to run to the two rides to get your stamp early in the morning- Maggie and WT run out quickly. I have yet to see the TTD have the freeway up and running. However I went on opening day and then Memorial Day so far this year, so I may not be a good judge on that. As for the whole -Will the losers go to the other lines to get passes....I would think Yup- why wait in a line if you can get a pass? I used the Mantis pass and since I missed out on Maggie I waited in that line instead of the mantis line. (the line for the mantis wasnt much shorter then Maggie's)

Has anyone witnessed TTD freeway working yet?

Millennium Forced said:
Because tickets can be stolen, scalped, lost, etc. Stamps can only be used by their rightful owner and are a lot harder to lose.
I really dont think this is the case. What does cedar point care if people steal tickets, scalp them, lose them ect. What is the likely hood of this happening?
#1 why would people scalp them-why would people pay money when they can stand in line for free?
#2 If you got a ticket stolen it would most likely be your own fault for leaving it in a bad place. Its like- why would some steal a ticket to a ride rather then your Walet?
#3 Lose the ticket your a boob and its your own fault. SO who cares but YOU the person who lost your ticket.
What I believe the reason is that cedar point does not have tickets is because it costs money. Not a little amount either... It takes computerized screens, paper, computer programs to run the system, computer programmers to support the system and able bodies to refill the systems- it takes electrical and cable imputs to computer mainframes. It takes maintenance crews to fix the systems...ect..ect...ect.
It takes money to make something like this happen and when your cedar point...keeping up with the competition in "the most rollercoasters in one place" and setting records as well - which takes spending over 50 million dollars on rides and such in a 3 year period. I think maybe the ticket system is just a bit over the top to add in with all that Right now....not saying that it wont happen in the future. So you chose.....More COOOOL rides....Or a ticket system? I pick more cool rides and a little stamp thingy.
I know that I go to universal studio's orlando and despite the fact that they have the ticket system the ride lines are no longer then cedar points. (Also you can only get ONE TICKET at a time..which is normally hours later and you wont get another one for that park in the day again)In fact Spiderman is about 75 min which is longer then our wait times for Maggie... What they do have that is different is single rider abilities. Which helps with flow...there is NEVER an empty seat on a ride.

ok im going to cp in august how many rides can u go on with freeway? and how much is it.ty

You can get one stamp on each hand. you can get 2 stamps for magnum, mantis, raptor,and wicked twister you can oly get one stamp for millennium and dragster. it is free.

ok but whats the stamp for? to ride quicker. and i can go on them as many times as i want. is it like fastpass at sfgma?

the stamp has 2 numbers on it. Lets say 3-4. Sometime between 3 and 4 you come back to the ride and show the entrance op the stamp. Then he put a X ink mark over that and let you go into a different line that only freeway people can go into. This merges into the normal line near the station. You are usually in the freeway line for a min or 2 max. The millenium force wait is about 10 minutes at the merge point

ty colincsl. got another ? where do u go to get the stamp. at the rides?