Designer looking to enhance visitor's park experience

If you don't buy into it, Vater, you will have to wait longer than if it didn't exist at all. "Give us your money or you will have to deal with the clogged up lines that our line cutting system has created!" That sound like blackmail to me.

It's just an opinion though. True or not, it appears to be. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

I'm sure that rhagee wants to hear opinions from both sides for his thesis. More people should question what they are told and stop being so easily conditioned.

Let's not make it about me. I'm not trying to stir controversy. I simply wanted to make sure that my pov was presented.

1. Roughly how many visits do you make to parks a year?
Lately, 2 or 3. Used to be 10-15

a. Are these visits to a variety of parks? About how many different parks? All of them

2. When you visit, are you often with a group or family? With my wife.

a. About how many people do you normally travel with? One

b. How many people would you ideally travel with? One... And kids if we have any

c. If you attend parks with a group, do you often split up or remain together? When we do, we remain together

3. What type of attractions do you seek? Mainly coasters and shows

a. Is your day split between the thrill rides you love and the more tame rides others in your group might prefer? (ie: children’s rides) Whenever our friends visit from out of town, we take them to the park, and tend to do more of what they're interested in.

4. What do you look for in an attraction? Value, Entertainment and Fun.

a. Is theming important to you or anyone else in your group? Not necessarily theming, but the park should be well kept and presentable.

b. Are you looking primarily for thrills, or the overall attraction experience? More for experience.

5. How do you feel about lines to attractions? They're part of the experience. They help to pace the day

a. Are the current products to deal with time spent in lines sufficient for you? (televisions, music, fans, vending machines, themeing, fastpass, Cell Q, Q bot, Text-Q, Park-Cruiser... etc.) Yes

b. Is there anything else you might be interested in seeing in lines?

c. What type of things do you enjoy doing to pass the time spent in lines? Talking, People Watching

6. On average, what percentage of your day do you feel is spent in lines? 30% - 40%

a. Is this too much? Depends

b. What type of attractions are you more willing to spend more time waiting for? B&M Coasters

7. During your visit at the park, do you feel willing to spend money on food, gifts, photos, etc...? Food - sometimes. Gifts and other stuff, no.

a. Do you find on ride photos and videos to be fun ways to capture moments? If it's a vacation or a special trip on a special coaster, yes.

8. When you go to a park, do you take items with you that you know will not be able to be taken on rides? No

a. If so, how do you feel about these items security left sitting in the ride station?

b. Have you ever lost an item while on a ride?

c. What items do you always enjoy to have on you while visiting a park?

9. Do you and your family/group feel safe while in a park? Yes

a. What might make you feel unsafe? Some of the rides make me feel more unsafe than the atmosphere of the park. But, that's kind of the point.

10. For parks you have never visited, is wayfinding an issue for you? Nope

a. How do you normally deal with finding your way around? Do you carry a map or simply go with the flow? Go with the flow. We've usually studied up on what's at a park well before we go.

11. Would you be interested in a product that is able to bring your day together and interact with your ride experience? No.

12. While inside the park, are you interested in receiving information? If it's about the approaching tornado, yes. Other than that, depends.

a. What the lines are like on your favorite rides, or rides on the other side of the park? Sounds cool

b. Park promotions or deals on food? Maybe

13. Are you interested in ride/park history or random facts? Sure

14. Do you often purchase a season pass? Yes

a. How long do you stay in the park on any one visit? Anywhere between 60 minutes and an entire day.

b. If you are visiting a new park, is it a multiple day visit? Rarely.

15. What are your least favorite things about amusement parks? Prices

Hey, Just wanted to thank everyone for their input so far. This information will be great in helping me narrow my design criteria. You have all definitly amazed me with the amount of response. Thanks again.

-Rick

1. Roughly how many visits do you make to parks a year?

20

a. Are these visits to a variety of parks? About how many different parks? 4

2. When you visit, are you often with a group or family? a. About how many people do you normally travel with? 2-4

b. How many people would you ideally travel with?

2

c. If you attend parks with a group, do you often split up or remain together?

Remain together

3. What type of attractions do you seek? Coasters, themed attractions

a. Is your day split between the thrill rides you love and the more tame rides others in your group might prefer? (ie: children’s rides) No childrens rides.

4. What do you look for in an attraction? New experience, speed, height, level of theme if all ages attraction (Indy, Space MT., Simpsons)

a. Is theming important to you or anyone else in your group? Yes. It completes the experience.

b. Are you looking primarily for thrills, or the overall attraction experience? Overall

5. How do you feel about lines to attractions? Need to be better thought out, part of the attraction.

a. Are the current products to deal with time spent in lines sufficient for you? (televisions, music, fans, vending machines, themeing, fastpass, Cell Q, Q bot, Text-Q, Park-Cruiser... etc.) Fastpass yes - at Disney - Flass Pass - no.

b. Is there anything else you might be interested in seeing in lines? Yes, projected movies - ala Disney's circlevision theaters, places to sit, food & drink vendors, musical acts, theme, interactivity

c. What type of things do you enjoy doing to pass the time spent in lines? See above. Why not make the line a funhouse?

6. On average, what percentage of your day do you feel is spent in lines? 50%

a. Is this too much? Sometimes

b. What type of attractions are you more willing to spend more time waiting for? New attractions, or lines 30 minutes or less.

7. During your visit at the park, do you feel willing to spend money on food, gifts, photos, etc...? Avoid obvious price gouging on cheap items. Spend money on quality food/drink, gifts.

a. Do you find on ride photos and videos to be fun ways to capture moments? Yes, but vastly overpriced.

8. When you go to a park, do you take items with you that you know will not be able to be taken on rides? No.

a. If so, how do you feel about these items security left sitting in the ride station?

b. Have you ever lost an item while on a ride? No.

c. What items do you always enjoy to have on you while visiting a park? Wallet, watch, cell phone.

9. Do you and your family/group feel safe while in a park? yes.

a. What might make you feel unsafe? Line jumpers, rowdy people.

10. For parks you have never visited, is wayfinding an issue for you? No.

a. How do you normally deal with finding your way around? Do you carry a map or simply go with the flow? Map., prior research.

11. Would you be interested in a product that is able to bring your day together and interact with your ride experience? Not if it involves renting a locker to store it in while on ride.

12. While inside the park, are you interested in receiving information? Not advertising.

a. What the lines are like on your favorite rides, or rides on the other side of the park? Yes.

b. Park promotions or deals on food? Yes.

13. Are you interested in ride/park history or random facts? Yes.

14. Do you often purchase a season pass? Always.

a. How long do you stay in the park on any one visit?

4 to six hours.

b. If you are visiting a new park, is it a multiple day visit? Out of state, yes.

15. What are your least favorite things about amusement parks? Lack of AC for queque lines is # 1, overpriced low quality food, parking fees, excessive lines, confusing q lines for coasters that the GP can't figure out, attractions that should have been replaced years ago, nickel and diming the experience, lack of seating, cleanliness.

Thank you very much for any contributions you might have. If you have any further responses or would like to contact me, please do not hesitate. I would love to share my findings with you. If anyone is interested, upon completion of the project I will be happy to post my final product and intent. Thank you again and I hope you all have a wonderful day. *** Edited 2/24/2008 1:16:36 AM UTC by ***

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You might have asked a general age question considering answers you get from a younger person might differ from those of an old fart like me.

1. Roughly how many visits do you make to parks a year? 4-8

a. Are these visits to a variety of parks? About how many different parks? Although I haven't the past couple of years, in the past I'd visit 2-3 different parks a year

2. When you visit, are you often with a group or family? Yes

a. About how many people do you normally travel with? 2-4

b. How many people would you ideally travel with? 2-4

c. If you attend parks with a group, do you often split up or remain together? When my son was younger, together. Once he became a teenager, we split up (something about wanting to spend time with his GF without mumsy around).

3. What type of attractions do you seek? Roller coasters, flat rides, shows...just about anything available

a. Is your day split between the thrill rides you love and the more tame rides others in your group might prefer? (ie: children’s rides) Yes

4. What do you look for in an attraction? It depends on the attraction, really, and who I'm with.

a. Is theming important to you or anyone else in your group? Theming does add to the ride experience on some rides, but isn't necessary.

b. Are you looking primarily for thrills, or the overall attraction experience? Overall attraction experience.

5. How do you feel about lines to attractions? It depends on the attraction. Very thrilling rides that provide a great experience, I'm willing to wait up to an hour. Some rides I will not wait more than 20-30 minutes for.

a. Are the current products to deal with time spent in lines sufficient for you? (televisions, music, fans, vending machines, themeing, fastpass, Cell Q, Q bot, Text-Q, Park-Cruiser... etc.) Not really. Vending machines tend to be very expensive. If I have the ability to use a fastpass type system, I'm very likely to consider it depending upon the crowd that day and the cost of the system.

b. Is there anything else you might be interested in seeing in lines? This is where theming helps

c. What type of things do you enjoy doing to pass the time spent in lines? Talking with those waiting in line with me. When my son was young, we'd play word or guessing games

6. On average, what percentage of your day do you feel is spent in lines? 30-40 percent, depending upon the day. I tend not to go when parks are expected to be very busy (weekends and high summer).

a. Is this too much? It's pushing it, definitely

b. What type of attractions are you more willing to spend more time waiting for? Very thrilling rides that provide a great experience with a ride time definitely more than a minute, new attractions (which will always have a longer line), and if I'm at a park I may not get to again in quite some time, I'm more willing to wait longer for a thrilling attraction.

7. During your visit at the park, do you feel willing to spend money on food, gifts, photos, etc...? That depends upon how much parking and tickets are, and prices inside the park.

a. Do you find on ride photos and videos to be fun ways to capture moments? Yes, but most are more than I'm willing to spend to "capture the moment".

8. When you go to a park, do you take items with you that you know will not be able to be taken on rides? No.

a. If so, how do you feel about these items security left sitting in the ride station? That is one reason I do not take such items with me to a park.

b. Have you ever lost an item while on a ride? Yes...I stupidly forgot to zip closed the pocket carrying my cell phone. (It fell off on Millennium Force and the park mailed it to me. Believe it or not, it still worked!)

c. What items do you always enjoy to have on you while visiting a park? Cell phone, sunglasses (with a strap), a small pocket, digital camera.

9. Do you and your family/group feel safe while in a park? I've never been in a park where I have not felt safe

a. What might make you feel unsafe? Gangs, rowdy teenagers pushing and shoving while in lines or fighting. Fortunately, I've not been to any parks with this kind of problem.

10. For parks you have never visited, is wayfinding an issue for you? I'm not sure what you mean by wayfinding...but if you mean finding my way around a park, no.

a. How do you normally deal with finding your way around? Do you carry a map or simply go with the flow? Mostly go with the flow, but if it's a park I've never been to, I'll carry a map just in case.

11. Would you be interested in a product that is able to bring your day together and interact with your ride experience? Sure. I'm always up for new experiences.

12. While inside the park, are you interested in receiving information? Information is helpful, yes.

a. What the lines are like on your favorite rides, or rides on the other side of the park? That would be great, although I suspect if that information was available, it wouldn't help much. For example, if a certain attraction is listed as having a smaller line, wouldn't more people head to that attraction at the same time? Depending upon where one is in the park, by the time you walk to the attraction, the line can be twice as long. But information about rides going down would be great. How many times have people walked from one end of a park to another only to discover the intended ride has gone down mechanical.

b. Park promotions or deals on food? Most definitely

13. Are you interested in ride/park history or random facts? Yes...mostly ride/park history

14. Do you often purchase a season pass? I do for my home park

a. How long do you stay in the park on any one visit? It depends how long a drive I have. Generally from opening until just before closing.

b. If you are visiting a new park, is it a multiple day visit? It depends where the park is, how much there is to do, and whether it's a park I can use my season pass or if they have a second day or partial day discount.

15. What are your least favorite things about amusement parks? Long lines, cleanliness (especially in bathrooms and eating areas!) high parking fees. Above all, high prices for low quality food.