Fast Lane is now Officially "The Flash Pass"

And, According to Six Flags own Q & A section of "The Flash Pass", on their website;

Isn't using Flash Pass like line skipping?
No, not exactly.

Yes they do go on to explain what they mean by "Not Exactly", until they've brainwashed you into believeing them, but the fact will always remain; Yes it is Line Jumping.

"Not Exactly" is not an emphatic NO! "Not Exactly" means that you have to come up with some kind of spin to make it all sound legit.

It's out there and everyone can use it so I really don't consider it line jumping. Yeah, it is technically line jumping, but it is sanctioned by the park. If you don't like it don't use it, I know if I ever visit a busy Six Flags park, I'll use it.

---

Teenage Ninja said:
It's out there and everyone can use it so I really don't consider it line jumping. Yeah, it is technically line jumping, but it is sanctioned by the park. If you don't like it don't use it, I know if I ever visit a busy Six Flags park, I'll use it.

---

Sanctioned by the park. Sounds like organized crime to me.

And, No, I don't like it, never have, and never will. After spending $60 dollars just to walk through the front gate; It is quite amazing that people see no problem forking out another $30 dollars for the "organized crime" right to line jump. *** Edited 3/22/2006 5:07:00 PM UTC by Coasterphan***

At certain SF parks, on certain days, with certain crowds, on certain rides....that $30 is money well spent!. I agree that Disney's free system is better but they're charging for the priviledge to line jump because they know people will pay for it.

I think the thing that's most telling is the fact that every single park that offered a free-to-use virtual queue system has dropped it except for Disney, yet all of those parks still offer a way to pay for front of line privledges.

Welcome to the future, kids. :)

Flash pass, eh?

Do beads come with 'em?

It's kind of a throwback to the old fair ticket pricing scheme isn't it? Using SFMM as an example, 15 bucks buys you 4 tickets, or 3.75 per ride. It's like being in a county fair all over again.

Disney system works better because there is so much more to see and do at one of their parks, that you don't mind waiting until later in the day to return. And of course, the staggered return times help keep the balance between Fastpass and regular customers.

Maybe the Flash Pass system should be upgraded to give time windows?

If the park uses a Q-bot it does give a 15 minute window to ride. 5 minutes before the reserved time until 10 minutes after the time. If you miss your time the reservation clears so when you show it to the attendant they should turn you away and ask you to get a new ride time.

Q-bot I have no problem with since it is a reserved time to ride. The tickets other parks sell are a right to the head of the line and they tend to build a line in the Flash pass entrance which sometimes is the exit lane for the ride. Now that can cause a real mess.

Qbot is not line jumping.

you clock i nan it tells you a time to come back. Sometimes the time is longer then the actual wait and sometimes it is shorter.

You are waiting but just not inline.

It is no way line jumping. you do not go on instantly when you clock in you still have to wait just like everybody else.

---

dragonoffrost said:
If the park uses a Q-bot it does give a 15 minute window to ride. 5 minutes before the reserved time until 10 minutes after the time. If you miss your time the reservation clears so when you show it to the attendant they should turn you away and ask you to get a new ride time.

Q-bot I have no problem with since it is a reserved time to ride. The tickets other parks sell are a right to the head of the line and they tend to build a line in the Flash pass entrance which sometimes is the exit lane for the ride. Now that can cause a real mess.

---

Not only that but because the flashpass/fastlane line fills up with more than the designated two riders per cycle they just end up sticking them in any spot on the train all at the same time.

Anyone who's been to SFA & has seen the way they do it over at superman will be very familiar with what I'm talking about here.

Flashpass will keep rider capacity low on coasters to encourage Q-bot profits. Longer lines and low rider capacity seems like an odd thing to celebrate. *** Edited 3/22/2006 8:08:26 PM UTC by rc-madness***

---

Lord Gonchar said:
I think the thing that's most telling is the fact that every single park that offered a free-to-use virtual queue system has dropped it except for Disney...

---

That is because NO ONE else has even come close to doing it RIGHT....takes an army to keep multiple queues operating efficiently - and parks that are "short-staffed" to begin with? Don't even get me started (cause then I'm hard to STOP)... ;)

Ceder Point I felt did a decent job of an all access virtual-queue.

yeah...i DID like the way CP did it. it seemed to work just fine. in fact, for certain rides like MF, you NEEDED one to get more than one lap in... *** Edited 3/22/2006 8:46:23 PM UTC by luvbono***

Does anyone know CP's official reason for discontinuing all access virtual-queue? Did demand for MF die down enough for it to be unnecessary? *** Edited 3/22/2006 9:27:52 PM UTC by rc-madness***

They just said it was being taken away to be reviewed. MF's popularity has yet to slow, I really don't think it's going to either.

CP had a good system but it felt very cheap and kind of thrown together as a response to the rest of the industry doing the free-system.

I thought Cedar Point's was quite smart... it was free, you get a stamp & you come between that hour...

The way it was being given away and how... that may have been slapped together and not always the smartest since if you wanted a Raptor stamp and then a MF stamp, you had a HELL of a long walk/run to make sure you got both before they ran outta stamps.
But the WAY it worked in the end, it was quite smart as for the most part, a 15min wait when it was 2hrs for everyone else was pretty sweet!

I hope Shaprio & Co. take into account parks that don't use the FastLane/Q-Bot don't start to use this "Flash Pass" system because I know of at least two parks where it just won't work based upon the queue lines... or lack-there-of. Basically, hopefully, they'll only impliment this on the parks that already have such a system in place.

Some of the "new" changes Shapiro & Co. have been making are across the board... and some of the changes won't work in certain parks for one reason or another.

It could be argued that three hour long waits is evidence of operational dysfunction of that particular ride or evidence of a park's mis-management. However, if rides are operating at highest rider capacity it could be a necessary evil of popularity or inherent low rider capacity. I am far less irritated if I see operators working hard to keeps guests moving through the ride and when I see all the coaches running after I wait two or three hours to have access to the attraction.

All-access virtual queues are a kind of message from the parks saying that the long waits are not ideal. On top of keeping rides at high rider capacity, they are offering guests a break, a every three hour option to bypass an extra-ordinarily long wait.

FlashPass sends a very different message. What are the majority of park guests supposed to think as they spend all that time in line observing one train in operation as FlashPassers and Q-Botters cut to the front? Is it just the rocket scientists and paranoid schizo’s that think the park is profiting from the parks own dysfunctional operating procedures?

I acknowledge that it wasn’t such a big deal when they kept the Q-bot option on the down low. But now it’s foolish to think Six Flags doesn’t want to do everything they can to encourage as many people as possible to buy into $30 FlashPasses. They are billions of dollars in debt, they can’t afford a conscience at this point.

Without long lines the service becomes obsolete so rider capacity stays low and the lines stay long. The service is placed in full view of the unfortunate guests stuck in lines that move just a bit to supply that illusion of access. With FlashPass not only do guests get to skip a portion of the line, they skip it entirely. Just walk right up and ride. The bonus feature is no one has to feel like they are cutting to the front because Virtual Q-bots offers this alternate reality where nobody is cutting, and the parks are doing nothing wrong.

For Six Flag’s sake I hope they do bust their ass to keep rider capacity high. If they don’t, well, something will start to stink if it doesn’t already. I do give the average park guest a lot of credit. When they aren’t willing to pay that extra $30 for access, I do believe they’ll find something else to do. For those of us familiar with the business of amusement I ask: How does this strategy increase SF’s popularity? Or for that matter, their profitability? *** Edited 3/22/2006 11:35:06 PM UTC by rc-madness***

I have my own "flash pass" system which seems to work just fine in all parks and is free. I visit on quiet days :)

Also people keep forgeting that if the flash pass system wasn't there then those people would be waiting in the same line that you are in anyway.

the way that great adventure does it is good.

The older rides have specific rows for qbot people. they are blocked off and people waiting in line can't sit in that row. The newer rides the qbot line enters the station and mixes with the regualr line.

Nitro it enters at the back of the station so if you wan't the front you still have to wait for it.