fast lane pass,what is everyone's take on this? Fo

I am sure all people with sfgadv as their home park have seen the adds for this new fast lane pass,How fair do you think it will be?? For those who go to parks with this type of pass,have you found it fair or unfair???I really don't know what to think.I think it is great that it is a first come first serve basis and,in the long run im sure it won't make to much of a big differance since the people had to wait like the rest of us before the making of it but,do you think attitudes will flair over this?I have seen tempers flare just because a kid accidentally bumped someone.Just looking for input......

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Rickyswmn
How is different from waiting in the que lines? Is it a seperate que line?

kmkeiser said:
"How is different from waiting in the que lines? Is it a seperate que line?"



From what my husband says,they didn't pour any new concrete for any new que lines so,maybe they will go to the exit to get on???My husband is supposed to do some walkway fixes there tomorrow(his company pours all their concrete) so,i'll have him look into it.
Rickyswmn
Top 3 coasters i have ridden..
1)Steel Force,Dorney Park.PA
2)Medusa,sfgadv
3)Batman and Robin the chiller,Batman side.sfgadv
I am sure Nitro will knock steel force out of #1.
Honestly, I'm hoping CP does not bring back Ticket to Ride for Millennium Force this summer - not even before 4PM like they did last year. I like to be able to plan my day out and not have to be at a certain ride at a certain time to catch my "appointment." As Jeff has said, people are generally not going to get into a line that is three hours long and therefore you'll never get say, an eight hour line. Also, as Rideman has said, the way CP had it implemented, the line to get tickets for TTR moved at about the same speed as the line for the ride! Perhaps with proper implementation (and maybe Disney does that - I don't know since I haven't been there) it could work, but in CP's case its not necessary. They have high capacity attractions and guests tend to distribute themselves quite nicely throughout the park. Of course MF or any new coaster is going to have a longer line, but as long as they keep things moving, it will rarely be over two hours.

As for Six Flags, I think if they worked on their capacity and operational issues a bit (well, alot) that this type of system is not necessary for them either. I'll reserve judgement though until I actually experience this new system.

Overall, as you might be able to tell, I think these systems are kind of stupid as crowds will tend to distribute themselves to various attractions naturally. The more important thing to me is that the park actually keeps the lines moving. CP does a good job with this as do parks like Hershey and usually BGW. Six Flags (GAdv, DL, and NE anyway) have a bunch of work to do in this regard.

-Matt
Magnum Crew 2001
Disney's fastpass is awesome. If all parks implemented it like Disney does, it would be great, and I would love it. The way CP did it with MF was absolutely horrible, and defeats the purpose of the line. there MUST be a FP line AND a standby line for non-ticket holders for this system to work!

Jman

, I think these systems are kind of stupid as crowds will tend to distribute themselves to various attractions naturally. The more important thing to me is that the park actually keeps the lines moving. CP does a good job with this as do parks like Hershey and usually BGW. Six Flags (GAdv, DL, and NE anyway) have a bunch of work to do in this regard.

I certainly agree Matt.My thought is,Cedar Point definately has more big coasters.I think sfgadv is finally catching on to the idea that in order to get smaller lines,they need bigger rides i mean,rides that people are excited about going on.In our park,we really only have 6 good coasters and two mediocre ones. Now,we have nitro but,for the amount of people that go,7 isn't going to spread things out to much.Everyone runs for the big ones and later on in the day they hit the mediocre rides but,there is a constant flow of new people all day so,the cycle continues.I am praying they keep adding bigger things so before i get too old and arthritis sets in,i will actually have a truly enjoyable day with nice weather.Going on cloudy sorta wet rainy days is great but i think people have caught on to that to.The crowds on those days have increased over the years.I dream of Cedar point for now but,one of these years i am going to get there if it kills me!!!

Rickyswmn
I believe you will go up the exit ramp. GAdv used it a little last year. You sit in a pre-determined row. I think last year they were loading into the middle of the train.
I think you have to go to guest services/relations (on the left side- outside the entrance to the park) to get the tickets for a certain hour or time.
The fastpasses at Disneyland work perfectly. I honestly can't imagine a day at that park without them. Many parks do not need fastpass, but Disneyland certainly does.

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Home Park: Knotts Berry Farm!
but also Disneyland and DCA
I don't like the idea of a park dictating what rides I get on and when.
The park does not dictate what rides you go on. They merely are trying to allow you to avoid standing in line. You probably would have gotten on the ride at the time the park tells you to, but you would have to wait in a line to do so.
Well, for TTR, lets say I want to ride Millennium Force. I can't because there all out of tickets! That's TTR are for you, and it's just messed up.

Aside from that debacle, lets say I use a different system were I have a pass for ride's A and B. I ride A, and want to go on it again, yet I can't. I am forced to go on Ride B. The system is telling me where to go. As long as there is a line for non-pass holders, then its OK. That's why I could not agree more with this quote.


MDOmnis said:
. I like to be able to plan my day out and not have to be at a certain ride at a certain time to catch my "appointment."


If parks are good at moving people through the line, then its completely unnecessary

*** This post was edited by Joe E. on 4/4/2001. ***
My experience of "fast pass" has been at the Disney parks and Universal/IOA. The parks were not that busy when I went, and I found the lines almost as long (if not longer) for the fast pass.

At Disney's MGM, the line for "Rock n' Roller Coaster" was managed very poorly. The normal line was left standing until no one was passing through the fast pass line.

As for IOA. If you buy a two day ticket, you get priority boarding on some rides before 10 or 11am. Since most people do buy a two day ticket, this defeats the object. Also, for some rides like the Hulk, it was extremely unclear where you were supposed to go!

If managed properly, the system could be very beneficial. I think Alton Towers provides the best policy, where "virtual queuing" is available on major attractions when lines are longer than 45 minutes.

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#Life is a rollercoaster you just gotta ride it#
Last fall when it was installed you got the passes at the guest services window to the left of the entrance gate inside the park. The que lines had two middle rows blocked off with a sign that said fast pass only. The people who used fast pass went to the exit and were then taken to the ride when it was safe to do so. I really didn't see too many people using the fast pass last fall. Yet given the crowds at SFGADV and the advertising they have done it may be more popular this year.
I belive the reason that the parks not just SF stated when first considering the idea of the fast pass, virtual que or whatever was to keep the majority of the people in the park and not in the que lines. After all if you are in a que line you don't buy food, drinks and merchandise.
Jeff's avatar
TTR was the most poorly implemented attempt at the system ever. The worst part was that, at first, it denied the average season pass holder (or starlight ticket guest) a chance to ride, because all of the tickets were given out.

Disney's system makes sense because there are a limited number of passes issued and they're based on your ticket in to the park. You can't get another until you've used the one you got.

What I would still like to see is a large park like Cedar Point get electronic signs indicating wait times around the park. I'd ride Raptor more if I was at Magnum and saw that Raptor had a 30-minute line. I wouldn't know otherwise without crossing the entire park. The ride ops are already gauging line length for their own signs, why not call it in or input it into some kind of system.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
With Fast Lane at Six Flags Astroworld, which has been in operation for several weeks, guests march right up the exit ramps with their passes. This particular detail is my biggest beef with the system, it really causes a traffic jam and confusion.

First... I am not thrilled with making an "appointment" to ride. As someone said, what if you get off of a ride and you want a re-ride but you can't because you have an "appointment" at another ride and in order to make it there you have to start walking imediately!

Secondly, for the people who use these "Express Passes" (as IOA calls them), USE YOUR BRAINS!!! I was at IOA the first week of March. With the exception of Spiderman and Dueling Dragons, everything was a walk on or at most a 10 minute wait. All but the first seat of Hulk was a walk on. Some express pass holders were a bit upset because they said (and I am only going on their statements) that it took them longer to wait in line to get the pass than it would have taken them to just walk up and stand in the queue line with the rest of us common folk. Again... USE YOR BRAINS!!! If the park is not full, don't worry about the "Express Pass"!

I can't vouch for busy days at the height of the season, but all I know is that when the signs say wait times are between 0 and 15 minutes, don't bother with the passes!

As someone said above about Hulk, the queue lines are not very well marked at IOA. On Spider man there was a wait of 35 minutes, but my wife and I wanted to ride it again. Because of a mixed up queue line, and a gate that was not closed, some of us wandered in and accidently got into the fast pass line when we turned a corner and saw a split in the queue line (because of this missing gate). A few moments later a very paniced worker came running up behind us and said that we were all in the wrong line. There were about 20 or so people who made this mistake. Making a snap decision, she asked my wife, "Are they with you?" (the people behind us), my wife said "No", and the worker rerouted those people to the regular queue line, but left the rest of us peasants in the "Express" queue. We only had to wait in line (though the wrong line) for about 5 minutes! This case worked out well for us ignorant few who took the open gate that was not marked, but it probably upset some of the "express passes" that came after us. *** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 4/4/2001. ***

Jeff said:

What I would still like to see is a large park like Cedar Point get electronic signs indicating wait times around the park. I'd ride Raptor more if I was at Magnum and saw that Raptor had a 30-minute line. I wouldn't know otherwise without crossing the entire park. The ride ops are already gauging line length for their own signs, why not call it in or input it into some kind of system.



Perhaps terminals, like in airports can display this information. It could also say if a ride shut down for mechanical or other reasons. On the same, or on a terminal right next to it they could display information for shows, hotels,weather, gate times, and other general info. A local Radar would be nice, or at least a view of what THOR is doing :).

*** This post was edited by Joe E. on 4/4/2001. ***
That's an awesome idea Jeff! Kind of like an electronic leaderboard in golf. They could have several throughout the park (perhaps everywhere they have a park map) and that would tend to distribute the lines even more evenly then they already are distributing themselves. Instead of the rolling of the dial on the back of the sign to change the wait time, the person at the head of the line just inputs the wait time electronically. This would definitely work great for a park like CP and I doubt it would be that hard or expensive to implement. I don't know if a place like BGW would go for it because the design of that park tries to move guests through the park in a certain order (with some of them going left at the beginning and some going right).

-Matt
Magnum Crew 2001

MDOmnis said:
"That's an awesome idea Jeff!

I agree,excellent idea!! Have you thought about writing them and putting this idea in their heads?? I would.
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Rickyswmn
Top 3 coasters i have ridden..
1)Steel Force,Dorney Park.PA
2)Medusa,sfgadv
3)Batman and Robin the chiller,Batman side.sfgadv
I am sure Nitro will knock steel force out of #1.

janfrederick's avatar
When I was waiting for the Grizzly Rapids at DCA, it was VERY frustrating to see throngs of people getting let into line before me. It made my 'normal' wait twice what it should have been. I may have saved some time with the fastpass I had for Soarin' California, but I don't think it made up for the extra time I spent in other lines.

They should concentrate more on stretching capacity. The river ride had a constant backup; the turntable continually stopped because they were running it too fast and people couldn't get out in time, thus precipitating stoppage...Grrr!

But I must say that they ran California Screaming VERY efficiently. The double sided station, 6 trains, and efficient staff cut a potential hour-long wait down to 20 minutes. I was more impressed with that than with the fastpass system.

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Decisions determine destiny; Destiny determines decisions. *** This post was edited by janfrederick on 4/4/2001. ***

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