How long should a q line be?

What determines how long they make a q line for a new ride? I've been to some parks where on there busiest day, there q line is only 1/2 full. And I've been to parks where the q was overflowing.
I wish parks could design every ride to be no more than 30 min wait. More and more *no wait* systems are going up with much shorter waits, very nice.

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Coasters- a little slice of heaven
It's kind of impossible for a ride designer to determine the maximum amount of wait time.

I remember when Superman: Ride of Steel opened up at Six Flags Darien Lake. Mind you, that was the first modern Intamin hyper, and they hype (no pun intended) was big. The line itself just weaves up and down what seemed like forever, but moved pretty constantly and fast with 2 trains going. Unfortunately, the ride was only designed for 2 trains... so a 3rd would have helped... but been impossible.

Anyway, apparently that line wasn't large enough as the wait line stretched all the way back BEFORE where the entrance to the superman area is near the entrance of the Predator! It's just common sense that new ride lines will stretch beyond their initial capacity... however... on estimate, they try to make a line for a Roller Coaster no longer than a 2 hour wait.

If it's a truly special coaster, in the case of Millennium Force, the line was designed for a 3 hour wait time.

Parks usually design the queue line based on the parks size & popularity along with the ride's potential popularity in the more long term (ie: 2+ years).

Thus, you may find your smaller parks with virtually no queue line at all, and on busy days... it'll just stretch around the ride as people wait to ride the ride (You'll know what I mean if you've been to Martin's Fantasy Island!).

On an AVERAGE...
I think that flat rides, such as bumper cars, classic cars, enterprise, & top spins, are designed for a length of no more than one hour.
I think that your typical roller coaster, something that isn't extraordinarre such as a major record breaker, is designed with a 2 hour wait time (2.5hrs absolute tops).
I think that your extreme roller coaster, like Millennium Force, maybe X (new concept)... and so forth... is designed with a 3hr wait line.

(I'm not taking into account if it stretches beyond the entrance... I'm referring to the actual queue line that just wraps and wraps and wraps forever! ). *** This post was edited by Dawg Byte on 4/11/2001. ***
Lightning Racer, when running at fuul capacity, is only 45min-1hour when the que is filled. Personally I will not wait more than 30min. If I can help it.

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Talon 2001

'Nuff Said
Many times the line for The Beast stretched all the way back to the Tower at PKI when it was new. But the wait was worth it.

raptor and mantis's q's are rather large. eventhough mf's q sign may say 3 hours for a ride it never takes that long. it said 3 hours one of the times i went on it and i only waited like an hour and a half. give or take a few. mean streaks q is also huge. when that thing fills up. when people used to ride it. i waited like 2 and a half hours to go on that.


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front car on mf. hope you have the chance to do it. *** This post was edited by MFfan on 4/11/2001. ***
I don't know how long a q line should be, but when IOA opened they had all their lines for up to 3 or 4 hours. If you look at Spiderman, it weaves forever outside. Before Flying Unicorn opened all the queue for that belonged to Dueling Dragons. All of IOAs lines have up to about 3 hour queues including the water rides.
john peck's avatar
Mill. Force had its queue built to hold over 3 hours or people.
how long? It shouldnt be long.

In fact, it should be the opposite of long, which is short! :)

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My pet peeve: People who post and just write how the thread will be closed. JUST DONT POST
A wait of about 1 hr is my limit. Anything more and I'm not waiting or I'm going to be mad and likely disappointed with the ride because of that. But it'd be hard to determine the wait time and thus the queue length before the ride has even been operated, so I guess the parks try their best...

coo man chu said:
My pet peeve: People who post and just write how the thread will be closed. JUST DONT POST

RIGHT ON!!!! I can't agree with that more. The reason many threads get closed are lack of content, and that's exactly what those posts are.
Also, some parks that get new coasters make long lines to hold more people on busy days. Last year at SFSTL, the batman line changed several times throughout the day, depending on how many people were in the line. The funny thing about SFSTL is the Ninja line. I mean, did they know before hand that nobody was going to ride it? (saying this because there is only three weaves before the steps to the station, and you always jsut go up the stairs to the station.)

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"LACK OF BRAINS HINDERS RESEARCH, DOCTORS SAY"
-real newspaper header!
I love Knotts because it is rarely crowded. Even last saturday, I went and the place was empty. THe line for Ghostrider was about 5-10 minutes the whole day. Boomer and Monte were pretty much a walk on. This is such a nice change for someone like me who is used to Disneyland. On nearly every day, no matter when you go you will always have to wait for rides. I find that you have to be very tricky to go when there are no lines. Anyway, I would wait for no more than an hour for the most rides. The only exception is if I have never been on the ride or don't have a pass to the park (like when I am on vacation) Then I will wait as long as it takes to go on the ride!

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Home Park: Knotts Berry Farm!
but also Disneyland and DCA

SIMStationMaster said:
"The funny thing about SFSTL is the Ninja line. I mean, did they know before hand that nobody was going to ride it? (saying this because there is only three weaves before the steps to the station, and you always jsut go up the stairs to the station.)"
Maybe they changed the queues after it lost popularity (if it ever had any)? Do parks change the queue lines like that?
Well, having grown up near CP, I expect at least an hour wait for good rides. If it's new, I expect over 2 hrs. I waited 4.5 hrs for Mean Streak the year it opened. :) When I go to any other park, I am so excited, because the lines are so much shorter! However, I do start to get bored with waiting in line after about 45 minutes, so it would be preferable if queues could be less than that at all times.

As far as Ninja at SFSTL is concerned, I was there about 6 years ago, and that coaster was so deserted they gave EVERYONE two rides in a row on it, before you had to leave and get back in line. I think I rode it about 12 times in 40 minutes.

Jman
I just want all the queues covered, with running bench seats, and water fountains.

Explanation,
CP has that Tic-Tac-Toe checker board kind of thing going on TP and MF. Parts of the queue are covered, others are not. What is up with that? Cover the entire thing, then if it's raining, people won't get wet, plus it blocks the sun.
Kennywood's Thunderbolt is just a bunch of rails outside, bad, already wrote them about that.

Bench sides along the way would be nice.
Why do they use rails? Everyone sits on them and then we're constantly being told to get down.
Well, we're sitting for a reason, our feet are tired. If they put a running bench along the queue, then people could rest.

Instead they put us outside, uncovered, and blow mist water on us.
I agree, I think that all q lines should be covered, not only from the rain and sun, but it also makes it look better.
About the Ninja, It also has another little place to wind around in line. (There is one under the station and another to the side) But still, it doesn't have a very long line usually! If it does have a long line, I usually don't ride it. hey maybe they could take the OTSR's off....;-)

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For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.
John 3:16

StandUpFan said:
"

SIMStationMaster said:
"The funny thing about SFSTL is the Ninja line. I mean, did they know before hand that nobody was going to ride it? (saying this because there is only three weaves before the steps to the station, and you always jsut go up the stairs to the station.)"
Maybe they changed the queues after it lost popularity (if it ever had any)? Do parks change the queue lines like that?"



Actually I think parks may change a queue's length if the wait time has been dramatically reduced by a decline in popularity. At SFMM this is extremely noticable.

Flashback's queue used to incorporate a large queue builing which would later become lockers and then eventually a storage area ( due to waterpark expansion). When it first opened lines reached 3 hours on this two train coaster. Nowadays this ride never really gets a wait over 30 minutes with one train op and the queue travels through and under the ride.

Another place where the line has been changed is Psyclone. Prior to construction for Deja Vu the line meandered through the miniature forest. The ride was built with this permanent queue that could hold about 2.5 hrs. with an area in the middle accessible from the outside just incase they didnt need it all (about a 1 hr wait from this point. The line doesnt seem as long as it really is. When it opened, a walkway of sorts was built behind a few of the stands in Psyclone Bay to accomodate overflow crowds. The only time I ever saw this in use was once when the ride was relatively new.

Finally, the other place in SFMM that seems to have changed the queue is Batman:The Ride. When it premiered it used a remote switchback section behind Atomsmasher. I've never seen this in use since. Now the area is simply roped off with no railings in sight.

On a final note which do you all prefer in a queue. Lots of switchbacks like Ninja at SFMM and Millenium Force at CP, or meandering queues that don't seem to take as long or sometimes fake you out by taking you close then turning back the opposite direction like Riddler's Revenge and some of those at Disneyland/Disney World
When you say switch backs, do you mean a chain to open up certain lanes?
I think the Q line depends how xtreme the ride is
the line for example for Titan will be very long and theming it just depends on the ride the bigger the longer

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