Kings Island Fast Lane

I could see 15 of the coasters, Power Tower, MaXair, Sky Hawk, the water rides, but just because he said 'probably' 25 doesn't mean 'definitely' 25. And they could be doing some popular kids attractions too. And Windseeker.

Or Maverick.

That answer makes sense in the context, so it doesn't count...

They could offer Fast Lane on Paddlewheel Excurs - Oh, never mind. :(

What about the train? They could offer priority seating on the train. Then I wouldn't have to sit with any of the smelly poor people. I could enjoy the company of the elite, like myself. That would be awesome!

I am surprised with this decision. Park Operations at Cedar Point has been very concerned with capacity in the past (for the most part). Front-of-the-line access is well known for decreasing capacity a lot of the time. I am concerned.

...HA! I had you there for a second... Honestly, I really don't care about capacity or shorter lines, because I'll just get a Fast Lane pass and cut in front of everyone. I don't care who loses in the process as long as I win. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. :)

LostKause said:
What about the train? They could offer priority seating on the train

I think they used to do something like that on U.S. busses back in the 50s... Turned out to upset some people.

Civil rights had Rosa Parks.

Front of line access has Krause.

You're a modern day hero, my friend. ;)

:)

It's interesting that no matter how much the world has changed, we are still the same in many ways.

Not sure comparing segregation to preferred access is even remotely reasonable, but sure!

Kraus to the back of the bus!

I wanna start an Occupy Fast Lane protest.

Then you will be poor and smelly. Like, for real.

Best way to occupy the Fast Lane line?

Buy into the system. Occupy that crap right to the front of the line. :)

The only place in the world where the occupiers are the 1%.

Is there anything amusement parks can't do?

I always buy the upgrade unless a park is dead. I enjoy the perk. But my thought is about the future of these programs. Eventually, most will consider the surcharge to be the cost of doing business. Most will probably end up paying the surcharge. Once a certain percentage of park-goers buy into the system, the benefit is gone. I know that a lot of these programs limit availability, but long term profit considerations will require increased supply to meet demand.

I'm guessing that long term, we are heading back to ride tickets. The system is coming full circle. Individual ride tickets are the most efficient means for maximizing profitability and guest experience simultaneously. You could adjust it daily, or hourly to accommodate dynamic conditions (i.e. the longer the line the more expensive the ride).

It seems with today's technology (digital cards, etc), implementing a dynamic pay to ride system can be much less cumbersome than the old "E" ticket days. Once customers become acclimated to present day "pay to cut" systems, they will likely welcome individual ride customization (i.e. tickets) as improvement.

Obviously a sarcastic comparison, but some humorous comments afterwards so well worth it I think

Aamilj said:
I'm guessing that long term, we are heading back to ride tickets. The system is coming full circle. Individual ride tickets are the most efficient means for maximizing profitability and guest experience simultaneously. You could adjust it daily, or hourly to accommodate dynamic conditions (i.e. the longer the line the more expensive the ride).

We had a poster around here a few years ago when the VQ/FOL was really taking off and the discussion got pretty intense who often suggested exactly the same think. He often described it as a 'stock market' approach to pay-per-ride.

I can't say I hate it.

At the very least I'm starting to think all of those Jersey piers with their tickets and "X number of tickets to ride" plans have a good thing going.

I like how at least Morey's gives you the option for a wristband, the parks that don't like the ones in Ocean City can get expensive fast even with purchasing discounted tickets. I usually just got on 3 or 4 rides and leave but would spend more and stay longer if they offered a wristband option.

Maybe I am the exception but the parks are getting less money from me because of that. This week I bought tickets for Gillian's since they were half price and I bought $40 worth of tickets which should last the entire summer for me and 1 other family member with probably some tickets left over since they no longer expires (I am planning on going to the park 2 or 3 times next symmer). If they had a wristband option for $25, I'd probably go for that and even if we only went to the park twice, they would then get $100 from me rather than $40.

On a semi-related note...

I've never understood why pay one price parks do not charge more during peak times (weekends, holidays, etc). It seems they are leaving profits on the table. This model works fine with other travel businesses (hotels, airlines, rental cars)...you might think it would be tried at an amusement park.

In some sense they do---but by discounting the gate during slow times from "list".

I believe that Dorney Park still lowers the price during the early season.

Cedar Point may still offer a "Bonus Weekend" price during the slower seasons.

A lot of coupons that give major discounts are for the slower seasons.

However, I would love to see it implemented an a more noticeable scale. Balancing out the crowds would be a huge step in the right direction as far as customer satisfaction goes.

And since we are talking about Fast lane at Kings Island here, inciting the crowds to be a bit larger on slow days and a bit smaller on really busy days would really help the entire pay-to-cut scheme run more efficiently. It would get more people buy it on slower days, and it would shorten the wait time for non-users on busier days.

Yeah, Dorney charges $29.99 instead of $45.99 on days the waterpark is not open from opening day to the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and then the days in September after Labor Day but before Haunt starts. They used to charge less than the summer price for Haunt days but this past season now charged the same $45.99 for Haunt as well