KNOTTS berry Cracks down on line jumping

Being at Knotts, especially give operational inefficiency right now, this article makes complete sense.

https://www.latimes.com/cal...ne-cutters

Yeah... sure.

There used to be “watch towers” over queue lines at some parks (Six Flags?) back in the 80’s/90’s before the days of pay to cut. Parks know the problem didn’t just stop magically, why make park guests be your queue patrol? Rude.

There's a really simple solution to this problem – paper tokens issued at the queue entrance that have to be redeemed in sequence to enter the ride station. I'm sure I've seen parks do that before.

Having effecient operations would also help. Ghostwriter is at a 2 hour 30 minute wait. Why? Single train operation. Hang time was a 1 hour 45 minute wait due to every other train running fast lane riders. Pony express is down for the count and accelerator has been hit or miss. This visit is honestly worse than a six flags visit about 2005 or so before the bankruptcy. And the park is honestly as empty as Geauga lake was around the same time.

Well after that park report maybe it’s time for Dolly Parton to buy Knott’s and have “Dollyland” on the west coast run by Herschend? 😬

WTF happened to good park operations and customer service at these regional parks across the country???

Fastlane happened?

I mean, you asked.

Operations at Knotts have been horrible for years and years.

You know, and this is probably an insane thought, but hear me out….

What if we ran more trains and trained operators to move with urgency, we might be able to trim waits down significantly, this would allow for better guest experience, increased guest spend, and less likelihood of line jumping.

Crazy right? Too crazy?

Ok, then let’s fine line jumpers, or better yet let’s give them 30 days in jail, I’m sure that this country would jump at that opportunity.

Also, in Germany and England, there was not a soul entering or leaving the line for water, food, my friend, bathroom, etc. so weird and so refreshing.

TheMillenniumRider:

trained operators to move with urgency

That this is needed it part of the problem.

I could check a whole B&M inverted 28 passenger train on my own in under a minute when out in the park helping out. That was in the days before iROC but it goes to show what is possible when one hustles.

Richard Bannister:
There's a really simple solution to this problem – paper tokens…

I remember when I visited Efteling the hot new ride was Baron and they had a paper ticket that they gave riders as they entered the queue. My memory is hazy but IIRC it didn’t exactly order the riders but gave them a specific boarding group and spot in the train. Or something like that. Anyway, it was something they checked in the station to make sure we were when and where we were supposed to be.

TheMillenniumRider:

Also, in Germany and England, there was not a soul entering or leaving the line for water, food, my friend, bathroom, etc. so weird and so refreshing.

Didn’t stop by Thorpe Park, eh? 😆

I don't get how Knott's has such horrid operations... There really is no excuse. Six Flags was significantly better both visits to those parks.

Easily the worst Cedar Fair park I've ever visited in terms of operations alone. The park itself is nice, but we just skipped it all together last time because of our previous visits. Oh well.

Cedar Point used to have security roam the more popular queue areas on a consistent basis, but I haven’t seen that happen in years now (at least consistently) . They also seem to be relying on the text and let us know type thing now. While that’s great and a useful feature, I would still think having a security presence in the queue for the 5-6 major rides with a significant wait be a smart move to start with.

Let say l you have 1 security officer per 500 guests (that would mean at CP 50 on duty on an average day). Wouldn’t it make sense to put a few them where you have 1000+ people all crammed in the same area where many of the issues are coming from? If there is an urgent call elsewhere sure they can still respond, but would be nice if they walked the ‘beat’ in some of the larger lines like before.

TheMillenniumRider:

What if we ran more trains and trained operators to move with urgency, we might be able to trim waits down significantly, this would allow for better guest experience,

But then guests would have little need for those fancy up charged “express passes”

Interesting to note, HHN at USH is also pretty bad... Nothing like Orlando in terms of capacity, the lines CRAWL for the houses. It's weird that the same company can be run so drastically different between the two parks.

Maybe it's just California...

Okay. We have technology these days, or coming very soon, that can keep a lineup in order. How about integrating the elimination of line jumping with fast lane. Instead of passing out tickets with numbers to stand-by guests, have them scan the same barcode at both the entrance and exit of a ride, and allow the computer to keep the sequence in order. That barcode (or QR code) could be printed on a bracket, which could also serve as your park ticket and any upgrades you have throughout your day. You wouldn't even need extra employees for this if your ride already has an entrance host and fast lane merge point host.

Or even the upcoming facial recognition technology coming to Universal. Use AI to keep track of the lineup sequence and alert staff and security if it notices a problem.

This is a small problem that seems large.

I can go even further... After you scan the code at the ride entrance, you can wait in an open queue (without all those queue rails) with things to do or places to relax wit your party until your number comes up. Then you get in a short line. Easy peasy.

^ What’s the solution for running more than one train on Ghostrider? lol