Longest wait for a coaster. Do you have a time limit?

Normally, I won't wait for anything in my home park (CP) more than 30-45 minutes. There's enough to do there that there is no reason to wait longer for anything, and you can get the biggies done in low season, or early in the morning before their lines build up.

The first time I rode TTD, I did wait a fair bit of time---maybe 2 hours. However, that was a solo trip without the family, and it was about my only day that season to try to get it in. No one else in my clan will ride it, and I don't ride things without at least one other family member when I'm there with them.

If I'm visiting a new-to-me park for a whole day, and I know I have the time, I'll wait an hour or so, but generally don't wait longer unless there is a marquee ride and I know I'm not coming back for a while. If I'm only there for a half day, I'm back to 30-45 minutes, and if that means I skip the big attractions, so be it.

At Disney parks, with Fastpass, my limit is 15-20 minutes.

I waited 6 hours for TTD because of a problem 2 years ago, and yes I am well aware that I should of left and rode something else but I was already on everything else that day and I really wanted to ride. Plus after it opened I was the only one on the train and, still had enough time to run to MF.

Depends on the situation, like if I have ever ridden the ride before, if I will be back to the park anytime soon. I am not going to wait any more than 15-20 minutes for Phantom's Revenge, but have waited up to 3 hours for a ride.

I used to have to wait 2 hours for Magnum every year I went! Only got to go from Erie once a year and on a summer weekend.

My record for torture is 4.5 hrs for KK and 3.25 hours for X. Contributing to the misery was mechanical problems. The latest I could recall waiting for a ride running 'normally' was about an hour and 45 min for SFMM's Viper 2 summers ago. All things being equal, (except for 'must-ride' coasters) an hour tops is all I could handle.

Two hours! That's my limit... and it's justifiable if it's a good ride

I think I wanted nearly 90 minutes for Superman at New England, and around the same amount of time during it's inaugral year at Darien Lake.

BUT... the best came at Cedar Point where I waited 2 long hours for a near-front seat on Millennium Force back in 2000 (the debut year). It was a night-ride near midnight, that made it completely worth it... despite the long winding queue line that didn't seem to end. It was the longest I ever waited in line, but the last-ride-of-the-day senario at night on the best-ride-in-the-park made it completely worth it & I'd do it again if Cedar Point (or another park) had a coaster just as worthy to come out with the same fanfare & excitement. It better be just as new & as much of a rush as MF, otherwise... I can't justify 2hrs of my day waiting for a ride.

60m, I can see on busy days... and 45m is sometimes the norm... but anything over an hour, it had better be a hell of a good ride.

It was funny last year at KW when we were in line for the Turtle. It was about a 20 minute wait and some lady got out of line saying that it was WAY too long. I just chuckled because you just knew that she had probably never been to any other park and had no idea what a wait really was.

That's why I love Knoebels, they have never really heard of switchbacks and I hope they never do!

Tom

Wait limit: 41 minutes 33 sec. After that, it doesn't matter where I am in line, I'm outta there.

It depends on what ride it is.

I once waited for Top Thrill Dragster for 2 1/2 hours... and it didn't even open. That was pretty awesome.

But then some rides, like Ninja @ SFoG, I won't wait for it if there is more than a three train wait.

CP opening day 1994. If I recall correctly I waited about an hour for the Raptor, it broke. Got back in line later on and waited about 45 minutes, it broke again. I never rode it on opening day. I wound up coming back the following Tuesday I believe, by myself, and walked right into the station.

Tom

I'll shut up now, sorry. Slow day here at work.

I don't have a limit. There are some rides that I find are worth a 2+ hour wait, while others are not worth a 10 minute wait. If its my first time at a park, I weigh my options on what I'll miss if I choose to wait for an extended period of time.

The longest I've waited was 2.5 hours for TTD during its first year open.

All depends.

If I have never ridden a certain coaster before, I might wait longer.

If it is at a park I visit often, I usually pass on the longer waits.

If it is at a park that I may not visit again for some time, I might wait longer, unless that wait would preclude me from ridding other coasters at the same park... then I would pass on the one long line and wait in the 3 or 4 shorter lines.

The longest I've had to wait was for TTD the year it came out, and it ended up being 2 and a half or 3 hours. However, what made it worse was the breakdown just as we reached the concrete ramp up to the station. It was a very hot day, and with no shade there, we just baked in the sun for about an hour. Was it worth it.... I don't know, as it wasn't even the first time on the ride. But as somebody else here mentioned, once you've waited so long, you figure you might as well wait it out.

As for my "rule" about wait times, I don't know that I have a set time. If it's at CP and I've ridden it a lot, I probably won't wait more than 45 mins. to an hour. If it's at a distant park that I'm visiting for the first (and possibly only) time, then I'm more inclined to wait out whatever lines the big coasters have, just to get a chance to ride. So it really varies.

haha ya'll are crazy. Ain't no coaster worth a 3-5 hr wait. People wait 2hrs to see the Mona Lisa painting @ the Louvre in France, now thats a wait thats worth it, but for a rollercoaster? psssh nah My limit is 1.5 hrs and that would have to be for a ride I've heard raves reviews about and have never ridden. For me, typically the ones I wait the longest for are the biggest letdowns and the ones that are walk-ons like GASM & Stuntman's Freefall (GADV) are the ones I enjoy the most.

A 5 hr wait for KK?....you're insane. I waited 5 minutes last time I went :) I'm not justifying complaining to guest relations to accept bribes like free exit passes but hey sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

*** Edited 4/21/2006 5:16:58 PM UTC by DorneyDante***

Dorney,

No more waiting for KK, and I gaurantee that I won't wait more than 5 minutes to ride El Toro this year.

Not when they have a free pass type of coupon, for any ride in the park, in the back of Great Adventure's season pass coupon book.

Picked up mine on opening night. Just showed them my Six Flags New England renewed pass, and in 5 minutes I had my new 2006 coupon book.

Longest wait? Top Thrill Dragster, CP, opening day, 2003 - 4 hours. Worth it? Yes.

Second longest - (The Outer Limits) Flight of Fear, PKI, 3 hrs, 1997 (yes, the second year it was open). Worth it? Probably not.

Nowadays, I think it's very unlikely I would wait more than an hour for anything. For Millennium Force, or possibly Top Thrill Dragster, I'm still willing to wait that long - those are the two coasters I'd put that much of a time investment in to ride once.

But for something at PKI? At my home park, I think an hour is way too long, partly because I go so often, where 15 minutes is usually my longest wait to ride stuff (I'm spoiled). A good neww B&M or Intamin at KI by the end of the decade might change that threshold, but we'll wait and see.

Like others, it depends on the park and the ride. If the park is a day or more drive away, or required an airline flight, and especially if the ride is unique and/or new, I'd be willing to wait a few hours.

Why is the Mona Lisa worth it? I can sit here at my computer with my Cheeto dust encrusted fingers and see *exactly* what the Mona Lisa looks like via "the internets". But unless I have some magical carpet type device in my house, I'm not going to be able to feel the thrill of a coaster.

That being said, the longest line I ever stood in was 3.5hrs for B:TR @ GAm in '93 (I had ridden it the year before). It was just that durn cool to me at the time.

I also waited about six hours to ride Batwing when it finally opened to the public, but I dont really count that because a bunch of us tools were just kinda hanging out because most of us had ridden it before during Media Day.

lata, jeremy
--who waited an hour to see the Hope Diamond because he had nothing better to do.

Wow, you gave the most shallow, typical American response I could ever fathom. The Mona Lisa IS worth a 2hr wait. The painting is an experience and you clearly have never see it in person.

BTW, go to google images and type in the "Mona Lisa." Half those images you see are not the real Mona Lisa. And if any one of them were, your viewing them on a computer screen. Not the real deal, like I said going on coasters is an experience and seeing the Mona Lisa in person is an experienece as well. And do you wanna know why half those images are fake? Your not allowed to take pictures of the Mona Lisa when you go to see it at the Louvre in France. And no amount of Cheeto dust (excuse me while I laugh) will provide you with the experience of seeing the Mona Lisa in person. Just go see it and you'll understand. *scratches head* he started it! back to coasters

*** Edited 4/21/2006 5:52:15 PM UTC by DorneyDante***

Just did a web search for "Mona Lisa". Brought up the picture. Looked at it with out being pushed around by a bunch of tourists. Moved on.

I am trying to think the longest I have ever waited for a coaster.

1st Runner up: Batwing (SFA). 1 hr 30 minutes estimated (I wasn't really timing it). I'd never wait that long for it again. (On my second trip to SFA I waited only 10 minutes for it).

And the winner: Nightmare at CrackAxel Canyon (Great Escape) (sadly). 2 hours+ for an "eh, okay" coaster, thanks to horrible capacity. Once for the count. Been there, done that.

We actually have a little joke about impatient people turning around and leaving line when they see a wait. At PKI a few years back, we were heading over to The Racer, when we heard a fe-mullet wearing patron utter in the most hilarious of hick accents (and I'm from Alabama, so you know it's gotta be bad) "I'm not waitin' that long for the RACER." We get there and there's a 15 minute wait.

We wonder what exactly she did do that day, since it was the shortest line we saw at the park. We do know that she didn't ride FoF, Top Gun, or Face/Off because we saw her do the exact same thing in those queue lines, very loudly complaining that there were too many people at the park. On a Saturday. In June. *** Edited 4/21/2006 5:58:07 PM UTC by Fafolguy***

haha and you my friend (Slfake), don't get it either. But this is neither the time nor place to discuss the relevance of the Mona Lisa painting.

Moral of Story: Dante would wait 2 hrs to view/experience a piece of classic art by Leonardo DaVinci, not wait 2hrs to ride a coaster. But maybe I just have different priorities.