Pay-to-cut: Not Fun For Everyone

Kudos Brian! Very good explination, though I'm sure it has already been lost on some.

I don't know where this whole idea of "waiting in line adds to the park experience and is fun" came from. When has waiting in line for something ever been fun? With the exceptions of some well themed queues, and even then, that only lasts just a few minutes for me.

If waiting in line is someone's idea of fun, then I'd say they need to get out more. It isn't about being impatient, it is more about comparable wait/reward. I shouldn't, in my opinion, wait longer than double the amount of the ride. Which means: If a ride is 2:30, I don't think I should wait more than 5:00 to ride.

Granted, this is not going to happen, and I'll usually wait up to an hour to ride something. If I know something is going to be longer than an hour wait, I'll usually skip and come back when the wait is much less. But waiting in line, esp. on days I'm by myself at a park, is not fun in any way. I go to a park to ride, eat food I dont' normally get to, and have fun. Waiting in line does none of that for me.

Edit:

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rc-madness said:
Those of you who would rather be at a park without having to deal with other people, please do us all a favor and purchase your private day at the park.

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First off, no one said they don't like to deal with people that I saw. What I say is I don't like to wait in a line for an hour and take the risk of being stuck in between Mr. I'll smoke in line if I want to and Ms. I smell like I've not bathed in a year. How is that wrong?

I work with the public, I don't mind people. But why should I have to have less of a fun day because of a few idiots? Granted, I know I'm going to have to deal with that, but I'd much rather go to a park that has less of a crowd and not wait. If you don't like these systems, and you obviously don't, I can say the same to you: If you don't like having to deal with parks that sell these systems, please do US all a favor and don't go. *** Edited 6/4/2005 11:18:33 PM UTC by TeknoScorpion***

Here's a thought that is making me a bit uncomfortable as I am typing it.

Are disabled park guests eligible for any additional Q-bot benefit, as they and their parties can usually enter any attraction through the exit ramp with their party?

I have never heard or seen anyone object to a handicapped guest entering an attraction in this way.

That being said, should his / her non-handicapped "friends" get the same privilige or should they have to wait on the line (like the baby swap program) or at least be required to purchase a q bot.

I am sure there isn't a public relations peson in any park who would want to address this.

I think the parks let you take like 3 friends with you. That way it's not just one person, but it's not like 10 people either, or a whole train of friends. That does seem fair to me. But, what doesn't seem fair to me, is when guests pull the "fake leg" trick to get on rides faster. (That means they have a fake cast on)

Yeah, but has anyone actually *done* the fake cast thing? Sure I hear it bandied about like "Wouldnt it be cool iff...", but I have no personal knowledge of anyone actually going through with it. Where does one even *get* a fake cast? Do they sell them at Spencer's or something?

I think the fake cast story is urban legend akin to "You know, showone died on (insert coaster name)!"

lata, jeremy

--who skipped the queue for Dr. Doom both times he rode it...and doesnt feel like he missed a thing ;)

My inside sources tell me that Cedar Point management, after learning from this thread that some people like waiting in line, and think it's fun, will debut MaxQueue! People will be guaranteed a minimum one hour wait in a line that queues up for nothing!

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TeknoScorpion said:

But why should I have to have less of a fun day because of a few idiots?

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Funny, that's my same argument against pay-to-cut. ;-)

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TeknoScorpion said:
please do US all a favor and don't go.

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Are you asking, begging, or demanding?? *** Edited 6/6/2005 12:34:37 AM UTC by freakylick***

CP won't even allow a person with a cast on most coasters due to safety...

After reading a lot of opinions here, I have slightly changed my opinions about pay-to-cut. If pay-to-cut is done right, I don't see to much of a problem with it. I don't see it done right very much though, imho.

I worked at IOA for One year, as I have said before, and I didn't see too much of a problem with Express, except that sometimes all of the freebies were gone WAY too early in the day. To be fair to paying guests, I like it when they slightly limit Express use for Resort Guests to something other than unlimited use.

If freebies are offered, as to not exclude poor people like me ;) , AND if all passes are very limited so the cut line is not overfilled, I won't get upset when it is making my wait slightly longer.

Extremely limit the cut line, is what I am saying. I feel that this isn't happening sometimes though. I will be the first to complain to GS if I am at a park standing in a majorly stalled standby line due to pay-to-cut or even free-to-cut.

Good points from all on this issue that I still find VERY touchy. Thanks for the great conversation...I LOVE Coasterbuzz! Y'all are awesome!

freakylick: Why does someone taking advantage of what a park offers become an idiot? They're an idiot because they bought a product that was offered to them, and they could afford it? I still don't buy that. I still think most of the anti-pay-to-play-first people are more upset because they can't afford/justify cost, so they simply think no one should have the chance. Which is just selfish thinking.

As to the other part, that was a direct response to:

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rc-madness said:
Those of you who would rather be at a park without having to deal with other people, please do us all a favor and purchase your private day at the park.

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Not you:).

Pay-to-cut is fun for everyone who pays to cut?;)

Dang Tootin!

So thern here's my next question. Let's say I go to SFGav. I go solo. I have a pass that I got from my school for my participation in the SF Reading Program. I haven't been on KK yet (I went opening day when it was still under testing / construction). Am I better off participating in the "running of the bulls" to KK or should I get a Q-bot first, assuming I will only get one ride on it?

Assume I buy the bot - which I never have before.

Others are in line before I even become a virtual guest, yet I might be placed ahead of many of them as soon as I make the purchase. So in a sense - am I virtually in line before I even buy the Q-bot?

If I run to KK first, do I run the risk of the park running out of them?

This is been a fantastic topic thread. I appreciate the fever of both points of view. *** Edited 6/6/2005 4:19:38 AM UTC by Richie Reflux***

Yeah that scenario just "virtually" beat the system!

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Others are in line before I even become a virtual guest, yet I might be placed ahead of many of them as soon as I make the purchase. So in a sense - am I virtually in line before I even buy the Q-bot?

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No, it doesn't work that way. You now have to physically take the q-bot to the appropriate place at KK and activate it.

Ideally at that point, the system knows the estimated wait for the ride and assigns you time representative of that wait.

Which, if the 'extimated' wait is 6 hours, then it tells you to come back in 6 hours. Though, from what I've heard from a few friends that have been there, if you run to the ride first, it is still a 2 hour wait in most cases, so, more than likely, the Q-Bot will not give you a time 6 hours later. I haven't heard of the 4 and 5 hour wait times on anything other than maybe opening day for the Ride.

One question I have, though, is if you get a reserved ride time, and then the ride breaks down for an hour, and you come back at your 'time to ride', woulnd't you be skipping an hour ahead of the people waiting? Not that I care, I'm still for the systems, just playing Devil's Advocate at this point.

Yes, you would.

I wonder what happens to people who have a ride time that lands during the breakdown? I imagine they now get to stand there waiting as well.

That whole thing could get ugly fast. :)

Which is why, if I do make it to Kingda Ka Ka this year, I'll get a Q-bot, and hope for a break down. Who's with me? Ed? Rob? Anybody?;)

Actually, I know that last year, on my day there, CP wasn't offering Fastlane on TTD because it kept breaking down. Perhaps they'll suspend it on KK if the ride has the same problems.

That would seem logical - on both counts. :)

Yeah, I'm Cool Like That (TM)

;)

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TeknoScorpion said:
freakylick: Why does someone taking advantage of what a park offers become an idiot? They're an idiot because they bought a product that was offered to them, and they could afford it?

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Tekno..It was just a joke. I said it earlier in this thread and I will say it again...I don't have a problem with anyone who uses the system. It's there, you don't have a problem with the system and you use it. How could I possibly have a problem with that?! My problem is with the system, not it's users.

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I still think most of the anti-pay-to-play-first people are more upset because they can't afford/justify cost, so they simply think no one should have the chance. Which is just selfish thinking.

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Not trying to point fingers here, but both sides are probably being a little selfish.

Yes. VQer's do get a huge advantage when the ride breaks down. They virtually move through the queue while the standby does not. The problem, of course, is then there's a huge backup of VQers trying to get on a train

This actually does lead to massive problems when the ride starts back up, as q-bot people end up with an hr. long wait or so.

If you're going standby, I highly suggest going right at the fork. Q-Bot people merge with the other station, the other station has the bum train (dark blue) and I think the other station is slightly longer.