SF debuts new Queue management

In an story in amusement business.com they have a story about a new line management program saying lines should be alot shorter in 18 of there parks.
Here is the problem I can't read the whole story because I'm not a member, If anyone is please fill in the rest for us thanks.

http://www.amusementbusiness.com/amusementbusiness/index.jsp

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Army rangers lead the way *** This post was edited by supermandl on 3/5/2001. ***

If they can make this work, and keep multiple trains running to keep lines under control, it may make SF a much better value, and a better level of operation.

See, there's the problem. I don't care how you queue people, either live or virtually. If you stack trains or only run one, your capacity is still going to suck. That's not going to change.

If you couldn't tell, capacity is my biggest pet peeve.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

i wonder which of the 18 parks it will be at im not saying any names *cough* SFMM,SFGAdv*cough*.

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are you ready to go vertical?...V2 SFMW 2001 ...

My guess at least one of the 18 will be Six Flags Great America with their two new coasters... :)

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-Glitchey
Now bringing you CornBall Express exclusive information & pictures - http://coasterachive.cjb.net

If SFGAm gets this program working then it should be great for ride capacity because this is one of the few SF parks that gets decent reviews of ride capacity already.

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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls

Jeff said:
"See, there's the problem. I don't care how you queue people, either live or virtually. If you stack trains or only run one, your capacity is still going to suck. That's not going to change.

If you couldn't tell, capacity is my biggest pet peeve."

I'm with ya Jeff! It took an hour to line-up for Ninja at SFMM as they were running only one train.

I just HATE stacking & single train operation!

IOA's Hulk had all three trains stacked. The ride-ops had no clue what they were doing. And there were like 6 of them! Waiting time peaked at 50 mins & the line began INSIDE the building!

BGT's Kumba had only one train running. That was ok as it was a Monday-quiet day & a walk-on. I rode it 34, yes, 34 times that day! :):):) *** This post was edited by CoasterGod on 3/6/2001. ***

What is train stacking?

Train stacking= While one train is in the station being loaded, another train that has just run the course of the coaster pulls up and has to stop to wait for the other one to dispatch.
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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls

It's where two or more trains, three in the case of the Hulk, are running & are not spaced out. I.e. one inbetween the lift & mid-course braking run and another inbetween the MCBR and station brakes, with the last in the station being unloaded/loaded. With the Hulk, they had one train in the station being UL/L with another stopped right behind it full of happy riders. Sometimes the third train was stopped behind the second train! Hence the term 'stacking.'

This is very bad for capacity. DDragons wasn't too great either and IMO, having the trains unload the riders before rolling into the station adds to wasting, sorry, waiting time.
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Home Park - Wonderland Sydney, Australia. *** This post was edited by CoasterGod on 3/6/2001. ***

CoasterGod said:

IOA's Hulk had all three trains stacked. The ride-ops had no clue what they were doing. And there were like 6 of them! Waiting time peaked at 50 mins & the line began INSIDE the building!"

It's all because of that thing where people staying at a Universal hotel get to cut lines all day. Not only does it make the queue times way slower than necessary, but it takes away choice of seats in every seat but the front. I didn't get to ride in the back because of this policy. I did like it when somebody who was leaving early gave us his exit pass to use for one last quick ride of the Hulk. :)

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E.J.
Webmaster: Theme Park New England
http://tpne.8m.com

SFoG is doing this for sure. They are calling it "Fast Lane". If you go to the Lo-Q web site, they have pics of the ride signs with this virtual line stuff on them.

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What is life without ups and downs!?!?

Thumbs up Six Flags!

Can someone explain this please??

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May 5th, Gurnee, Illinois, "I'm sprinting for V2"

This is all very interesting, BUT....
what if there are so many people in the park that there is STILL a 4 hour line, the trains are running efficiently, And the ride opened an hour before the rest of the park to accomodate the extra guests???
ps was anyone else at SROS, SFNE last season???

I've never seen it happen in any park, ever. Not even with Millennium Force, which topped out at three hours with three trains not stacking on the busiest day of the season.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Yeah, I'm not sure I buy that either [about SFNE SRoS having a 4hr line]...I was there on a Saturday in May when the line started at the base of the stairs leading into Superhero Adventures and it was about an hour and a half to 1:45mins long. It wasn't like they were moving the trains well either, they'd be stacked for about 30sec to a minute and it still only took that long. To be 4hrs long AND not stacking the line would have been all the way up the handicapped walkway to Superhero Adventures. I can't see that happening. Now, if there was like a two hr breakdown, I could see the line being four hours long.

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"Yes if by crestfallen you mean KILL US!" -- Homer J. Simpson

I agree Jeff. I don't know if anyone else notices this, but I suspect Jeff does. After going to CP and seeing how quickly and efficiently their crews dispatch trains, its frustrating to go to other parks (i.e. SFNE) and stand in lines that hardly move. I'd be willing to bet that if a CP crew was running Superman: ROS at SFNE, they could empty a full queue in just over an hour. The queue is not small, but there is a lot of empty space in it (I've heard it's shaped like an S or something) and it it nothing compared to MF or Raptor. It might be about the same as Mantis, but I could be wrong. The fact is that SFNE (and other parks) need to work on their capacity, and using what capacity they do have to its fullest.

-Matt

Has anyone actually seen the text of the article we're talking about?

The term, "Queue Management" is an interesting one, in that for many of us it conjures up images of these electronic reservation systems. But in reality, queue management is almost a science that parks need to study, involving such variables as where rides are located, where entrances are located, how long the queue structures are, and what other rides are located nearby. I would think that various tricks could be used in designing the park to 'program' the traffic flow to spread the load among the star attractions (clue: the Duell loop design does NOT do this). An engineering approach to managing the queues is something I could really come out and support. But if all they're talking about is electronic reservation systems...well, then, I think they're doomed to fail.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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If 18 Six Flags parks are getting this queue management, that covers all of the Six Flags branded parks in the US, plus a couple of the unbranded parks. So, there is no need to speculate if your SF park will get it or not.

If trains are stacking because of slow loading you are going to have long lines no matter what queuing system is used. Reservation systems such as fast pass just allow you to wait somewhere other than in the line. (Which can be more fun in some cases.)