How do Theme Parks minimise Queue Times?

[@jackknueve4645]

One thing about FastPass that wasn’t mentioned: it doesn’t actually increase the capacity of the ride. Rather, it reduces the amount that the main queue moves, because it reduces the number of guests from the main queue who are admitted to the ride.

[@coasterbot]

Very true!

[@routemaster3877]

that's what makes me hate fast track, it lets a few rich people get loads of rides in while making the queue longer for everyone else

[@zenomorph8806]

And at DisneyWorld at least there is nothing like being stopped at the merge point only to see 40 to 50 guests pop into line in front of you after you’ve waited in stand by for an hour. Watch some of the current videos where total virtual queuing is in use, along with limited guests for the day and the biggest complaint I’m hearing is “I’m only able to schedule to queue for one ride today”.

[@Brandon-qd2lb]

Zenomorph yep that bullshit with the virtual queue. It's impossible to reride the good stuff. That's even fair then!

[@ridge4649]

routemaster 387 What do you mean rich people lmao? It’s free

[@GC-pp3bp]

Another thing that they do is have “singles” lines and “group” lines to help fill in spaces quickly

[@Bradgilliswhammyman]

Universal does this.

[@thomas.0]

Yep, seen that at Disneyland Paris

[@tismejaytee]

I wish Cedar Fair and Six Flags (on ALL there rides) would install Single Rider lines and Digital Wait times on their rides

[@blah7983]

I mean not right this second but yeah

[@lonenexus959]

I see this at ski resorts all the time. Those lift lines can be brutal.

[@StamfordBridge]

It hurt just to see that thumbnail announcing a five-hour wait.

[@lukefarley9221]

Coaster Cloud *10 on opening day

[@edvaira6891]

But it’s only 20 minutes with FastLane!

[@DaveWraptastic]

You are bonafide insane if you wait that long for any ride. That's basically your entire day gone when you could be riding a million other things and actually enjoy your day.

[@adash16]

@@beau_thielen It got to 14 hours

[@leftright6940]

@@beau_thielen I was there opening day and can confirm waited around 10 hours.

[@tismejaytee]

It really hurts when there's a 2 hour wait with absolutely no theming in the queue with ads blasting in your ear, annoying you. COUGH COUGH SIX FLAGS COUGH COUGH

[@wolfieeeee256]

It's dreadful isn't it!

[@liz_violet]

even worse when its summer, and your on your way to 1 of 3 water rides.

[@ytawesomegaming3216]

My local six flags actually plays old cartoons on the tv with some ads inbetween

[@crytocc]

Ads? You get *ads* in theme park queue lines? Seriously?

[@saltymarshmallow1932]

crytocc At Sixflags, some rides are literally sponsored by other companies

[@nicbarrax76]

When my 4-year old said "Daddy, I want to watch roller coasters (POV) before bedtime!" a couple of months ago, little did I know I'd also be somewhat of a roller coaster expert a few weeks later... 😂 Great video, lots of cool new stuff to learn for this newborn enthusiast!

[@coasterbot]

That's a lovely story, I hope you are enjoying learning everything and anything about the world of roller coasters. Thanks :)

[@nicbarrax76]

COASTER BOT thank YOU for showing clips from a couple of my favorites here in Sweden, Wildfire and Balder! ❤️

[@awildfurret]

Im currently stepping in into a rollercoaster community

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

L

[@SolarMoth]

Wow, the end really shows that organized parks are really the future. Wrist bands that wait in line for you, all while the parks sell you diversions.

[@coasterbot]

Exactly ;)

[@MotoAtheist]

Yeah, virtual queues are fine until they are abused where people make the reservation "just in case" they have the time and then don't show up. Basically making queues longer and wasting everyone's time. At least with the actual queue, lots of people won't even bother, not wanting to stand in a line that long, and so the queue will be smaller overall. With virtual queue, now everyone is willing to get in line and now the queue is triple the normal size.

[@Sir_Budginton]

@@MotoAtheist I've never been to a park like this before, but I assume you can't queue up to more than one thing at a time. If you have to wait in the "queue" for an hour, and then don't go to the ride, you have to wait another hour in a different queue to go on that. You effectively just wasted an hour.

[@yourself5448]

@@Sir_Budginton This sounds like a very logical thing to do to prevent people from abusing the virtual wait system.

[@bryancurdi451]

@MotoAtheist at Volcano Bay if you don't go to the ride after I think 5 or 10 minutes that your time is up, it gives up your spot in line to the people after you, so let's say you had to wait 30 minutes in the virtual line, and after 30 minutes you have 5 minutes to get there, but you don't go, it will allow someone else to go, so it's not like the spot is gone forever.

[@timmyt4207]

I like the smiler queue because of the theming and how they take your things before you get to the station

[@wolfieeeee256]

The Smiler queue is a nightmare for me 😆

[@cameraboimykul]

Smiler Queue is good, and its kinda fun, spent a few hours in it, but it felt like only 30 mins

[@nomi7743]

its pretty much a cattle pen queue right? i've never been in the actual queue. i always use the fastrack. If you're talking about the room before the stairs then the projectors are broken-

[@timmyt4207]

@@nomi7743 oh really but yeah I mean once you're inside lmao

[@paigemabel7373]

They don’t take your things anymore and I always feel like cattle in the queue 😂

[@ThunderBlastvideo]

"Minimize queue times" Peter pan: wait that's illegal

[@annam.9612]

So true even on a rainy day the line was 40 min

[@EarthySmerky]

Universal studios tram queue Laughs in awesomeness

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

ThunderBlastvideo a

[@kirbyppg]

hahaha

[@the-inatorinator]

One time, I rode Peter Pan with no line. My family was in the bathroom at the end of the night, when they start to shoo people towards the exit gates. By the time we got out, most of the employees had left the area. Peter Pan was still open to finish off what queue was left from the evening, so we jumped in line before the shooing people came back. I had never been on the ride precisely because of the insane wait times, so we couldn't waste the opportunity. And opportunity it was. There was NO LINE. Literally none. There was a 5 minute wait when we got into the queue, but by the time we reached the actual loading area we could just walk right up to the cars. We ended up being the last to ride that day. It was such a stroke of luck to get such good timing, and I'm glad I got to see the ride before getting too old to enjoy it properly. Ok thank you for reading my pointless brag that's not actually a brag

[@windturbine6796]

I once went to my home park (Canada's Wonderland) on a weekday in mid May. It's surreal seeing a place so busy with people now empty. I would go on large rides that would've taken an hour to wait for one ride, multiple times in a row in like 30 mins. The longest wait I had was like 10 minutes when a kid threw up and they had to clean and sterilize it. I would 100% recommend going to a park out of it's busy season, at least from my experience.

[@coasterbot]

Going out of season is a blessing!

[@comfortyall5668]

Wind Turbine I went in September and the lines were pretty short but the pools were closed

[@alexosow]

Wait Mid May is out of season?

[@willhunnisett6139]

@@alexosow in canada

[@alexosow]

@@willhunnisett6139 Oh so it's still cold? In the US it's pretty hot then

[@joaquimsilva6081]

Another thing that Universal uses is the "One-person" line, when the ride has, for example, 5 seats and there's a family of four going in, the person going alone is brought in to fill the coaster faster. After I discovered it Universal became my go-to park because I barely wait in lines and I don't need to pay extra for it.

[@Wh1spr]

At 4:04 you said “to counter [clogging up bins], theme parks have come up with innovative solutions”, my mind instantly went to Baron 1898. Lo and behold the next shot being exactly that ride 👌

[@SgtCatbread]

Had the same haha!

[@coasterbot]

I read your mind before you even thought it! ;)

[@narutoushiwa1046]

At Europa Park (favorite park, really underrated) there sometimes is line that let's you skip past everyone for free, but it means that you will only be able to do the attractions alone. Basically, you fill the few places that are free because the big families want to board it all at once.

[@Demon-POT]

How do theme park minimise queue lines? Six flags : we don't do that here.

[@wolfieeeee256]

😆

[@awildfurret]

My Park: *Pathetic*

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Crazy Coasters International h

[@MotoAtheist]

No parks do. They don't increase capacity to lower queue lines, they increase capacity to increase sales. Nothing parks do is for visitor benefit, you can believe that.

[@FrustratedProgrammer]

I once waited a hour and a 1/2 for a medusa ride at 6 flags... was a < 3 min ride. ;(

[@cubu1946]

oh wow... this video actualy helped me increase productivity in my roller coaster tycoon game lmao sweet... break block sections never thought of that...

[@jamesgoodman5905]

At Alton Towers there is a Single Rider queue for some rides which means if there are 3 people in a 4 seat ride then someone from the single rider queue is added in. This reduces the wait time in the main queue by having less people in it and also maximises capacity by making sure each cart is full. When I go to Alton towers I always use the Single Rider queue and it is way faster.

[@coasterbot]

Single Rider queues can be great! :)

[@Irreve-rsible]

Disney does this aswell!

[@charlesh7962]

Basically ur paying extra to cut the line & adding more time to those " still on line " is the reason for long lines .( money equals power )

[@wolfieeeee256]

Indeed, I am in favour of free Fast Passes as it's fair for everyone in the park.

[@AirtimeProductions]

Yup

[@timmerman135]

Yep in a theme park i gotto they call it "boarding pass". It is on a few rides. You can get a ticket for the ride at the entrance. With that ticket you can enter for example from 13:30 to 14:00. The amount of tickets per half an hour is limited so there are almost bo people in the queue

[@charlesh7962]

I've done ride operator jobs at a few amusement parks, Sea Word ( San Diego ca ) was the 1st time I've see in person not KZbin video. Personally i have nothing against them. To us the ride operators just part of their job. Lol

[@mr.communist3906]

Joecake Gamedev if it’s free, what’s the point?

[@drewfilmboy]

Park Guests: We don’t like waiting in long lines! Park Operators: Got it! (Builds 2 queue lines for every ride instead of high capacity attractions)

[@AbandonedMines11]

Looking forward to going to Six Flags Magic Mountain later this summer once the park reopens. Will be interesting to see What modifications will have been made regarding waiting in lines and things like that. Really enjoyed your video! Always very informative and well-produced.

[@coasterbot]

I hope you enjoy your trip! Thank you, that means a lot :)

[@teun2408]

Single rider lines also have become rather popular in the past few years. It speeds up the queues by filling up the carts to it's full capacity.

[@coasterbot]

Definitely!

[@eratonysiad2582]

I personally really like the concept of the single riders queue. People often visit themeparks in groups, so rollercoasters will often end up with some unfilled seats. Filling those up with people who are either alone, or don't mind not riding at the same time as their friends increases the total throughput as well.

[@coasterbot]

Single Rider queues are great! :)

[@NaveyBlu]

The downside to the Fast Pass system (depending on how popular it is) is it can slow the normal queue down quite a bit. In my experience, this is really only noticeable at Disney parks since fast passes are free. Those in the fast pass queue get significantly more priority than those in the normal queue at the merge point.

[@mrn234]

And Disney has a shitload more visitors compared to the amount of rides and some capacitys are like meh.

[@Lucas_van_Hout]

Disneyland: _haha wait number goes 500_

[@coasterbot]

The 300 minute wait in the thumbnail is from a Disney park ;)

[@sixletss]

haha big numbeerrr hahaha so funnyyy

[@ashkhol]

COASTER BOT Frozen ever after?

[@awildfurret]

Normal day in RCT

[@ls2443]

@Shinx Plays thank god someone made that reference

[@jirikonecny4774]

I love bins at BlueFire station in Europa Park. People that are leaving the train pick up their bags from the other side of the wall from the other side of the bin. So guest that leave and board the train are not coliding with each other and still it doesn’t take some much time when any ride staff has to find your stuff in the storage and also u can wait with your stuff till boarding. I love this BlueFire concept.

[@wolfieeeee256]

Same with Arthur as well! The locker placement is really clever 😀

[@MarshallChems]

First thing after Corona bucket list: -Talk to a person -eat at a restaurant -Go to a Roller coaster

[@Jehty_]

Is all of that still not possible where you live? I always forget how different the Corona rules are around the world. Here in Germany the theme parks opened again last month.

[@user-yn1bd4yf3h]

My question is: has Coaster Bot ever been to Oakwood before?

[@coasterbot]

Yes

[@azi_yt]

Pretty sure he hasn't, Zoe said that in CBR but they live in Wales now so they probably will go when they can!

[@Dominik-qu3fo]

@@azi_yt ur wrong, lol.

[@Lucas_van_Hout]

Azi coaster bot literally said yes.

[@azi_yt]

@@Lucas_van_Hout I typed that before the feed refreshed and i knew he posted that comment

[@Mst4Alucard]

Smiler has separate queue for single riders too so when I went for 2nd time alone I skipped the queue. I got a shit seat though, on the side and the ride wasn't as pleasant anymore lol

[@selectbrony6222]

Another way to improve queue times: Simply have more than one track. Almost no coasters I know of do this, but I know at least at Cedar Point, the Gemini coaster has two separate tracks where two coasters run in tandem. It works quite well with the ride too, I loved high fiving people on the other coaster as we got close on the bend. Nothing quite like getting a 35mph high five.

[@coasterbot]

Very good point!

[@advizedog4131]

I just realized a bunch of these clips are from my area. Great adventure baby.

[@coasterbot]

Nice spot!

[@advizedog4131]

COASTER BOT It is a great spot. I’m not a coaster enthusiast, and there’s no way I’m going on king da ka, but it’s the best place I’ve seen in a while.

[@helenetrstrup4817]

I am quite a patient person and I've never really minded waiting in a queue to ride. That said, I'd rather wait in a queue than pay to skip it. It costs me enough just getting in! 🤣 Also Legoland in Denmark is fairly small, so unless you're there in the middle of the season when everyone else is there, it's not really that crowded and it's pretty easy to avoid ridiculously long queues. The best time to go is a weekday from the morning, cloudy with maybe a little rain just out of the busy part of the summer season or other holidays that pulls in lots of visitors. You'll get most of the park to yourself because people are still either at work or in school/kindergarten. The other visitors will be too preoccupied taking pictures. 😇 I'd probably be more willing to pay to try stuff if it was a place I hadn't gone before or there were a lot of new stuff I had yet to try. But for something I've ridden a 100 times, no. I won't pay extra.🙃

[@coasterbot]

I think that's totally fair enough. If possible, as you said, it's quite easy to avoid queues by picking a non-busy time to visit. :)

[@coaster6777]

I'm from Germany and in Germany every federal state has their own summer vacation to reduce traffic on the freeways. The theme park where we like to go (it is the Phantasialand) is in a different federal state than we live. My grandparents live only 30 minutes away from the theme park. We go there one time annually and we choose the time where we are in summer vacation, but in the other federal state not. The longest queue time we experienced was 25 minutes.

[@youhavenowon]

One of the scariest thing while I'm riding a rollercoaster is fearing that the train behind us crash with our trains.. so YES learning about the block section thing is so CONFORTING🥺

[@ellakirchman5994]

thepuffskein you should watch the channel GP to Enthusiast. He debunks so many myths about roller coasters and really helped put to rest so many common fears of roller coasters.

[@coasterbot]

There's a lot going on in the background when it comes to roller coaster and safety! Glad this video put your mind at rest a little :)

[@Turtlee.]

i can't believe this channel is so small when the quality is so good

[@coasterbot]

You're too kind :)

[@crygun22]

Out of all the fast passes I like cedar fairs the most, because you can use it whenever and there’s no need to rush if your time is about to end

[@AMagicProduction]

I’m a simple man, whenever COASTER BOT posts a video... I click it

[@coasterbot]

Ha ha thank you :)

[@sirwalfredhemeltonwillthex616]

Yet again a great Video! I think the the system for loose items on Kärnan is awsome too and would have been worth mentioning. ^^

[@coasterbot]

Thank you. Kärnan's system is fantastic but sadly also quite rare, which is why it wasn't mentioned in this video! We could have gone deeper into each section but didn't want to get too specific :)

[@sirwalfredhemeltonwillthex616]

@@coasterbot true, I guess I just can't get enough of your videos. :P

[@thesassyunixorn4390]

Loving the video so far! Always loving your explanations keep up the good work

[@offsetsface2135]

I remember when I went on a school trip to Thorpe park and we could only fit in 3 rides before we had to go even though we ended up being late 😂😂

[@wolfieeeee256]

Indeed, we had a day of just 6 rides once which is ridiculous, one of those we paid for Fast Track. But then I guess that makes us part of the problem. Fast Track should be free.

[@mrn234]

That why school trips into a theme park are not the best idea unless you can stay there and drive home on your own (What we had back in my school days)

[@Mst4Alucard]

@@wolfieeeee256 free fast track = normal queue. If it was free everyone would go on fast track, so what's the point?

[@saltymarshmallow1932]

One time I went to SixFlags and we only had time to go on 2 rides because of the long waits. Still a fun time, though :)

[@alexx1156]

@@wolfieeeee256 6 rides is kinda a lot..

[@panthro976]

Really cool video didnt no about the wrist bands that allow you to wait in line while still walking around the park and I think the volcano bay method should be slowly added to other parks definitely seems like the best method.

[@Aaron.Rants.Reviews]

I agree. The one issue with this is that the initial investment/development cost. Of course, one could go the Disney route and use an app, that way there's no need to invest in thousands of bracelets that might get lost or damaged. Then there's the question of whether it would be free for all guests or paid. Parks might be incentivized to charge for it to make more money, but I think if they made it free people might be more inclined to spend money on food and shops in the park, seeing as they have more time to walk around.

[@olivaperez5339]

@@Aaron.Rants.Reviews this is very true. I live in a country that doesn't have decent international level theme park like universal or disneyland so the one day I was able to spend a full day in Hongkong Disneyland, me and my entirely family probably only ate one light snack and one light meal the entire stay. I would love to have spend more money on park food and try out the Disneyland Popcorn and famous mickey waffles but due to wanting to experience as much of the rides and parades as possible, we weren't able to set aside much time to buy food. The crowds were really bad at the time of our visit since it was during their Autumn Moon cake festival so a lot of locals were visiting since it is a holiday for them.

[@batterieman3001]

nice attention to detail to show footage of Phantasialand coasters when talking about attractions with high throughputs :)

[@wolfieeeee256]

Taron's got an amazing throughput (usually)!

[@batterieman3001]

@@wolfieeeee256 I wasn't being sarcastic haha

[@coasterbot]

They probably do have high maximum theoretical throughputs but I didn't find Phantasialand to be fantastic when it came to ops getting the trains out of the station. They were average, but perhaps that was just my own experience :)

[@batterieman3001]

@@coasterbot Yeah, it really depends on the Ops working there. Unfortunately, capacity fluctuates greatly, as some employees are more committed to giving their best than others.

[@CyberChamp]

You know what I love even more about this video? It is divided into categories! How do you do that?! That's amazing!

[@Banjo_Tails]

It’s been happening on KZbin for the last few weeks now. I’ve seen it on other videos like news.

[@coasterbot]

If you put time stamps in the description KZbin does it for you! :)

[@kendaldawn0512]

My favorite rollercoaster story of mine is when I rode the Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal. It started raining after we got in line, so when the ride dispatched, it was raining very lightly. By the end, it was starting to pour. The operators announced that the ride would be closed for weather as we got off, meaning we were one of the very last trains to ride.

[@crazyt1483]

So what is the best vertion on fast pass (excluding return for breakdown and ride access pass) 1. Any time, any ride where with your ticket you just walk up and skip the queue. 2. Book a slot where you go onto an app/to a kiosk where your given a slot to ride. 3 queue on your way where you pick a ride and you have a count down till you can ride. You can go to that ride anytime after that count down. 4 Queue as you ride. For this one you go up to the fastpass line then the attendant will put the time that you would have theoretically reached the front of the line on your card/account, you ride then will have to wait till the noted time before you can use it again

[@azi_yt]

Hey Harry, great video. A few notes though - all of the Big Thunder Mountains are crazy in that they allow two trains in one block (under circumstances). Another thing is that separate board and exit stations can be worse for capacity if it's only running one train, because then it effectively has to go through two stations, doubling the dispatch time.

[@catprog]

Is it one block or two blocks called one?

[@gikkus_gungus]

Yeah at yemen, rebals usally shorten the lines by bringing them to the express line. The ride is called "Fast Death"

[@coolness06]

When talking about virtual queues, don't forget about Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland and Hollywood Studios! Boarding groups, although people love to debate about whether it's a fair system, ensure guests aren't stuck in a 4+ hour line with frequent breakdowns.

[@theredeft5319]

I went in December. It sucked having to get up at like 5am to go to the park to get into the virtual queue in the pouring rain, but then after that we just went back to our hotel to sleep for a few hours before going back. When we got called for our boarding group the line wasn’t bad at all. Maybe like 25 minutes before we got to the first queue show area. It was definitely worth it. I wish the virtual queue could be implemented a little bit more in the future. At least maybe in addition to fast pass, they could allow you one or two virtual queues per day for certain rides. I know there are diehard people who’s rather wait 6+ hours in a line, but I’d rather be told that a ride has a limited capacity and miss the ride then have to wait in line for that long. Those same diehard people can just get up early if they care that much.

[@coolness06]

@@theredeft5319 I totally get you about getting up early to get a boarding group. Not exactly the idea of a relaxing vacation lol. It should be noted that after a couple weeks of first come first serve, they changed over to a lottery system where all you have to do is scan into the park prior to official opening time, and the groups will be distributed to those who are on the app and click the button to join a boarding group. They used this method at Disneyland when I went in February.

[@theredeft5319]

coolness06 Oh so now you have to get their before the park opens and only maybe get in as part of a lottery? I don’t really get the point of doing that as it sounds basically the same as what we did in December, only now it’s random who gets it.

[@jcwingsofficial]

8:38 I am a Ride Operator at the Incredible Hulk Coaster. While 1920 riders can technically ride in an hour, it's actually more like 1,824 riders per hour. Likewise, HRRR's capacity is more than likely to be lower as well.

[@Stephenp503]

A large problem with seat belts, is that sometimes they are impossible to unbuckle, mainly on Wildfire at SDC for me (and my 31 credits). That seatbelt is SO secure. It's like super glued to the restraint! The first time I rode it, I opened the buckle and tugged hard on the seatbelt to get off, but it wouldn't come out. It was my first roller coaster with OTSRs, so I didn't know what to do. The ride operator came and yanked up on the bar and let me out. The second time I rode it, I yanked up on the restraint many times, but that seat belt still wouldn't budge. That same operator came and freed me. I don't think she judged me too much, because I was eleven at the time. The third time I rode Wildfire, I was able to free myself after a few tries. Many other seatbelts were hard to take off, but Wildfire is at a completely different level. It still takes me a few tries of tugging on the restraint to unbuckle myself, which is probably because I'm weak.

[@lucianocortes3923]

to add on to the boarding procedure bins, the yukon striker at canada's wonderland has a system where items are placed into bins hanging bins which then traverse on a conveyer belt over the ride station as the trains come in and out of the station as the cart before you comes in, you put your items in the bin as you board and traverse the course, the bins travel over the station, then finally as you exit the ride, your items are waiting for you on the opposite side there are probably many other coaster with a similar feature but this was the only coaster i've experienced that had this system

[@coasterbot]

That's a really cool system!

[@chasecarroll2614]

The downside to using a virtual queue is that more guests will be in walkways around the park. A normal queue condenses people efficiently. I also feel normal queues give yourself some suspense that awaits you. Well themed queues begin the story and give you excited for what is to come.

[@coasterbot]

That's very true! But parks could be built from the ground up to deal with a larger volume of guests outside of the queue. Plus the virtual queue could lead to a normal queue for 10/15 minutes, with theming and such :)

[@iminumst7827]

A nice compromise would be to make wait areas outside the ride, with benches, snacks, and things to hype you up for the ride to come. This way you get the suspense and build-up but without the long periods of standing. A good way to think about it would be like airport boarding, you get a boarding group, then you just sit down until your boarding group is called on. For themeparks they could even have a little park-like playground to distract kids while they wait. I'm curious if any theme parks board like airports.

[@IMVADER2]

Some other interesting things of note with disney fast pass (specifically Disneyworld (the one in florida)), is that you can book your fast passes 30 days in advance of your visit, or 60 days if you stay on-property. You're limited up to 3 in advance, and once all 3 have been used up, you can pull open their app on your phone to book a new fast pass *one at a time,* and when that one runs out you can do so again and again. Essentially they're unlimited, and *you don't pay a cent* to do so! A great feature considering how pricey it is to go to Disneyworld And fun fact; there's a free fast pass for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride if you do the treasure map game around the park.

[@coasterbot]

I think it can be a great system if you manage to take full advantage of it! :)

[@ryan_n05]

I hope that Virtual Queues are integrated everywhere. If parks like Cedar Point exclusively used a virtual queue, then they would be able to add more attractions, purely because their queues take up so much space.

[@thimok22]

They wouldn't really be able to. Queues take up a huge amount of people. So if you get rid of queues, all those people are on the normal pathways, thus the parks need to increase the size of the pathways to support the increased load on them.

[@ryan_n05]

Thimo K Use some of the queue space to widen the paths.

[@lilbreadedchicken7046]

At Canada’s wonderland on the ride The Guardian, you have 3 shitty options for where to store your stuff. You can either tell one of the people in your group to stay back and hold onto everyone’s stuff, or you can purchase a locker (it cost $15 for 30 mins last time I went in 2018) that’s located right beside the ride, and you can only use it for the duration of the ride so you have to pay extra just to ride The Guardian. My advice would be to temporarily leave the park with a stamp on your hand, put your stuff into your car, then you can go back and enjoy the guardian. It’s free to leave the park and come back, they stamp your hand so you can come right back in, and you can leave the park as many times that day you would like. And the guardian is not far from the entrance of the park, so it’s not a far walk at all. Considering they have regular bins at all the other rides I think they wanted to try something else out, but it’s not working very well cause I’ve seen a ton of people who just choose not to ride it because they don’t want to pay that much for a locker.

[@DuskstarShine]

I love how talking about Alton towers, it shows part of Thorpe Park x3. Also, I thought perhaps que design would also be mentioned. It doesn't help with the time, but helps with making time pass quicker and keeping guests occupied. Like the complex design of Swarm at Thorpe park, and when more people are in the park, they have Tvs on you can watch to do with the rides theme (fake apocalyptic news report). Either way, pretty cool to find out how block sections work! I'd never heard of them till now

[@FruitBowlsAreMyThing]

another fast pass system thats used here in the UK at least is a disabled fast pass, for example, my younger brother has quite severe autism and *REALLY* hates queues, so as long as we apply before the day and show proof of diagnoses, we can go on all the rides using fast pass at anytime, on any ride. some parks have restricted this a little bit though by saying we can only go on x number of 'big rides' during the day using fast pass, they check this using a stamp card and once all the spaces fill up then you have to go back to normal queue

[@lennsa8312]

8:55 Where is this video taken? I searched for an hour now and cannot find it. The coaster in the back looks like a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster. But I would have found the Location by now if it were a Gerstlauer. So, where is it?

[@coasterbot]

It's Loke at Liseberg! The ride in the background is actually Helix, a Mack Rides multi-launch coaster. Though the track does look similar to Gerstlauer's!

[@lennsa8312]

@@coasterbot Thank you. You made my day (twice, if you also count the video).

[@coasterbot]

No worries, thanks for watching :)

[@stevenschiro1838]

Having been to Six Flags, Knotts, Universal, and Disneyland... Disneyland really knows how to move people. The entire point of fastpass being free and existing is because when people are waiting in line, they arn't spending money. The most popular rides are all meant to move people and not have bottlenecks. Pirates and the Haunted Mansion and huge capacities. Space Mountain has so many trains on the track, the reason it breaks down is because people take too long, the station backs up, and they have to stop the ride. In the coaster parody for California Screamin', they make fun of all the brake runs, but there's a crazy number of long trains they can fit on that ride. You never wait long for it. Contrast that to Knotts, when the park is packed and they are still running only 1 train on Silver Bullet.

[@2Pi100]

My parents would plan our trips to the amusement parks to circumvent weekends, and Holidays. Most if not all of my Six Flags & other amusement park visits came on a Tuesday or Wednesday, during the quietest times of the year (usually the hottest/coldest, but we knew that.) It wouldn't stop us from whining about the occasional 30 minute wait, cause kids will be kids, but I'm very glad I had that luxury growing up lol

[@mistyminnie5922]

The explanation about block breaks makes me understand why the Bob has such an extremely long queue. The ride featured almost no tracks and the speed is determined by just gravity as you slide down.

[@SavannahPhillipss]

9:49 I believe during the infamous smiler crash, the train with passengers stopped at a block section as the computers had detected a train on the section ahead. An engineer who didn’t know about the train ahead (it had been added without their knowledge) overrode the computer, hence the crash.

[@Zazume_]

If there is a Fast Pass, I'll buy it. I always feel kinda bad using them, considering that you almost always move right next to the main queue, where people are waiting for hours and see you skipping the entire thing, and also because you effectively slow down the main queue with those things. But I'm gonna be honest, I rate my own benefit in that regard higher. I'm paying 3x the price as the other guests to drastically improve my experience in the park. In my home park (Heide Park Soltau, which is shown in this video in some scenes actually), they work basically the same as in Six Flags. Little device given to you, you select the ride, and with the highest tier version, your are almost always instantly ready to go at least into the train station. At least, they only let a certain amount of people through the gate of the fast lane at a time. On most rides, only 2 fast lane people per train are permitted (so on every ride, there are still almost only people from the main queue, never is there a train entirely filled by people from the fast lane). I love using them, but I can perfectly understand when people dislike me for it.

[@blah7983]

Universal Orlando tip; Get everyone to book a virtual line pass on their phones for hagrid and have everyone book it for a different time and for the number of people in your party. Typically they end up “cancelling” the virtual line pass for a few of the times and they give you a fast pass for almost any ride anytime that day. The fastpass works on hagrid too BTW. You could end up with a fast pass for pretty much every ride with a long line

[@dotdankory]

Disney : hippity hoppity your time is our property

[@tobydorringtonarkle3491]

At Disney Land Florida they have a form of Fastpass called the “Genie pass” which is an unlimited fast pass. You can use it when you want and as many times as you want. You can buy it you have to be there with Make A Wish. Universal also have a similar system

[@early5326]

I was at a water park in Atlanta once and it was so slow that we were only able to go on 1 ride, which was a drop side. It wasn't a fairly big water park and some of the slides were closed off, but it took a few hours to get on 1 ride before they closed.

[@thePsycoGeniusHybrid]

Single rider queues are great too, if you don’t care who you’re sitting next to you can go is a different, usually much shorter/quicker than the main queue and they’ll give you a seat when there’s an empty space in a row/car because of odd group numbers

[@travisscott601]

Much of this was Liseberg in Sweden, Gothenburg. Mostly off Helix, Valkyria and Balder.

[@coasterbot]

That's because Liseberg is awesome! :)

[@austin7331]

The feeling of skipping everyone in line is amazing, you feel your ego growing

[@wildcatcrossingonalog2131]

I remember going to universal to go on the hagrids motorbike... hours and hours of waiting... but the queue was amazing!

[@isla8531]

i’ve grown up on roller coasters with atleast an hour wait and it’s humbled me so much

[@themchamburglar210]

Queuing theory was easily the most interesting business class I took. Mirrors, mirrors everywhere!

[@petermc7098]

Hello There, great video, very well edited and extremely informative, it's very interesting to see the various aspects and concepts that go into reducing queue times and increasing efficiency, as well as increasing throughput and guest satisfaction throughout. Thank you for producing this video. Cheers Peter :) p.s. it was good to see your perspective on it.

[@coasterbot]

Thank you for watching and for the kind comment, it means a lot :)

[@petermc7098]

@@coasterbot Hello There, you're welcome, it's well deserved. Cheers Peter :)

[@petermc7098]

@@coasterbot Hello There, this is why the UK needs to have higher capacity rides at it's Theme Parks, particularly at Merlin ones. Cheers Peter :)

[@apsims12]

My partner and I love the parks here in the UK. I remember one year, Thorpe Park running a digital queuing (I'll refer to it as DQ from now on) system through the park app. With it being my first experience with DQ, I loved it, as did everyone else I talked to about it. We were all hoping that it would be a new permanent staple to all Merlin parks the following year to then find that it went back to just premium fast passes. Seeing comments on Merlin's park's Facebook pages after many experiencing the DQ system, were saying the same thing as I was, why not bring out both free and paid tiers of the DQ system, where paid have a shorter wait times and a larger time window to use it, it bringing best of both worlds. I noticed that the Facebook pages would either just give a generic response (something along the lines of "thank you for your response, we'll take this into consideration") or nothing at all.

[@coasterbot]

That's awesome to hear! I think I know exactly the digital queuing system you're talking about at Thorpe Park. I thought it was really great too, we got on lots of rides using it! It's sad that they didn't implement it. I wonder why...

[@tecwzrd]

Not mentioned but is a huge reduction in Queue times is having quality shows at the park every few hours. Each show at Busch Gardens Williamsburg for example can seat 1000+ people and many of those people would be waiting in line to ride vs seeing a show. Most shows are inside and air conditioned as well so there is more of an incentive to see the show on hot days. Shows are also a benefit for guest who can't or are afraid of rides.

[@coasterbot]

Very good point!

[@Noise-Bomb]

I quite like the item storage system on Taron. Put in one side when you board the train take out the other side when you leave the train.

[@coasterbot]

That storage system is very good! :)

[@fresch4395]

The worse thing are restrictions that have to hit some certain point. Like I have ridden all kind of rollercoasters but I actually had to leave a couple because the didnt hit the point they needed to start. I mean I have been on many launch coasters for example, and most of the time the restrain just needs to close a bit. I know I am a bigger fellow but usually I can ride everything. Though last winter I wasnt allowed on tharon, which I rode multiple times that summer. I was wearing a jacket of course and the restraint would close, but they couldnt start. I heard the click 4 times but apparently it needs to click 5 times. Because of this Rides like Tharon usually take a bit longer to check on because there is always one bigger fellow that operators have to help to close the restrained completly. On other rides, that even do loops and what not, it is okay if you can just pull it down somewhat. The worse are kiddie rides though, When I am going on rides with my nephew and the restrained is designed for kids but I have to get on that ride with him and we cant ride because it doesnt close too much. Like what could happen on that butterfly rollercoaster? You can even ride it without restrain because nothing could happen. and usually it is not even my belly that is in the way but my shoulders (which are bigger because football) or just my legs. Like I can breath normally and even stretch my belly out but it wont be closed enough because my legs are too big. Just sucks

[@Blazik3n99]

Great vid! I think adding something to help visualise block sections would be helpful though - like maybe adding some coloured lines on the track at 9:25 to distinguish between each section for example. Block sections can be pretty hard to understand just based on a description I found.

[@coasterbot]

Thanks! As I said in the video we made a whole separate video dedicated to block sections, with exactly this. If you're interested in learning more go and watch it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXW2kJuqYpWVa68

[@Blazik3n99]

@@coasterbot Yeah, fair enough, just thought a little extra in this video would have gone a long way to get the idea across ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@kazokee]

Very well explained! :D

[@mattk.3645]

FastPass is always complimentary. "FastPass" is a trademark of The Walt Disney Company. The FastPass system manages demand at Disney attractions by issuing each guest a return time. He or she is, then, free to experience other attractions, shops, and restaurants in the area, instead of waiting in a lengthy queue.

[@digitaldeathsquid3448]

Here's a question concerning a possible future move to virtual queues - while it keeps people from being packed into dense queue lines for extended periods, what effect will that have on the main pathways? Surely they will be a bit more congested as the queue lines don't hold any guests away from the main paths?

[@coasterbot]

The main path ways would become more congested, you're right! But future areas or theme parks designed from the ground up could be built to deal with these challenges :)

[@baconbitz7937]

Long queues are usually what I remember especially when the other people in the line are incredibly wasted. I remember on the line for the Tower of Terror when someone payed like 30 bucks for someone else’s beer. It was like 90° they were pretty fun to talk to.

[@coasterbot]

Damn 30 bucks for a beer is expensive!

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

B Great video as always Harry ! Loved all the Orlando Attractions you included . I hope you and Zoe are saving up for your first trip 👌🏼🧱👍🏼

[@coasterbot]

Thank you! We will get to Florida eventually I promise! But we don't have any specific plans right now with everything going on

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

COASTER BOT It will be worth the wait 👌🏼🧱👍🏽

[@seriouslyyavi5293]

I love what universal did with Volcano Bay and the the Tapu Tapu

[@squidwardo7074]

Oh man that Incredible Hulk Coaster was so great, so if you're in Disney World in Florida definitely give it a go

[@zacg_]

Disney is the gold standard for minimizing times. And they have to be because they are so incredibly busy and some of their lines still end up being long despite their incredibly high throughput. Their dispatches are almost on the level of Europa-Park (with some things being even faster, such as Space Mountain in Disneyland.) And keeping your items with you is so much better, especially when there is a sealed pouch. I'm glad Steel Vengeance finally learned this lesson from Disney. Disney's biggest issue is the way FastPass+ works at Walt Disney World. It can make for a low stress day but it does mean that you have to plan your day down to the hour months ahead of time. And you have to stay on property in order to get the most high demand fastpasses. The other thing that Disney does well (generally, not always) is keeping the queue lines interesting. My biggest complaint about Cedar Point by far is that the queue lines are super boring. And I get it, Cedar Point is an amusement park and not a theme park so they aren't focused on theming. But theming isn't the only way to make queues interesting. I hate spending 8 hours of a park day standing in a queue that is just a series of switch backs on concrete. I think Cedar Point can do better. Even some Six Flags parks have better queues than Cedar Point.

[@tyresr]

Awesome video! You gained a new subscriber!

[@coasterbot]

Thjank you that means a lot! :)

[@thomasclayduncan3716]

5:45 Disney does this type of restraint check because of lawsuits from guests claiming that cast members touched them or their children inappropriately... Also, Disney's Fastpass system was not designed for the reason you think it was. In the '90s, Disney market research found that guests were not spending as much time or money on merch or f&b because queues were eating up a majority of their times in the parks. Fastpass was created to get the guests out of the lines (they still waited aprox the same amount of time for a ride [at least with the original Fastpass] but were not physically in line) so they theoretically would spend that time in restaurants or shops.

[@coasterbot]

Those are two really interesting facts actually, thanks for sharing! :)

[@takashikamiyama4607]

Since you mentioned Seat Belts, the ones on Colossus in Heide Park, Germany, are kinda hard to close or atleast that's my personal experience and I ain't even fat, maby chubby a bit at 160cm height and 70kg bodyweight. I even had to call over an operator to help me not just to buckle up but also to unbuckle after the ride but all that aside I still had fun.

[@awildfurret]

When you build a very long quene line in RCT Wait Time: 500 minutes

[@aliceleijen5400]

my swedish ass: omg is that Valkyria? me a second later: OMG AND BALDER?

[@weribiper3769]

I really hope that virtual queuing happens soon because it would be so much nicer not to have to stand in a queue for 2 hours and be able to do other things while waiting. I would have time to enjoy the entire experience of being in a theme park instead of spending almost all of the time queuing.

[@leumasme]

ok i really really like the idea of the flashpass system

[@ev3433]

It's a balance. Queues are also the livelihood of theme parks. You spend a huge portion of your day in a line. This means park capacity can increase since so many people are packed in together and therefore the park can make more money. This also means you may spend 2 days at the park. Without lines you could easily do everything both Universal Parks in one day with no rushing or 2-3 Disney parks in one day. They want you to stand JUST long enough in these lines to take up enough of your time and keep you engaged enough to come back.

[@coasterbot]

Exactly, I couldn't agree more! :)

[@GeFlixes]

I solve the queue problem for myself by going to theme parks on days that aren't attractive - outside of main events and theme park high season, in the week, ideally on days which are moderately overcast (helps with sunburn as well). One needs to be flexible with vacation time, though - national or regional holidays or leap-vacation days mean high amounts of guests.

[@verdurakh]

Maybe I missed you saying it but I think that a queue for Single riders is a great way to reduce the time, I usually take them when they are available unless my friend really want us to ride together.

[@coasterbot]

Single Rider lines can be very useful!

[@treinspottertygho9495]

its funny how you said somewhere at 13:56 at your local theme park and then proceeds to show a clip of my local theme park like 20 or less minutes away from me

[@JessWasMistaken]

I felt anxious watching this, the time pressure on ride operators makes accidents like the smiler disaster seem somewhat more inevitable.

[@Regular_Person_]

One important and very subtle ride shortening idea that parks use was missed in this video. Parks always make sure that no ride entrance is near any ride exit. This ensures that there is a long walk needed to reach every ride. All the time used to walk to a ride is time not spent on a queue. The best part of this system is that although it has the effect of a queue, it doesn't feel like a queue.

[@Dan-uy2ld]

Merlin don't give a shit about que times. If they did they would use a single rider que. They want que times to be longer so people buy fast passes.

[@wolfieeeee256]

It does often feel like this. Indeed, there's a reason Fast Track is not free.

[@Andreas---]

11:04 I think it's the old rollercoaster i Tivoli garden in Copenhagen. When I was a child it had no restraints, you just walked on at sat down, there may have been a handlebar in front of you, but a child it was off no use, as you had to lean forward to reach it. It still a fine coaster, but would be more fun to ride without the restrains it has now .

[@coasterbot]

You're right, it is! :)

[@rctrulez]

Theme Parks want to maximize revenue, they are companies after all. Companies like Six Flags are very much known for e.g. running less trains then needed on a coaster. Heide Park in Germany (the country I am from) is notorious for one train ops on some of their coasters. Queue times often exceed 60, on a busy day their Vekoma MK1200 double loop double corcscrew or even their SLC require a 45+ min wait.

[@HYDRAdude]

"Volcano Bay has no que line", lol you clearly haven't been there after 12 o'clock.