Change a coaster.

Somewhat what I figured...changes to rides...bigger seats for our country's bigger butts!

It is not the bigger butts that are causing the problem.

TheRealMaverick said:

I right off the bat think that people should be made to test fit the seats.

That would make more sense if the test seats weren't so wildly inconsistent. Last summer ride hosts at Dragster's entrance were telling everyone if they got the test belt within an inch of being able to fasten that they'd be able to find them a seat on the train.

redsfan said:
TTD doesn't have bins. You have to rent a locker. The rides only 16 seconds long. So shouldn't they be sending a train out every 16 seconds?

It's a little longer than that total trip time...

You're not factoring in jog time, catch dog being sent back & engaging, when launch enable is actually pressed & train rolls back, trains moving from unload/load, ect. Total time is a bit more than you think. I fI launched every 16 seconds could you imagine the issues with that getting people off and on that quick, trains sent, ect?

Nightmare

theatc99 said:
^^If you absolutely cannot imagine a world where an amusement park has lockers because it somehow greatly inconveniences you, then definitely don't visit a six flags park, where lockers are mandatory. What is the harm in putting your things in a locker before getting in line and actually getting to get on the ride quicker?

Lines for lockers anyone? I think we all wait enough.

thedevariouseffect said:
They had bins in 2011 as well when I went there. Maybe something later in the season they changed, dunno

Definitely not calling you a liar because as you and I both know, random things change throughout the season at an amusement park. However, in this video, between 0:16 - 0:20, you can see the shelves I'm talking about (please mind the unenthusiastic ride host spieling): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEjg7ZnORdw

EDIT: I forgot to post the link

Yeah I classified those as bins, they had like the sliding doors on them if I remember correctly.

I guess our definition is a bit different :D

I was using TTD and Millenium as examples of reasons why rides might not run at full speed other than bins. I understand logistics and there is more than TTD other than the ride. I laughed about the idea of them sending without the seats fully occupied. I tried to keep my post short. So I didn't include that part. One ride that shouldn't have loose articles is Twister with only one train. But the ones with multiple trains most likely aren't held up with the bins. It is a shame that the rides aren't built for every shape and size. I have seen many people not fit in the seats that weren't obese. Just to tall and big in the chest.

Why did you want to take out the bins?

Last thing I really want to do is get into another debate about bins but, coming from someone who wears a fanny pack and does not want to carry a darn thing around, I think they need to keep free bins if they want to sell stuff. The aspect that Gatekeeper, that has bins, had turned away one of those souvenir cups has made me even less inclined to buy one next year. Plus I couldn't justify spending twice as much or whatever it is on a locker for a 99 cent refill. I think some of you called those stashed cups in the bushes cheap, yeah, I would do it, too.

Here's the thing I would conclude with using the bins. Wouldn't it get old having to cross through to throw your stuff in the bins on every ride? I'd think one day of that would make me think twice of ever carrying a backpack or whatever in there again.

I really have no problem crossing the train to put stuff in the bin...

It's just a few steps added to the miles I walk and run everyday in the park and outside of the park..no biggie

If the park offered an admission that included an all day locker rental code,I would be a lot less resentful of the constant shelling out of money at every attraction requiring this sort of mandatory storage.

I believe that parks (in general) should state what an average per day cost is to the patron in their advertising. Especially when they offer a daily admission that includes promotions like a free souvenir mug that has to be put into a locker in order to ride (which ends up costing you much more than it's worth actually is if you have to pay to store it). These sorts of upcharges are really getting significant, and the person purchasing the basic rate quickly finds out that they are going to need a lot more $ if they want to achieve the "ride warrior" status they did in the past (either in ride count, or simply inconvenience avoidance).

^^ Yes, crossing the train to stash the bag gets old but I would rather do that on the iffy weather day than get soaked because the ponchos are in the car.

Here's some sample arithmetic for those who can't understand the impact on your day as a direct result of the bins:

Lets use Raptor as our example today. On an average summer day, Raptor will run about an hours worth of wait time. Since the capacity of the ride is 1,800/hr. and the number of guests each train holds is 32, we can break that down into a total of about 56 trains; 56 trains need to be dispatched until you get to ride.

For the sake of argument, lets estimate the added time the bins cost each train to be 30 seconds; an extra 30 seconds multiplied over the 56 trains that need to pass through before you get to ride equals roughly an extra 15 minutes of wait time for you. No big thing right?

Now tack on that additional 15 minutes to your wait for Mantis, Magnum, Maverick and (to a lesser extent) Gatekeeper and Mean Streak; thats at least an extra hour drained out of your day. One less hour for smaller rides, a show or a sit down meal.

Almost 10% of your visit is lost so that some tool who is too lazy to return to his car or too cheap to pay for a locker can carry around unnecessary baggage.

^ exaggerate much? There is no way that bins a 30 seconds to each train. Maybe 15 seconds, but there are a lot of other things that happen during loading would render the extra time for bins to be minimal.

Its at least 30 seconds; you really think that 30-60 people can congregate in a small area, remove/put on shoes and place or remove items from a set of bins that are right next to each other in 15 seconds? As it is the whole thing resembles the first fire drill in Kindergarten Cop

Time it next year; from when the first rider who gets off & goes to retrieve something from a bin to when the last new rider puts something into one and sits down. There is no way that is only 15 seconds.

You can't time it that way because restraints start getting checked before everyone is seated. Also by doing it that way you are assuming without bins everyone would be seated and have their restraints pulled down, seat belts fastened, and ready to go by the time the first person hits reaches the bins. Also when accumulating the time that is being added by bins you have to remove the 30 seconds you add for each train that has some sort of incident occur (employee rotation, searching for riders to fills empty seats, guest chickening out, a guest failing to fit the restraints, and other things along those lines).

Okay here's my stand point. Every ride has to clear a certain block before the next train can be dispatched. So I'll continue with raptor s used earlier. Train is dispatched, and a new train comes in to unload. Restraints are released, and people are claiming their stuff as new people are placing their items in the bins. I'm sure that the 30 or so seconds passes quicker than the interval at which trains can be dispatched, so it doesn't matter if those 30 some seconds are spent putting stuff in bins or sitting in your seat waiting.

We-o-we-oooo said:
...Now tack on that additional 15 minutes to your wait for Mantis, Magnum, Maverick and (to a lesser extent) Gatekeeper and Mean Streak; thats at least an extra hour drained out of your day. One less hour for smaller rides, a show or a sit down meal.

Almost 10% of your visit is lost so that some tool who is too lazy to return to his car or too cheap to pay for a locker can carry around unnecessary baggage.

Just a couple things-

First, the extra hour you say is lost by standing in line doesn't truly exist for a large number of people because if you take out the bins that just means they will spend an hour of their day walking back and forth to the car or their locker.You as an individual may feel you have lost an hour personally. That doesn't mean we all have.

Second, the money that you believe others should be paying out all day for lockers because their family can't live out of mom's pocket will add up, just as you believe all those precious seconds add up. Those few dollars will add up over the day and over the season to much more than just a few dollars.

Third, calling people tools just because they need to keep something with them throughout the day is rude. Unless you know what is inside every drawstring bag that inconvenienced you there is no way for you to know whether it was necessary or not.

That doesn't make any sense; you're saying that there is no extra time added as a result of the bins because occasionally other things happen to cancel that time out?

Raptor routinely has all three trains stacked in the station and on the brake run; thats not how the ride was designed to run nor did it run that way until the loose article policy.

The money issue is also a non starter; if you can afford $50 for entry, $12 to park and however much you spent to purchase what you are carrying around, you can afford $3.00 ($2.00?) for a locker. Or just put... it... in... the... car (which does not take an hour, unless you are partial to crabwalking).

Considering that people managed to enjoy the park just fine before the bins, I can rather confidently say the things that are carried now are, in fact, unnecessary.

We-o-we-oooo said:
...Considering that people managed to enjoy the park just fine before the bins, I can rather confidently say the things that are carried now are, in fact, unnecessary.

I remember enjoying the park plenty before there were bins. We just took everything on the rides with us. Seriously, there were loose articles everywhere. I remember holding on to souvenir bags and cups and people holding stuffed animals all while riding. Women carried their purses on rides. We didn't need bins when the only limit to what went on the rides was whether or not you manged to get buckled in without dropping it. If I could carry the drawstring bag with my rain ponchos on the coaster with me I wouldn't need a bin.