Disney builds a smartphone app for wait times.....get with the times CP

I suggested this I dunno about uhh a year ago or more. I haven't been on in a while. But while I was reading tid bits about smartphone apps I saw that Disney...had their own app, and I went aww wouldn't that rule if CP did that?

Too bad they won't........

So, build one yourself! ;)

In all seriousness, the demand for a Disney app is a lot higher than one for CP. Think about it - Disney World had over 5 times as many visitors as the entire CF chain in 2008.

Do you really need a smartphone app telling you that 11 out of the 15 adult coasters have a wait time of 15 minutes or less and that MIllennium Force, Maverick, Raptor and Top Thrill Dragster have about an hour wait? Because that's about what you can expect on a moderately-crowded day at the park, and if the park is dead, then the app becomes useless since you're going to be running from walk-on to walk-on. Cedar Point doesn't need a system like this.

The only wait times app I've seen for WDW- or any other parks- are not made by the parks (and none had reliable data).

Unless something's changed in the 3 weeks since I've been to WDW this is still the case.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2009/10/mobile-magic-first-disney-parks-mobile-app-details-screen-shots-unveiled/

I agree that having such apps at Disney makes more sense than at CP.

I stand corrected! Now it'd be nice to see it for iPhone, Android, and have all the data on a mobile website instead of being carrier locked to Verizon.

It would be nice to have some digital boards in the park with wait times. It would also be nice to know what the wait time for raptor is when your getting off of maverick.

Disney also has these.

Get with the times? I think you grossly over-estimate the percentage of guests with iPhones. It's trendy to build apps for everything, but it doesn't mean that everyone can consume them yet.

I'd be content with the electronic signs at two or three places in the park.

Edit: That link isn't for iPhone apps, but still. Overall combination of all smart phones is only 19% in the US as of last summer, so that's one in five.

To me it would be more pertinant information to know that something was not running vs. how long the line is.

I would think that a few strategically located electronic boards that provided wait times for major attractions would be helpful. And those boards could also indicate if an attraction was closed.

^ What he said.

Yes, I concur.

I already said billboards, but why? Everyone has a billboard in their pocket that is capable of receiving 140 SMS messages.

The only difficult part is CP finding a way to tell a web server just what wait time a coaster has. Which would most likely be accomplished by a unit installed at the ride entrance with manual user operation.

I am getting the Droid phone from Verizon, and I have always been interested in the Android OS, and now I think it would be cool to make a really good skiing app.

I just saw this Disney thing and went man, thats cool, and you could tie in restaurant wait times, oh man the information could be so awesome to have.

I like the digital sign idea in the park. You could probably place them near the major rides (Raptor, Maverick, Magnum, MF).

I really don't see the need for it. My only anger is the LYING staff at the ride entrance. They have no reason to inflate times to scare people away. But yet they do it anyway. Maybe they will get out of work maybe 10 minutes quicker at the end of the day. BIG DEAL. It just drives me crazy!

In my opinion, any type of of wait-time technology at CP beyond the wooden boards stating 1/2 hr. wait, etc., would be a complete waste of time and money. The park is not big enough, and it is very easy to visually estimate a wait time. What's the advantage?

If SkyHawk had a 5 minute wait, and you're at MaxAir, and you check your little "app" that tells you; "hey dude, 5 minute wait for SkyHawk", guess what? The 100 people who were actually around SkyHawk and saw the short line would fill it up by the time you got your butt into Frontier Town, leaving your app to say..."Sorry, there is a 30 minute wait now."

And if the park is dead enough where that wouldnt happen, you dont need it to begin with.

Waste.

GoBucks89 said:
I would think that a few strategically located electronic boards that provided wait times for major attractions would be helpful. And those boards could also indicate if an attraction was closed.

Universal Studios Hollywood has these they were quite handy especially when it came to show times.

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2169 :)

While at Universal Orlando this month for HHN, you could send a text message to a number and then receive wait times for the haunted houses every 30 minutes. It was very nice to have on hand (if you don't mind the txt charges). I could see something like this working better than an App for an iPhone.

Discussion on the electronic signs similar to what Universal has has been going around here off and on for the past 3 years, at least. I really don't see much of a reason not to have just three or four scattered around next to the large park maps with the times of major rides. I found the Universal signs to be somewhat useful, and I suspect they would have been more useful had I not been there in early November and IOA wasn't a virtual ghost town (only had to wait for Spiderman, and that was only about 25 minutes).

Mobile phone apps, that's overkill. Completely unnecessary for Cedar Point. For Disney it makes sense.

Like I said why have electronic billboards, when everyone has a billboard in their pocket? You can make a cool web app, and you can make it a text message service you could message and they reply back with current information.