Fast Passes

Sorry If this topic was already talked about, i haven't seen any topic on it. Does anyone know if Cedar Point decided to have fast passes this year after they stopped doing them towards the end of the season last year???

Thanks

I've heard rumors that Freeway will not return for 2006, but nothing official.

Last time I heard it sounded pretty official to me. I'm not quite sure, but I don't think there will be any next year. Don't get your hopes up.

Man I relly liked the Freeway, but do you think they might start the Q-bot thing that some Six Flags parks use. I think those are really cool, but people get so mad when you cut infront of them with it.

If you want Fast Passes then go to Orlando.

I can imagine CP introducing something like Six Flags has, with Q-bot or Fast Lane. It's an easy way for them to make cash, as long as it is reasonably priced. Heck, I'd rather not wait in line if I don't have to...

FreeWay will not be used in 2006.

I don't think the removal of FreeWay is exactly something that Cedar Point should announce.

I personally don't like it. It's annoying especially if your in line when a large crowd of FreeWay's come. The problem gets compounded if loading is going slow.

It was real nice of Cedar Point to get rid of FreeWay and the exit passes that say "we are sorry that your day was interrupted" randomly this past summer. The no loose article policy was another fun one that apparently got removed in the middle of a Saturday.

The exit passes were overused in my opinion, but I don't think they should have gotten rid of all of them.

Freeway was a system that while not the best implementation, certainly wasn't worst *cough*tickettoride*cough*. The system was available FREE to anyone, so even if you were on a budget, you could take advantage of the system. People weren't paying anything to be able to cut in line.
And since most of the stamps were gone within 30 minutes of a booth opening, I'd say its something the park should announce so people know its gone.

I just hope that CP doesn't decide to do what they do at Orlando. The way they run their fast pass system really takes away from the movement of the regular line and continually made me mad when waiting in line. Some of the ride lines would never stop without fast pass but because when they get people in the fast pass line they empty the entire thing which can be as long as the regular line depending on the ride. I also believe that the blocking system CP did was much better too. At Disney world the hour block goes from say 3:00 - 4:00 and the next group would be 3:05 - 4:05 which just led to a continuous fast pass line that never ended. *** Edited 1/5/2006 6:10:22 PM UTC by CedarPointForce***

One thing I thought they should do is give half the stamps out at 11, and then give the other half out at 5. You have no idea how many people would come up to then entrance of MF, not knowing anything about Freeway, then after I explained it to them, they would ask, "When will they give them out again?" If you give them out twice a day then the people who didn't know what it was in the first half would find out and be able to use it.

I would tend to disagree about Disney. For their specific situation, I think Fastpass is almost flawless. I absolutely love it. I've also found their wait times to be very accurate.

Line management is a tricky business. Disney has a good solution, but I imagine it would expensive to replicate. Most of the other solutions have their problems and even Disney gets its share of complaints.

While a Disney type system would be expensive to implement, CP could use a web based reservations system to allow people to get a "Freeway" pass for the day they are going.

This system would be relatively simple to implement. Assign a certain number of passes per hour/per day to a certain ride. Use a web page to allow guests to pick a day for a visit and issue a freeway pass from the pool for that day. They could be printed out at home and handed to the ride op at the freeway entrance. Each day could have a unique code that the ride op would check to prevent fraud. Or if that is not secure enough, print a bar code on the pass and scan the pass at the entrance. Once scanned, the pass becomes invalid. This will prevent fraud from using a copy machine to duplicate passes.

This system would function just like Freeway, but without the stamps and the line to wait for the stamps. What do you guys think?

*** Edited 1/5/2006 6:38:33 PM UTC by Pete***

I like that idea better than standing in line to get a pass to not stand in line or to pay to skip the line (Although I don't mind doing either)

I forgot to add, they would probably have to limit passes to something like one pass for each ride/each IP address to prevent people from issuing multiple passes for each ride. Or maybe some type of account login setup. I think the details like that could be worked out.

What about those of us with our own /24? ;)

I love Universal and Disney's (haven't been there in a few years but I'm guessing their similiar) pass system. I would hate nothing more than to see the retarded Q-Bots inside Cedar Point. All that is is a cash cow.

I think the freeway thing was the best think CP could do. And they haven't gone the six falgs greedy way(YET). While I didn't like the ink all the time, the whole thing works. And for those who say they don't like when people go past them, you should have waited in line to get a stamp, THEY WERE FREE!

They are cutting it to either save on employee hours, or to make more money on it. Every park uses some kind of system now so I think the $$ is coming. They know they would take a publicity hit if they started charging money for something they used to give for free. I'm sure marketing is working on the plan right now.

First you lower admission prices last year, which seemed to happen at the same time freeway disappeared. Then lower prices again for the new season. I think something on the way.

I think the removal of freeway was such a stupid decision. People used it and people liked it. The only thing I did not like was all the damn black ink all over the railings in line. But freeway will defiantly be missed.

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Cory Marshall

It is bad that they got rid of FreeWay, I just hope they permanently get rid of the FreeWay merge point lanes so people don't walk down them only to be turned away by the ride op that has to sit there (which is obviously a wasted position).