Line-control ticketing?

I've been hearing in various places that CP is considering implementing a system to control the length of the lines for MF. Something along the lines that when you enter the park, you are given a ticket that designates a certain period of time you are allowed to enter the line for MF (e.g., enter the park at 10:00, you are handed a blue ticket, that will permit you to enter MF's line between 10 and say 1:00).

First off, has anyone else heard this?

I'm not so sure that this is a good thing. First off, this would create an extra wait time when you enter the park. Secondly, for those who want to attempt to ride multiple times are basically S-O-L, thus creating quite a bit of hostilities.

What are your thoughts? Is this really necessary? I myself have not been to the Point yet this year, so I have not seen first hand what the crowds are like.

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Neil
Pittsburgh, PA
MF Count: 00 :(

I can't see how this would work. First off, you're giving MF tickets to everyone in the park, and there is undoubtedly a large segment of the GP that won't ride. Does this create a secondary market of people selling their MF tickets?

Secondly, a Disney-type FastPass system is only as successful as it is becuase Disney limits the number of FastPasses that you can hold at any given time to ONE. Currently, there's no mechanism in place at CP to allow that. While CP could certainly come up with the technology to implement such a system, I think that the cost would be prohibitive to do so.

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Duane Cahill
Coming soon to an amusement park near you.

My feeling is that if someone wants to wait in line for four hours, let them. If you spend the money on the ticket and that's all you want out of your day, more power to you. I'll enjoy those short waits on the other rides in the mean time!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23

How does Disney limit the number of passes each person has? At Disney, you couldn't just come back every 15 or 20 min. and get another FastPass to ride a few times in a row with minimum waits?

You need to insert your ticket into the FastPass machine to get your ride pass... and the machine will not give you another pass until your previous one has expired.

To clarify about the FastPass system, all tickets/season passes have a magnetic strip. When you insert your ticket to receive a FastPass, the computer system blocks your ID from receiving any more passes anywhere in the park. I don't think they process the used passes to take you off the block list so you'd have to wait until it expires, but I could be wrong.

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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral

Let's hope with the reports here of 3-train operation today (Wed, 5/24) that this won't have to happen.

SFGAm has a thing they do on REALLY busy days, like 6 hour waits for Raging Bull days...they have a ride op at the entrance to the line queue who gives you a numbered ticket. you must have that ticket in correct order if you want to ride. this in no way prohibits multiple riding, but it DOES prohibit line jumping. and at SFGAm, line jumping IS a sport and it is rampant and unpunished. i don't think that CP would want to prohibit multiple riding, they just want to cut downt ehwait time in any way they can...

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can't believe they cancelled the Simpsons after all these years...now look sad and say D'OH!! *** This post was edited by servo on 5/24/2000. ***

The numbered ticket approach was tried during a Halloweekend (?) last season on the Magnum, and was met with sneers and criticism from both the public and a few Magnum employees (at least the two I talked to). Does anyone else remember this farce of an experiment, which, given the crowds at the time, seemed completely unnecessary and not to the level of scale it would need to be for MF?

John

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"Thank you for riding [fill in name of ride], and enjoy the rest of your day here at [fill in name of park]."

One day last week, Wed 17th, my daughter and I waited approx. 8 hours in line to ride MF 4 times.
I agree with Jeff, if we CHOOSE to wait to ride, so be it. I didn't like the park policy last Saturday 20th. CP police and ride ops forced everyone to NOT form a line at the MF queue.
This actually caused more confusion and a worse
behaviour as people struggled/fought for position when they were able to form lines.

CP has rules and policy. I may not always agree, but if I choose to make myself available to ride the rides, then I will do what they ask.