New Steel Vengeance Locker System for 2021

Looks promising!

But I'm a big confused on what happened to fast lane?
They replace it with the lockers it looks like? Unless I missed something?

I'm too lazy to do a deep dive, but I think I suggested this *years* ago...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'm assuming Fast Lane will be re-routed somehow, since people will need to go back in there after the ride to retrieve their items. Otherwise the traffic flow might be interesting.

I believe the path taken in the video was the FL line.

At around the 0:30 mark, that little switchback section appears to be a FL queue, and just after that is where the standby and FL lines merge. Then the combined line passes by the lockers, providing an opportunity for everyone to drop off their things. Then they can access the opposite side of the lockers after riding to retrieve their stuff.

I am guessing they are front and back lockers? you put the items in the front and you get them out the back? kinda weird having to go back through to get your stuff. they need to re-route so when you exit you go back past it to get your stuff.

Exiting riders do go back past the lockers on their way out. Unless you are suggesting the ~30 foot (or whatever) detour is somehow oppressively burdensome? In which case, there's an easy solution: don't take stuff on the ride with you.

Europa had an interesting system where you put your items in a wall of cubbies and a door slid to cover them up and open another set for e next train. The exit was on the other side of the wall of cubbies and a door slid open and there was your stuff. Easy and efficient.
Then you have your horrible system devised for Skyrush at Hershey with those rotating barrel-shaped contraptions. In theory they were great but only with the assumption that patrons would know what to do. Which they didn’t. Ever.
Anyway, these lockers (since they will be required) seem to be a good solution. You need something contained within the queue to keep others from using them.

Velocicoaster also is using the double sided small lockers, similar to Europa Park.

My personal favorite is Yukon Striker's loose article setup. Probably overly elaborate, but it does the job.

djDaemon said:

I believe the path taken in the video was the FL line.

I believe you're correct. The end result (unless I am missing something or the setup is not complete yet in the video) is that Fastlane people will wait through the tunnel with everyone else. Personally, I like this setup, but I can already hear the complaints of the people who bought Fastlane earlier seeking to be made whole because they'll have to wait 20 minutes more now.

Video is gone, but I suspect more will be uploaded after the park is open this weekend.

Can anyone who went today report back on how well this works/worked?

MDOmnis said:

Personally, I like this setup, but I can already hear the complaints of the people who bought Fastlane earlier seeking to be made whole because they'll have to wait 20 minutes more now.

I can see the flip side of this, if you pay for a service to avoid the regular line, but get blended in with the regular line even for 20 minutes, I can understand the frustration that will come from it. Especially with SV being a FL+ ride which iirc means no merging, only a direct line into the station.

It means nothing of the sort. FastLane+ only means you get a shorter wait on the selected attractions whose popularity and capacity should dictate that those rides not offer FastLane at all.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

I stand corrected, I always thought that was how it was, FL+ lines went directly into the station, while FL merged in before the station.

Gplez90 said:

Can anyone who went today report back on how well this works/worked?

So the queue has been reworked a bit. The fast lane queue follows the old regular line queue, and has a fenced in queue area in part of what was the regular queue switchbacks. The regular queue goes behind the Steel Vengeance sign and enters the end field shortly after that, connecting to the queue. There’s a merge point for FL and the regular queue at the tunnel, however that’s only temporary to get you to the lockers. After the lockers FL and regular lines go through metal detectors and go back to their respective lines like before. I thought it went smooth, especially since the employees were clearly still learning it. After the ride you enter into what used to be the fast lane queue to retrieve your items.

Very interesting! Thank you.

Third time’s a charm?

New locker system pros:

• Riders can have their phones in line and safely secure them (for free) shortly before riding
• Ride’s capacity maintained

Cons:

• The Fast Lane Plus line is longer than it was before (with a Millennium Force ramp-like merged line to wait in before the lockers)
• The ride crew seems bloated (I counted 15 positions on opening day), especially considering the park’s current staffing problems
• Re-splitting the queue after the lockers seems to cause a lot of confusion without providing much (any?) benefit

The park looks to have invested a lot into this queue revamp, so I expect it to stick. But I think the park still needs to figure out how to move people through the new merge, locker, and split areas most efficiently.

What were my chances of getting pelted by phones, to begin with?
Did anyone ever run the numbers?