Projected vs. Actual Wait Times

Last night at the Point, on a Halloweekends Friday, we ran to TTD for the last ride of the night. When they reopened the line, wait was supposedly 2 hours. I knew this was wrong because the queue was barely full. I asked the ride-op at the entrance if it was because of porojected breakdowns, and he said no. He told me there were 2 hours worth of people in the queue.

Well, from the time we got in line to the time we were on the exit ramp, it took about 45 minutes.

My question is: How can they be so wrong with the projected wait time. We as enthusiasts know that it is about an hour to the pop/soda machines, and 2 with a full queue. Did the guy just not know what he was talking about, or did he want to go home so bad that he tried to tell people the wait was very long, so they would not want to get in line?

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

New Profile Photo, now with Magnum Robert!

They know exactly what they're doing. They're compensating for potential downtime and the fact that people seem incapable of going to a different ride when faced with a long line, leaving others short (see: Raptor at opening).

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

They seem to always do that in case of downtime. Last sunday after the first batch of riders went the throught the que it emptied out quickly. Then the ops were saying the line was 1 hour. when actually it was only a straight line down the ramp barely reaching the pop machines.. 10-15 minutes tops. It was great.. hopefully today will be the same..

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TTD rides =31
Time spent waiting for those rides= 47.5 hours.
MF=84

Besides, it's always better to have a longer projected wait time than it actually is. Not as many guests can complain then about the projected time being longer than the actual wait.

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AKA Cobraroller on Cbuzz

Jeff,

I thought it was because of projected downtime, so I asked. The op said it wasn't. Normally, they do have the wait listed as longer because of projected downtime, but this time the guy said it wasn't the case.

Good thing I know the 1 hour to the pop/soda machines, 2 with a full queue rule. If they are not experiancing downtime, that ride crew (I mean case:)) is amazing.

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

New Profile Photo, now with Magnum Robert!

What they were probably doing that night is the same thing they did all year late at night. They jack up the sign so less people get in line and they get to go home earlier. I'm not really criticizing since it makes the line shorter for people who know how long it really is, but honestly, I think this is the reason they set the sign so high - especially later at night.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew

It's funny because when they put the sign at 30-45 minutes for Dragster and it took much longer than that (because of it's extensive amounts of downtime earlier in the season) everyone complained and went to Park Operations. So they decided to keep the wait at least 1 hour regardless of how much less than that it really was.

Would you rather wait 15 minutes when it said 1 hour or 1 hour when it said 15 minutes? It makes perfect sense.

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MANTIS ROCKS 2002 & 2003

In this case, I'm sure the ride-op was one of the many new people who came to our crew maybe just for the day and didn't really know exactly how long the wait would be. But normally we do typically add atleast an extra half hour to the wait to accomodate downtime. For awhile during the summer, they used to make us leave the sign at 4 hours no matter how long the line was.

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Brent Haley
Gemini Crew '02
Dragster Crew '03

Thanks Brent,

I figured the guy either didn't know what he was talking about, or wanted to keep the line down so he could go home.

You folks at Dragster do an amazing job. 45 minutes from start of the line to photo booth! I just hope the high capacity is possible all summer next year.

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

New Profile Photo, now with Magnum Robert!

Yes I am new here...

My second trip ever to Cedar Point will be Friday and Saturday... on Friday is it expected I could get 3 rides in on TTD? I really hope so. The ride just looks awesomely frightening. How long are the waits expected to be on Saturday?

To get back on topic last time I went to CP the wait for MF said 2 hours on the sign, yet I ended up waiting 2 3/4 hrs. It didn't make me happy because there was absolutly no down time and the line wasn't to the end of the queue... maybe thats because it was a new ride though...

Hyperion, as people discovered this weekend, there is no way to predict what the waits are going to be. Friday was busier than they generally are during halloweekends, and Saturday the park was at capacity. Even Corkscrew and Cedar Creek Mine ride had over 30 minute waits by 1 pm.

I suspect the cooler weather this weekend will help keep crowds lower.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

Exactly, and you wonder why we get all irriated when someone acts like they have some magic formula that can predict what the crowds will be like.

Common sense: School + Holidays + Weekend/day + Weather + Season

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

Most halloweekends the wait on Fridays is like 30 min, Sat about 1-11/2 and on Sun about 30 min. Last weekend was an exception to the rule. But remember the curse of halloweekend Fridays, it always rains!!
*** This post was edited by gemprin 10/14/2003 12:07:42 PM ***

I was there on Friday the 10th and it was a 1 1/2 hour wait for Dragster, and that was exactly how long I waited to ride it.

I was bummed a little because there is only a 5 hour day on Fridays and was hoping for a thinner crowd.

I was there on 10/18 and the park was packed. We waited 4 1/2 hours for Dragster and never got to ride it. It kept breaking down. We got to the point just before they let you into the station in about 2 1/2 and sat there for 2 hours. We finally gave up and got out of line. 15 minutes later it started running again and worked the rest of the day. Unbelievable. Wait times were unreal all day. 45 minutes for the Corkscrew (didn't wait)!! We waited 45 minutes for the Gemini (did wait). Good thing this was not the first time I've been to CP or I would never go back. FYI...Werewolf Canyon is NOT worth the wait.