Ride wait time boards

Not to say there isn't a better/different way to do it, but could the reason you don't see live wait times at Cedar Fair parks be since Disney (and Universal) have patents on the technology to do so?

As someone else mentioned, there is still a wait time app if you are carrying your phone around. But we were looking at it for fun last time and there was a 3.75 hour wait for Mean Streak :) hahaha. I think the times are just estimates based off of what other people with the app are entering as their wait times, so it is easily skewed and not very accurate.

Thabto said:
What do you do at the park? For me the rides are the main reason I go.

To enjoy myself. :)

I take advantage of morning ERT to get in a few rides, but beyond that, the idea of trying to get a bunch of rides in just doesn't sound enjoyable at all. It sounds like work.

Some of my most enjoyable days have been when we did nothing but leisurely stroll around the park enjoying the many things that aren't coasters or marquee thrill rides. There's a lot to at the park besides ride the rides.

The only problem is that those leisurely days almost invariably involve adult beverages, which can make for an expensive day. :)

Coco said:
As someone else mentioned, there is still a wait time app if you are carrying your phone around.

I think the times are just estimates based off of what other people with the app are entering as their wait times, so it is easily skewed and not very accurate.

For iPhone users only, which is a smaller group than Android users. That probably also plays a role in the inaccurate data.

If I wanted to walk around, I could just go the walking track at my local metro park. If I wanted to watch shows, I could go to my local theater and If I wanted to drink, I could go to my local bar. I can't go on rides at any of those places. Going to each of the rides isn't that much work. I don't run to each of them and I'm by no means "in shape", I'm actually more on the lazier side. Maybe it's just because I'm not that old yet. I'm not sensitive to rides. I could easily marathon a ride several times in a row.

Congratulations?

djDaemon said:
Why does it have to be one or the other? Why not a few boards with that same data pumped to their app?

Some people actually don't carry their smartphone with them when in the park.

Why spend more and cater to the small minority? Busch's parks have apps, though I hear they aren't great. Hershey's apparently works well. Disney uses it. Universal too. Based on patent filings, it seems Universal's plan is to integrate queue-management with a phone app, which seems like a really wise idea to me.

If you read the article linked in the news section about Ouimet and creating memories, he is 100% correct. My history with the park goes back to the 60s and what I remember most are the times spent enjoying the little things with family and friends, like the beach, a nice place in the park to sit and relax, having a sandwich while watching the Red Garter show, etc. How many times I rode Jumbo Jet back in the day isn't even on the radar. Sure, rides are fun, but the atmosphere is what makes the most precious memories. Turning the day into just a ride marathon where the success is judged by the number of rides is way off the mark IMHO.

Most of these responses assume that people find standing in line to be relaxing. I don't.

I don't feel the need to cram as many rides in as possible, but I do feel the need to avoid standing in lines as much as possible. I don't find waiting in line to be relaxing.

I personally like the ap idea. I used the Disney ap when we were there for wait times and I loved it.

godsonsafari said:
Why spend more and cater to the small minority?

Since when are people with eyes a "small minority"? :)

I'd like the app, but I'd also like the boards

I wouldn't be surprised if Fun TV is involved in creating something like this. From Media Day-Present, Fun TV has evolved quite alot already.

My phone battery is horrible anymore. I'm not due up for a new phone until Thanksgiving. So the app isn't a good idea there. I think they could put the times up on Fun TV and it wouldn't cost the park anything. Now that I think about it, I think they should add some charging stations in the park. I was at the Columbus Convention Center a couple years ago and there was a charge station there.

Does FunTV exist outside of ride queues? If not, it makes no sense to use those for wait times.

Sure it makes sense to use them for that purpose. You could choose your next ride after you get through your current queue. The only ride I can think of where there isn't a TV close to the station is MF.

Except for the fact that you could be in line for 90+ minutes seeing wait times around the park that could change drastically by the time you got out of line. It's not that useful when you're in the queue. Maybe at the very end, more so after you've left the queue.

I don't fly across the country multiple times a year to sit around and people watch at Cedar Point. I go to ride roller coasters. Wait time boards would be pretty awesome.

Apparently you are a loser:)

The ride wait boards at Disney don't exist so guests can marathon Test Track. People simply don't like to wait in lines. If I see Attraction A has an extraordinary wait, but Attraction B doesn't, I can make a decision on whether I'd get more "value" out of enjoying Attraction B, plus Live Show A, Family Moment B and Meal C. Or, I could decide that it doesn't matter to me that Attraction A has an extraordinary wait.

(And, yes, I realize my generic names are terrible. :) )

And guests already do this on some level. Who here hasn't passed up a ride because they knew there would be a shorter line later? We were in the park with my son and his friends a few weeks ago. At one point, they wanted to ride Corkscrew, but it had a 45 minute wait. I told them we should move on to something else and come back later. If I remember correctly, I think we decided to grab an early dinner. Then, later in the evening, we came through and found Corkscrew a walk-on. At no point were any of us on a mission to ride the maximum number of rides possible. That decision simply gave us the flexibility to have more fun.

Thabto said:
You could choose your next ride after you get through your current queue.

Except that in many cases, a half hour or more could pass between your last glance at FunTV and when your feet hit the midway. An awful lot can change in a half hour.

That's not to say they shouldn't post wait times on FunTV, but it certainly would not make sense for that to be the only place where they're posted.

djDaemon said:

godsonsafari said:
Why spend more and cater to the small minority?

Since when are people with eyes a "small minority"? :)

Well, I don't remember those cell phone apps using braille....