single rider line ?

I'd say it'd probably work.

Anyway... when I was there Sunday, the crew was motoring (as usual), only allowing an hour's wait for a full queue all three times I went. All three times I also asked for a row, and the request was honoured (and yes, the back is INSANE).

A woman in line behind me VERY loudly complained when two men from the same party used the SRL. I don't think she understood the concept, but she yelled for a ride host to go find them and boot them out of line. Now, if they'd actually cut, I would have had no problem with it, but they legitimately used the line to their advantage. Mind you, the poor ride host didn't know this, and she was on a wild goose chase to help find the "line jumpers". (Don't think she ever did.)

Like Josh said, the line should be a bit more clearly marked at the line entrance, instead of halfway up the stairs.

I read a TR on Coasterbuzz where someone "paired up" with another single rider in the SRL and the ride op just let them on - as a PAIR. So, in essence, they just bypassed the queue. I'm just amazed the ride op allowed that.

IDK if probably is good enough for me LOL

halltd said:
That's one of the most ridiculous things I've read on here.

First of all, I've grown quite tired of you and your newfound pissy "I'm right because I'm... Tim" attitude. If you think what I wrote up there is the most ridiculous thing you've read here, I'd like to call your attention to 2 things:

1. You're not understanding my point, and calling it ridiculous just underscores your unwillingness to converse. We get it, Tim - you're right, no one else is. Got it.
2. There was this one guy, a while back, who just knew that track couldn't be fabricated in a certain time frame...

EDITED for grammar.
*** Edited 7/5/2007 12:09:19 PM UTC by djDaemon***

Pretty harsh dj.

Why don't you two arm wrestle to see who's right :).
*** Edited 7/5/2007 12:01:27 PM UTC by cedarpointdude021170***

^^He's entitled to his opinion, so just let him say what he wants to say.

I think that by removing the single riders from the regular line, CP is eliminating at least 50% of the people who cause there to be empty seats in the first place (the other ~50% being groups of 3, 5, 7, etc.). So by removing the single riders from the regular line, it causes there to be less empty space for the single riders to fill. So the only things that make the single rider line work are:
1. Odd numbered groups that want to talk while in line (or just keep the group together) and they stay together instead of sending one member of the party to the single rider line.
2. Single riders who have their hearts set on a certain seat (or they don't know about the single rider line) so they wait in the normal line to get it.
3. People pass through the station (either b/c they don't fit or they don't want to ride).

I think that #'s 2 & 3 are not very common, so theoretically if all odd numbered groups sent a person to the single rider line, then it would just about defeat the purpose of the single rider line. *Disclaimer: I don't go to CP very often so I don't know how often people pass through the station, but from the times I have been there it didn't happen very often.
With that said, I think that a single rider line would be very useful on the larger 4 seat across coasters (Raptor and Mantis). If I remember right, they both had FreeWay, so they could just open those lines back up and put a single rider sign by them and then split the area after the lines merge until they get to the station. Or at least they could call out for single riders more often. It is very irritating to be a single rider waiting for Mantis and to watch every train from when you get in line to when you reach the platform have empty seats that you could have been in instead of waiting in line.
I would like to have single rider lines on TTD and MF (I am always a single rider on those two), but I just don't think that it is pratical because they only seat 2 across. (Not to mention that you have plenty of time to find another single rider in TTD's crowded station and the fact that the MF ride host usually assigns you to a seat with another single rider if there is one.)

*** Edited 7/5/2007 12:08:15 PM UTC by cdrptrks***

Halltd,

Once again, I disagree with you on multiple fronts. First of all, simply because Disney properties entertain more guests does not mean that they have better ride capacity. I am speaking of ability to get more people on a specific ride in a given period of time. In all of my trips to Disney properties, I never recall seeing crews hustle like the MF, Raptor, Maggie, and other crews do -- especially toward the end of the evening. You can disagree if you wish, but it has simply not been my experience (I have been attending Cedar Point numerous times a year since before the Blue Streak existed).

On the topic of ride queues: Your comment indicating, "The more time people take in the station, the longer the entire queue gets. It's a domino effect" makes no sense. The length of the queue line is affected by the number of people in line compared to the riders per given period of time. The total number of people in line is the exact same -- regardless how many are in the station. Simply because people want to align with their group does not mean that empty seats are the result. I have seen this for years and years (Gemini, TTD, Maggie and others). Very seldom do I see empty seats.

Once again, an empty seat once in a great while is still preferable to forcing EVERYONE to ride a specific row, in terms of customer satisfaction. Even if you don't want to make a choice, simply walking up to an empty number isn't all that hard. Not only that, since, according to you, most don't care what row they sit in, they will naturally migrate to the shorter line, right? Wouldn't this significantly prove the supply and demand theory that I proposed in my thread?

djDaemon said:
First of all, I've grown quite tired of you and your newfound pissy "I'm right because I'm... Tim" attitude.

How is my opinion of things any more of an attitude than your "I'm a LEGITIMATE single rider and these other people are not"? I don't really care if you've grown tired of my comments. I'm opinionated just like many others on here, including you. You can write about your opinions on here and so can everyone else.

Old Coaster Guy said:
...simply because Disney properties entertain more guests does not mean that they have better ride capacity...In all of my trips to Disney properties, I never recall seeing crews hustle like the MF, Raptor, Maggie, and other crews do

Just because they're not running around like madmen, it doesn't mean they're not hustling. How many times have you seen a coaster at Disney stack? It just doesn't happen. They have the ride blocking, loading/unloading procedure, and queue management down to a science. So, they don't HAVE to "hustle" as you say to get a huge capacity. I would venture to guess Space Mountain puts through far more people per day than any coaster at Cedar Point. Disney doesn't have loose article problems, they assign all their rows and in a lot of cases, they have single rider lines. This all contributes to their high capacity. The reason CP ride ops have to "hustle" so much is because guests take a long time to load. Watch the ops on Raptor. They stand around a lot because they can't check restraints until people are seated. If the people were seated quicker, they wouldn't have to sprint around the train to get it out on time.

Old Coaster Guy said:
The length of the queue line is affected by the number of people in line compared to the riders per given period of time. The total number of people in line is the exact same -- regardless how many are in the station.

I totally agree with this. I wasn't trying to dispute that fact. I was merely saying if seats go empty or dispatch is delayed because people are loading loose article bins or arguing over what row their friends are sitting in, that affects overall ride capacity. That's what I meant by "time in the station". I really should have said the amount of time the TRAIN stays in the station.

The most efficient way to load a coaster train is for people to immediately sit in the train, buckle up and get checked. When you allow people to pass through the train, disrobe, come back to the train, buckle, then get checked, you're affecting the overall capacity of the ride. This in turn affects the one part of the equation you mentioned: riders per hour. On my recent three-park trip out East, we saw so many rows going empty on trains because people wanted to "align with their friends". Since the stations were all packed, people couldn't tell if they were aligned or not. So, instead of letting people in front of them, they'd just let the row go empty. That's what I was talking about.

halltd said:
How is my opinion of things any more of an attitude than your "I'm a LEGITIMATE single rider and these other people are not"?

Are you kidding me? The term "legitimate" was used to distinguish myself (someone in the park, alone, without other people) from others in the SRL who are, in fact, part of a group.

I don't really care if you've grown tired of my comments. I'm opinionated just like many others on here, including you. You can write about your opinions on here and so can everyone else.

Being opinionated is one thing. Talking out of one's backside is another.

DJ - I still don't see what your beef is. So a "group" of 3 kids uses the single rider line. They go out on 3 different trains out of a total of 5 (2 of them were full without a need for single riders) and you're complaining that because you aren't with friends you deserve to use the SRL more than they do? I see where it delayed you (obviously you had to wait for 3 more people) but I don't see where their use of the line was any more or less legitimate than yours.

Old Coaster Rider - I think trying to get groups to match up while in the queue is far less efficient than just having a single rider line and pulling individuals from that line whenever there is a need to fill a seat.

And Disney is about as efficient as I have ever seen a park run. They move bodies like no other park that I've seen. And just because they aren't running around like a headless chicken doesn't mean they aren't efficient.

My "beef" isn't with the group of 3. Its the group of 2 that should really be in the normal line, but use the SRL instead, in order to get on the ride more quickly. Now, since I'm at the park by myself, and am in the SRL presumably to save time, I now have to wait 2 trains longer than I would have otherwise.

Don't get me wrong - I'll likely never use the damn thing, and wouldn't lose any sleep in the above situation either. I was simply pointing out the likelihood of abuse being greater at CP as compared to Disney, given the demographical differences. And apparently my use of the word "legitimate" means that I hate Baby Jesus.

No, it doesn't mean you hate baby Jesus.

Just that you really, really, really didn't like Him. ;)

I guess we just differ on what our views of "abuse" are.

I'm certainly not saying they aren't within their rights as... park-goers to use that line. Rather, its an inconvenience to guests who would otherwise being making legitimate use of it. And, again, its nothing I'm going to be concerned with - I've only been in an odd group once in many years of going to the park.

I don't know what you're talking about, any group with you is guaranteed to be odd. ;)

Of course, that makes me wonder what groups with me are considered....

Nice - I'd give you credit for it, but I walked right into that one. :)

Yeah, you did. Glad we could get this thread back onto a friendly banter rather than the malicious sniping.

As has been said before: I'm easily one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. But, I'm also a cynical, sarcastic bastard and don't play well with others when challenged inappropriately.

Yeah, I think I remember that from when you joined the site. You smart-mouthed little #%@#$. ;)

You remember nothing of the sort...

*flashy-things John*

First of all, they aren't using a true single rider line anyway. There's a split on the stairs, which at best might move you up two or three dispatches. I say, who cares?

Universal has single rider lines on a lot of different attractions, and groups will get in them to get on the line sooner. I see it happen at Disney too. So what? If they don't mind riding without their friends, so be it.