Station queuing

I find it frustrating when you are unable to choose your seat do to the RideOp telling you where you have to stand. Why is it that sometimes the RideOps let the station fill up, then other times they only have lines for the first and last row, but assign people to the other rows? I didn't wait in line for 1.5 hours to sit in the middle, but I don't want to wait an extra 20 to 30 minutes for the first seat on MF. I will wait the extra time for TTD though.

Is it really necessary to keep starting all these threads? These topics you keep bringing up have been discussed over and over in the past. I don't mean to be rude, but creating all of these topics are going to catch you a lot of flak from the others here.

That said, the ride ops need to fill each train as best as possible. They are doing their job.

You've started 8 threads today. SLOW DOWN.

*** Edited 8/21/2006 7:16:10 PM UTC by Millennium Force***

If the searched worked I probably wouldn't have.

Besides, as you can tell I haven't really been on the site that much, I had a few things to say/ask because of my recent trip and didn't feel like looking through tons of posts to see if someone might have talked about it earlier. Call me lazy.

By the way I would think that pretty much everything has been covered already. I don't think there is anything wrong with bringing stuff back up. Someone might have some new thoughts on something.

*** Edited 8/21/2006 7:32:45 PM UTC by Muggsy***
*** Edited 8/21/2006 7:35:16 PM UTC by Muggsy***

To search pointbuzz, simply go to google and use the search string: "site:pointbuzz.com search terms here"

No quotes, of course, and replace the words 'search terms here' with what you are looking for.

I know most of the "enthusiasts" hate my thinking when it comes to the stations, but its all about efficiency for me. I'm a big supporter of the "forced loading". Let people wait for the first and last row, and assign all the others. On average, when given a choice, people are indecisive when it comes to choosing a row. So, on fast-paced ride loading (like MF), the line gets held up by people not picking rows right away and then STAYING there. I can't believe how many people pick a row, and then move all over the place afterwards. Its ridiculous.

I think the "forced loading" helps minimize empty seats too. When the ride op assigns rows to people, they know where single riders are needed. I love when MF and WT assign rows. Then again, I am one of the only people who hate the loose article bins too. :)

FWIW, I hate loose article bins also and love the seating policy at MF and WT. ;)

I agree!

Although, even Millennium Force and Wicked Twister tend to have their "out of control days" once in a while...

I like the idea of stations loading like MF. It definatly makes capacity better and I think its nice not having a crowded out of control station. I personally have always been able to get the seat I wanted. I'm sure if you wanted a different seat, you could ask the ride ops and they would let you wait for the next train. I really think this system needs to be used on the 4 across seating coasters like Mantis and Raptor. I really hate standing in line with one friend watching train by train go by with empty spots for 2 riders. It would really make these coaster's waits better if all spots where filled by organinzing riders in the station.
*** Edited 8/22/2006 1:14:20 AM UTC by cjeagle35***

This is what you do on MF...if you get stuck in a seat you dont want- go get inline for the front, once that train loads and BEFORE the next set of riders are allowed in the station, act like you changed your mind and walk to the seat you want. Has worked every single time.

You're not suppose to do that....

I 100% agree about the four across thing. Also, the average person doesn't have any idea where they want to sit on the coaster so it's probably just quicker to have someone tell them where to go. When I was there a few weeks ago they were not assigning seats, but I would have to imagine that if you politely asked for a certain seat they wouldn't have a problem with it.

Do a lot of places do the assigned seating thing? I've been to a lot of parks on the east cost and I've never come across it. Except for the Lazer at Dorney, but the loading platform there is so small that they have no choice but to tell you where to go.

We asked nicely if we could sit in the second row and they said no.

My point was earlier and later they let you sit anywhere you wanted on MF.

Not supposed to do that? What if you really change your mind about waiting (the line for the front turns out to take longer than you thought, right)? People can't be forced to remain in line for the front.

When I worked at the ride we allowed people do it all the time. It was an easy loop-hole way for us to avoid the irate guest that wants to ride in a particular seat. It's not something that should be advertised, but is one way of getting the seat you want without upsetting the flow of things on the platform.

*** Edited 8/22/2006 2:01:22 AM UTC by Rihard 2000***

Not many parks assign seating besides Disney. All the Six Flags parks I've been to don't even have ride ops in the loading section of the station. You just walk in whenever you want and crowd to the line of the seat you want. That's why their lines are so long and why so many seats go empty.

When I rode Raptor three times last week, they were assigning seats all three times. It was great. I was VERY impressed.

I even like when they just let the correct number of people into the station. That's actually what I saw the most. I guess I would call that "soft assigning" rows. :)

"Soft assigning"...I like that term.

I can relate to what you are saying though Muggsy. Nothing disappoints me more than waiting more than waiting 35min. to ride Kennywood's JackRabbit and finding that I won't be able to ride in the back seat.

It helps to understand the reasoning for the policy though. In JackRabbits case the platform is too small for more than one trainload to stand. For Millennium Force the acoustics of the platform contributed to a false dispatch when ride operators were not able to communicate over the noise of the riders. Wicked Twister launches form the load position and packed platform could be a recipe for disaster.

Also you'll want to keep in mind that many, many people ask politly to ride in the second row at MF. So many people in fact that if they allowed them all to do it, the line for it would grow nearly as long as the front seat.

*** Edited 8/22/2006 2:23:08 AM UTC by Rihard 2000***

Rihard 2000 said:
Not supposed to do that? What if you really change your mind about waiting (the line for the front turns out to take longer than you thought, right)? People can't be forced to remain in line for the front.

Well, for as many times as I've seen guests told that they couldn't do that by ride operators, I thought it was quite safe to say that you "weren't suppose to."

Why on MF during its inagural year did they let the 36 or whatever number per train into the station and let them choose their seats, then cut the line off again. I remember the first three times I rode it we got to pick first.

It's still done that way. It keeps the station less crowded to help the ride ops better communicate, keeping your ass safe. :-)

No, its so that you can hear the MF song better!

DBCP said:
Well, for as many times as I've seen guests told that they couldn't do that by ride operators, I thought it was quite safe to say that you "weren't suppose to."

I've gotten yelled at for doing that a few times - mostly at WF and not MF. I'm not really sure why they'd care to be honest. I mean it's not like they can count exactly 36 people and have it work perfectly each time because you never know how many people are going to go wait for the front or the back. So your actual number is going to probably be anywhere from 32 to maybe 45-50.