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Single Rider Queues
- Thread starter Benjsh
- Start date
MakoMania
TS Member
Shame, I use SRQs a lot, especially on Th13teeen and The Smiler.
Free alternative to fastrack mustn't sound too good to Merlin.
On another note, I can't believe we're only 2 weeks away from riding a wooden coaster at Alton Towers!
MakoMania
TS Member
Why else would SRQs be going away though? I can't think of anything.It won't be anything to do with the fact that it's a free alternative to Fastrack.
Because it isn't really.
The cost of the staff member managing the srq.
MakoMania
TS Member
On most rides there is no extra staff member for the SRQ. The way Wicker Man is set up there wouldn't have to be an extra staff member either.
Actually, I can't name one ride where there was/is a staff member dedicated to SRQ.
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WickerManiac
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Colossus
There is no single rider option I am told for Wicker Man.
In fact, I hear on the grapevine that Single Rider lines do not even exist at Alton anymore.
It is a shame.
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
At least they're doing something right. Good riddance to SRQ as queuelines on all attractions were starting to get a bit ridiculous with 47 different lines to choose from. There was a time I was convinced they were going to start splitting off queues based on age groups and gender.
One queue for all would suit me just fine.
One queue for all would suit me just fine.
imanautie
TS Member
MakoMania
TS Member
That is most dissapointing if true. Longer queues for everybody as the full capacity potential of rides is not being achieved.
The only reason for this would be reduced fastrack sales, The Smiler, Th13teen and Oblivion require no extra staff for their SRQs.
It was great having a walk on Smiler whilst the main queue was an hour. Now people will have to pay extra for that
imanautie
TS Member
That's going to go down well for red wristbandersThat is most dissapointing if true. Longer queues for everybody as the full capacity potential of rides is not being achieved.
The only reason for this would be reduced fastrack sales, The Smiler, Th13teen and Oblivion require no extra staff for their SRQs.
It was great having a walk on Smiler whilst the main queue was an hour. Now people will have to pay extra for that
Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
Well...that has killed 90% of all my excitement for the ride!
Now, as far as I care, it may as well not even exist since I will never get on it without sacrificing almost the entire day!
...That has genuinely ruined my day
That is most dissapointing if true. Longer queues for everybody as the full capacity potential of rides is not being achieved.
The only reason for this would be reduced fastrack sales, The Smiler, Th13teen and Oblivion require no extra staff for their SRQs.
It was great having a walk on Smiler whilst the main queue was an hour. Now people will have to pay extra for that
SRQs don't always improve throughput. Staff may faff about too much trying to get people into an empty seat that it holds up dispatches. It isn't always the case, as it's very dependent on staff, but it can happen. It may also be seen as an unneeded distraction for staff - more queue lines to deal with, meaning less time to focus on safety.
To say it's because of reduced Fastrack sales is naive and ignorant. People use SRQ because they don't mind sitting away from their friends, or are riding by themselves; a reduced queue time is a bonus. Fastrack is there to guarantee a significantly reduced queue time. The group of people who didn't buy Fastrack because of SRQs existence is small to non-existent.
As for Wicker Man, having an SRQ is presumably impractical. The pre show is (I believe, I've avoided spoilers so I don't know) a room where some sort of show happens, more like Hex's than Smiler's. If an SRQ existed, you would have to batch single riders into a separate section, then rebatch into another queue in the station area, like Symbolica at Efteling does, which consumes more space, or give people their row numbers at the pre show, which is impractical unless the pre show and air gates are aligned (which I assume they're not). Alternatively you could face single riders skip the pre show, but that's a bit rubbish really.
It would have been nice to see an SRQ, but it just doesn't seem to fit with Wicker Man.
MakoMania
TS Member
Mate, the whole point of SRQs is to reduce your waiting time!
Going wildly off topic here I know but a few years ago the park scrapped SRQs on rides where it was slowing throughput (Rita, Nemesis) and kept it on rides where it does not negatively affect throughput in any way (Smiler, Oblivion, Th13teen, Spinball). These are also rides where no extra SRQ staff are required. There is absolutely no practical reason to get ride of these SRQs, the only reason is to encourage fastrack sales.
Going wildly off topic here I know but a few years ago the park scrapped SRQs on rides where it was slowing throughput (Rita, Nemesis) and kept it on rides where it does not negatively affect throughput in any way (Smiler, Oblivion, Th13teen, Spinball). These are also rides where no extra SRQ staff are required. There is absolutely no practical reason to get ride of these SRQs, the only reason is to encourage fastrack sales.
SRQ is advertised as a way of going on rides if you don't mind riding alone, which could potentially reduce your queue time. Signage very clearly states that the SRQ could be as long as, or longer, than the main queue.
As I said, there's plenty of reasons why they might choose to remove SRQs now. Maybe they're no longer as effective, maybe it's seen as a distraction to staff who could be focusing on guest safety more. Maybe feedback of the system is negative from guests and/or staff. There's plenty of reasons why.
And to relate this back to Wicker Man, the way the experience is set up, there is clearly no way an SRQ could effectively work.
As I said, there's plenty of reasons why they might choose to remove SRQs now. Maybe they're no longer as effective, maybe it's seen as a distraction to staff who could be focusing on guest safety more. Maybe feedback of the system is negative from guests and/or staff. There's plenty of reasons why.
And to relate this back to Wicker Man, the way the experience is set up, there is clearly no way an SRQ could effectively work.
MakoMania
TS Member
Of course they have to say that, they can't guarantee anything. I can't believe I'm actually debating with someone that the point of SRQs is not for someone to try to get on the ride faster than the normal queue.
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
It did not slow throughput on Rita (I worked on it).
The reason SRQ was removed was so that they could cut a merge host, by having Fastrack arrive at the station itself.
I can only assume this is the purpose behind removing it off other rides, too. It saves money - and we know how tight the purse strings are these days when it comes to operations.
I've highlighted the key word you said here.
IF you don't mind or plan to ride by yourself, you can TRY and reduce the time you wait. Yes, it's true that you usually get on quicker, but that is merely a handy positive of the system.If SRQs don't exist, it won't get those people who are happy to ride by themselves to spend an extra £10 to ride by themselves quicker. They'll just join and wait longer.
This makes sense, though off my - albeit vague - memory of the rides which had SRQ in 2017, I can't think of how they can reduce the number of staff on some of them (Smiler and Spinball for example)?