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General Queue Times Discussion

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I suppose they could theoretically seat two single riders in a row, on opposite sides of the row. I’d guess that the distance between the outer left seat and the outer right seat is probably about 2m or close to it, so that might work.
 
Matt N said:
I suppose they could theoretically seat two single riders in a row, on opposite sides of the row. I’d guess that the distance between the outer left seat and the outer right seat is probably about 2m or close to it, so that might work.
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But why would you do that? You’d just fill that row with a group of 2/3/4 from the main queue.

The point of single rider queues is to fill seats that would otherwise go empty. Empty seats at the moment are there on purpose to distance groups on rides.
 
I thought all single rider queues were stopped again because of Covid, I didn't think The Smiler's was back in use yet since 2019?
EDIT: Although it could be used, I queued in the main queue last year and sat with a party of 2 with a seat left in between us, so there's no reason why it couldn't be open for when there's a group of 2 from the main queue - one seat's distance is perfectly adequate, as they proved last season.
 
Skyscraper said:
I think the single rider queue on Smiler is still in use. Keep that in mind for next time. :)
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It's not. It hasn't been open during covid. However it is frustrating as most groups are 2/3/4. So if its a 2 they normally put you on the end seat so you're a seat apart from the other 2. However, with the amount of 2s it certainly would be beneficial to have the SRQ open I feel. I've queued an hour last season as a single rider and seen 2s together but no single rider because anyone who is on there own has to be in the main queue rather than fill those spots if the SRQ queue were to be open
 
I also know someone who queued from the start of the permanent extended queue today for wicker man and he said it was only 70 mins. So quite how it was 2 hours for you @Matt N I have no idea
 
100 mins for Thirteen currently! :eek::p

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Something is definitely wrong with operations over at Smiler. After 90 minutes we had moved from just outside the entrance to the part of the queue that first passes alongside the fasttrack entrance. In that time there was constant 4 car service, and 1 social distancing announcement. People who were leaving the queue from ahead of us said they had been 2 and a half hours and I have no trouble believing that due to the glacial pace of the queue. There must be more to it than FT and RAP surely ?
 
tayspru said:
Something is definitely wrong with operations over at Smiler. After 90 minutes we had moved from just outside the entrance to the part of the queue that first passes alongside the fasttrack entrance. In that time there was constant 4 car service, and 1 social distancing announcement. People who were leaving the queue from ahead of us said they had been 2 and a half hours and I have no trouble believing that due to the glacial pace of the queue. There must be more to it than FT and RAP surely ?
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Isn't it on 3 trains atm instead of 4. It also doesn't help that the social distancing looks poor atm from what I've seen. Not many seem to be doing it
 
Ethan said:
Isn't it on 3 trains atm instead of 4. It also doesn't help that the social distancing looks poor atm from what I've seen. Not many seem to be doing it
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It looked to be on 4 , the self duelling was happening pretty consistently and there were 2 trains on the outside brake run when they paused for cleaning. It’s probably just RAP abuse and FT , two problems the park have had for years now and failed to address.

More people would social distance if anyone bothered to make announcements
 
tayspru said:
It looked to be on 4 , the self duelling was happening pretty consistently and there were 2 trains on the outside brake run when they paused for cleaning. It’s probably just RAP abuse and FT , two problems the park have had for years now and failed to address.

More people would social distance if anyone bothered to make announcements
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In all fairness I don't think towers should have to do constant announcements about social distancing. I'm sorry it's common sense we're in a pandemic you shouldn't have to be telling people to stay apart
 
Rather than the entrance staff all having a lovely chat , why not stop every single group with a short explanation :

“In this queue you are required to stand on yellow markings only , due to social distancing . This will be monitored by our staff. If you do not follow this you may not be allowed to ride when you reach the attraction”

Towers should really either take it seriously or not bother at all
 
Ethan said:
In all fairness I don't think towers should have to do constant announcements about social distancing. I'm sorry it's common sense we're in a pandemic you shouldn't have to be telling people to stay apart
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But sadly they do. At Thorpe on Thursday, everytime an announcement went out from the station about SD, people did start to search the floors for markings but it lasted only a minute and was forgotten again. I don't know what people don't get after a whole year. I also don't understand what incentive there is to not SD, crowding up with strangers doesn't get you on any rides any quicker.

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The problem is, once "underspacing" starts, it is impossible to social distance unless the back of the queue is made to turn around and walk back a considerable distance to create the space needed.
Only once have I seen that actually happen, on the dipper at Blackpool.
A staff member came out, closed the ride entrance, and moved round to the back of the queue and made the back of the queue walk back twenty yards, made the next group back up eighteen yards, and so on.
It worked well, took five minutes, and there was zero fuss...but there were only fifty or so people in the queue.
I imagine with a big queue like smiler/Wickerman, the walk back would be a couple of hundred yards.
 
I was thinking that myself from a park perspective about how they could enforce with the whole backwards thing.

But people can do it themselves with ease. Only move to the next chevron if the party in front of you does. It's quite a simple concept that's been going on for over a year and I just don't get what's so hard to understand. Other than announcements or a shotgun (I prefer the latter) there's not much more the park can do

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On the face of it it's an easy thing to do. However, people are more used to the two metre guidance than the chevrons. That's when you get issues when queuelines double back like The Smiler for example, where chevron spacing takes this into account.

The markings can also wear off over time or can be more difficult to see when it's wet. There's also issues with queues that go behind walls. As an example, on the monorail as you go from the cattlepen up the ramp, you can't see the next chevron. People then move forward, realise someone is there round the corner and stop. It's then impossible to go back as others have started to move up.

I don't think it's too much of a major issue in the grand scheme of things really though. Perhaps the only thing I'd suggest is a staff member on entrance to remind each group directly when joining to take note of the chevrons rather than the 2 metre rule. I was guilty of not realising the chevrons were irregular in The Smiler's queue line when I first returned last year!
 
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