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Queueline Entertainment

JordanC

TS Member
Just noticed this from an article published in 1999, posted by TheMan in the Farce-Track topic.
(Which can be seen here.)
PR Newswire said:
In addition to the "Virtual Queue", Alton Towers is investing a further £1 million on queue line entertainment including a water based quiz at the Log Flume, TV screens at the Black Hole, water blasters by Ripsaw, and fun activities for toddlers at Squirrel Nutty.
Did the guns ever materialise? I don't remember ever seeing them.

But this brings up a broader issue - what does Alton provide as queue line entertainment? And do you think it's really necessary? It's okay plonking in a few TV's to explain the story, (a la Sub Terra) but on a bright day, they're hardly visible and the audio is pretty dire. Plus your average guest pays little attention anyway! I feel The Smiler is a step in the right direction with lots of ride-queue interactivity and a strong emphasis on playing the game as a way to pass the time - a concept which should prove to be effective now most people carry around a smart phone in their pockets. But something as simple as a few QR codes or augmented reality objects could make queuing slightly less of a drag.
 
Using smartphones tech to enhance the queueline wait is all well and good, for the people that have smartphones.
 
I think nowadays more people visiting the park will have a smartphone than those who don't. It's a fair enough assumption for the park to make :)
 
I think if you really wanted to make waiting times more entertaining, the park should look into designing broken-up queues which work in a similar way to Hex in which the queue comes to a stop in order to watch something before continuing onward. This pausing and rejoining might only take 5 minutes but psychologically it makes a queue more enjoyable. It may be a pre-show movie that helps put the ride into a context which makes it more enjoyable. The video of Willy Wonka, I believe, should be shown in a stop/batch format rather than guests just walking past, because they simply don't pay attention despite their own boredom.
 
The only major issue with the Smiler queue and the Smiler game is that the majority of the queue line is not covered by Wi-Fi (someone Towers probably forgot!), and phone signal is usually pretty crap at towers, especially if there is a three hour queue all trying to go on their photos!

I think TVs are good like Sub-Terra, but they need to be fixed with audio you can hear, there are also sections of the queue where there are no TVs to see. Smiler could do with one or two more of them LED screens in the queue line to look at.

The worse queues by far are the cattle pen queues with nothing to look at such as TH13TEEN and Rita, unfortunately there is very little they can do to them to improve them or add to the experience due to the lack of room.
 
djtruefitt said:
The only major issue with the Smiler queue and the Smiler game is that the majority of the queue line is not covered by Wi-Fi (someone Towers probably forgot!), and phone signal is usually pretty crap at towers, especially if there is a three hour queue all trying to go on their photos!

I think TVs are good like Sub-Terra, but they need to be fixed with audio you can hear, there are also sections of the queue where there are no TVs to see. Smiler could do with one or two more of them LED screens in the queue line to look at.

The worse queues by far are the cattle pen queues with nothing to look at such as TH13TEEN and Rita, unfortunately there is very little they can do to them to improve them or add to the experience due to the lack of room.

Completely agree with the last comment.

I find the Towers just need to segment the queues. Make it so you can't see too far ahead of you with buildings/rooms to walk through that are themed to the ride (on Thirteen going through haunted out houses for example). Anyone who has been on Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom will understand what I mean - not a great deal of interactivity but plenty to look at.
 
djtruefitt said:
The worse queues by far are the cattle pen queues with nothing to look at such as TH13TEEN and Rita, unfortunately there is very little they can do to them to improve them or add to the experience due to the lack of room.

I don't find TH13TEEN's queue too bad to be honest, I've queued in worse cattlepens. I must admit though, and this seems standard worldwide, queue lines are forgotten about. The emphasis is on the ride, not the queue.
 
james.e.hyde said:
djtruefitt said:
The worse queues by far are the cattle pen queues with nothing to look at such as TH13TEEN and Rita, unfortunately there is very little they can do to them to improve them or add to the experience due to the lack of room.

I don't find TH13TEEN's queue too bad to be honest, I've queued in worse cattlepens. I must admit though, and this seems standard worldwide, queue lines are forgotten about. The emphasis is on the ride, not the queue.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey!
 
What worries me is that it seems like the ability to design good queues has been lost.

Just taking Alton as an example we have the Haunted House when Tussauds first took over which has a pleasant grave yard section followed by the fascinating walk through the house. Then there was Nemesis which pretty much nails it.

Following this was Oblivion which seems a little bit odd but then I never experienced the queue how it was originally intended and Hex which let’s face it is a massive cattle pen but a very atmospheric one.

Then there's Air and Rita... less said the better.

When Merlin came along I was really impressed with Battle Galleon's queue, shame it doesn't need it (seems to be a conmen theme with all the rides that have good queues). But then we got Th13teen which personally I don't mind followed by Sub-Terra and The Smiler which for all their attempts to be interesting are just back and forth cattle pens. And don't even get me started on some of their other rides outside of Alton (looking at you Viking River Splash and Zufari).

So yeah as far as I feel good queue design seems to be dead and it's about time someone resurrected it.
 
djtruefitt said:
The only major issue with the Smiler queue and the Smiler game is that the majority of the queue line is not covered by Wi-Fi (someone Towers probably forgot!), and phone signal is usually pretty crap at towers, especially if there is a three hour queue all trying to go on their photos!

I do wonder if all that steel over the queue acts as a crude Faraday cage, blocking almost all signals from getting through?
 
Re: Re: Queueline Entertainment

DiogoJ42 said:
djtruefitt said:
The only major issue with the Smiler queue and the Smiler game is that the majority of the queue line is not covered by Wi-Fi (someone Towers probably forgot!), and phone signal is usually pretty crap at towers, especially if there is a three hour queue all trying to go on their photos!

I do wonder if all that steel over the queue acts as a crude Faraday cage, blocking almost all signals from getting through?

I think you may be spot on, it will have an effect at least. Plus mobile/3G is not going to be good out there anyway.

My posts have that many mistakes in them?! Damn this Tapatalk milarky :)
 
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