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2019: General Discussion

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SRQ on Smiler does not require an additional staff member - they had a merge host at the bottom of the stairs towards the end of last year and they need one at the top to accommodate wheelchair users coming up the lift.

A few issues today - Oblivion really needs to be on high capacity at weekends, the queue looked very long today (worth remembering that Oblivion has a higher fastrack allocation than almost any other ride so low capacity is an issue here). Ride operations on several rides was slow too - Rita and Smiler in particular. I hardly ever ride Rita as the queue is so slow. I put up with Smiler's as I like the ride, but it's an utter misery down there as it barely moves (it's been jet washed FWIW).

Having only 2 trains available on Wicker Man on opening day is far from ideal, the advertised queue peaked at 110 minutes but was probably longer at times - we waited 75 at the end of the day when there was no fastrack/RAP.

On a more positive note, it doesn't look like there's any obvious cuts to the front line guest experience this year.
 
Noticed at end of day there was a queue from the box office all the way across to Towers trading
o_O
People complaining already
I had quite a nice day personally
 
bluesonichd said:
Noticed at end of day there was a queue from the box office all the way across to Towers trading
o_O
People complaining already
I had quite a nice day personally
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Do they do upgrade to season pass at box office?

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John said:
SRQ on Smiler does not require an additional staff member - they had a merge host at the bottom of the stairs towards the end of last year
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They had a merge host for a few days last year as a test but they got rid shortly afterwards. There was no merge host at all during 99% of last year. The merge host this year has been added to facilitate SRQ.
 
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Today was surprisingly busy. A member of staff in ATH said a gate figure of around 15,000 and that wasn't expected for opening day .

Was a good day though, weather was nice, but queues were long, with Wickerman I think running 2 trains, with a 90 minute queue most of the day .
 
I used the Smiler SRQ yesterday. There was no sign on the entrance to its queueline but it's the same one as it used to be, next to the disabled and fast-track. There was absolutely no-one in the queue and only came into contact with a member of Towers staff when I reached the top of the stairs and was in the station. Hope that helps. Not sure if it will be like that all season, but it's how it was for me yesterday.
 
Coaster said:
I think not having it clearly signposted might actually be better. Before, you'd have times when the SRQ was as long as the main queue, whereas now it'll probably be much more manageable for the staff and guests with only those who go out of their way to find out about it using it.

Maybe it could be signposted but much smaller and less obvious than previously?
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Terrible, elitist idea.

If a park is offering a queueing option, it should be made aware to everyone. Not just those who go out of their way to find it.

The idea of offering an SRQ should be to give people more choice, not to reward people for hunting out extra information. It should be signposted, and signposted clearly.
 
Prophecy said:
Terrible, elitist idea.

If a park is offering a queueing option, it should be made aware to everyone. Not just those who go out of their way to find it.

The idea of offering an SRQ should be to give people more choice, not to reward people for hunting out extra information. It should be signposted, and signposted clearly.
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What they need to do is actually backup staff, give them authority to say no to groups who try and ride together.

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BarryZola said:
I used the Smiler SRQ yesterday. There was no sign on the entrance to its queueline but it's the same one as it used to be, next to the disabled and fast-track. There was absolutely no-one in the queue and only came into contact with a member of Towers staff when I reached the top of the stairs and was in the station. Hope that helps. Not sure if it will be like that all season, but it's how it was for me yesterday.
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Did you self merge at the bottom of the stairs or walk straight up the left side like it used to be? I'm just trying to work out if there is no staff member at the merge point at the bottom of the stairs, and nothing to stop you merging into the right stairs lane, what is there to stop groups walking up the SRQ then merging to the non-SRQ line. The whole point of having a merge host at the bottom of the stairs was to stop people doing that, and they'd catch maybe 75% of people who tried it.

Or is the SRQ now the old "fast-track" door from last year totally fenced off from the main queue inside the building? Just trying to work out whether it's worth going since my son will only wonna do the stuff once or twice and I'll have to use SRQ for the other 50 rides lol
 
Smiler SRQ enters the building via the fire exit fastrack used last year, it's fully fenced off from main Q. Someone sufficiently determined might still jump over I guess.
 
Ah yeah thanks that's what I was trying to work out, best if they keep it unsignposted then, so just us elitist nerds know about it lol
 
People still seem to be able to find it, the queue reached the bottom of the stairs at one point yesterday. Still no sign as of this morning though.
 
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