I know this has been brought up numerous times, but Christ they’re annoying. The main problem is that they are usually in a group so need an authority figure to tell them to stop. Now, I was at Thorpe yesterday and was pleased to see in the queue for stealth, staff members on the station removing queue cutters. The wonderful moment when the ride op identified the cutter over the tannoy and told him he would not be aloud to ride, and then humiliated him when he tried to take his jacket off and change his hair style. The guy got the treatment he deserved and was humiliated into leaving by other queue members and the staff. Now, onto my point, Alton really need to adopt a similar strategy, a number to text in to report queue cutting with a brief description of the cutter would do wonders, especially in queues like Rita's and Oblivion where it is most prominent. And why stop there? It could be used to identify people that smoke in the Queue or who act violently and use disgusting language (which is becoming a regular occurrence). It's just a thought, hope that makes sense, not really structured this well.
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Alton and Queue cutters
- Thread starter Ben.
- Start date
pluk
TS Member
Everything you say is right Ben and the parks should do all they can to stop queue jumpers, including acting on their already made threat of removing them from the park, not just the ride they are caught on.
The park staff can't be everywhere though. A lot of responsibly comes down to the public and their willingness to put up with anti social behaviour in general and not wanting to get involved. I might be more comfortable with confrontation than most, but if everyone just said 'no' people would not be able to do it. There's hundreds of people in a queue line, they aren't going to pick a fight with all of them!
The park staff can't be everywhere though. A lot of responsibly comes down to the public and their willingness to put up with anti social behaviour in general and not wanting to get involved. I might be more comfortable with confrontation than most, but if everyone just said 'no' people would not be able to do it. There's hundreds of people in a queue line, they aren't going to pick a fight with all of them!
Dave
TS Founding Member
In my experience Towers staff will always challenge a queue-cutter when seen, the problem Towers have is generally their queue's are more spread out than at Thorpe so harder to monitor. Though i have numerous times seen them challenge queue-jumpers.
A txt number would be good though.
A txt number would be good though.
Scott
Former TS Team Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
The issue with a text number is that whilst it can alert staff to people - its also open to abuse. The staff can look out for descriptions of people but by the time a text has been sent they'll have already jumped the queue... It also opens itself to people prank texting descriptions of their mates in 'coz itz wel funniiii lol'
I'm not against the idea, it just might not work all that well unfortunately.
I'm not against the idea, it just might not work all that well unfortunately.
The main problem with up front confrontation is that in a majority of cases the cutters are children. If you tell some adults to not queue cut then they are responsible for their actions, but if you openly say no no a child then it opens up a whole new can of worms, all it takes is a kid to say you pushed them or swore at them and a whole new drama arises. And with he text in, like any service it is open to abuse, but when you text in you are also giving the park your phone number, just make it part of the text in rules that if a prank text is found the number will be traced and reported to their service provider. That alone will act as a deterrent to most people at least.
pluk
TS Member
Ben. said:
An understandable concern, but by definition of a queue you will be far from alone and if you are not overstepping the mark you'll have plenty of witnesses around you to confirm your actions.
Again, confrontation is not for everyone and don't put yourself in unnecessary danger, but for so many people this kind of stuff is always someone else's responsibly. As a society we just don't stand up for ourselves and so the 'yobs' know they can get away with what the hell they like. If you see unacceptable behaviour call people out on it, you'll be surprised at the support you'll get from those around you once you've made the first move and you'll feel good about yourself afterwards!
Staff will almost always have the backing of the main queue, purely cos that person has usually irked quite a few people.
I'm pretty sure the staff are used to people making up all sorts of accusations anyway, if it's a kid then they could possibly make it up anyway. I highly doubt any staff member is scared of someone accusing them of supposedly swearing at a queue jumper.
I'm pretty sure the staff are used to people making up all sorts of accusations anyway, if it's a kid then they could possibly make it up anyway. I highly doubt any staff member is scared of someone accusing them of supposedly swearing at a queue jumper.
Andrew
TS Contributor
If there is a family just in front of me, and I'm near the end of th queue, and a family member wishes to join them, then I'll let them through.
I feel that this is right.
However, if I'm halfway through the queue, I wont let them join as I've queued, just as everyone else has, which is fair for everyone.
If they kick up a fuss, then I alert a member of staff, and they can tell the people that it's against park rules.
If a group of people decides to jump in front of me without asking at all, then I'll politely ask them to join the back of the queue, as it's against the rules. If they refuse, I alert a member of staff and they'll take it from there.
In my opinion, this is the best method as it doesn't usually cause any problems, and it is fair for all people.
Unfortunately, queue jumpers will always be a problem at all parks, no matter how big, or how secure it is. If you ever see queue jumpers who are kicking off at people telling them to join the back of the queue, then simply alert a member of staff, and if they still refuse, park security.
The 'queue hotline' number would be good, but as previously stated, it could be abused. It would be gokd to trial it for around a month, and if it's a success, then put it in place permanently. The number could be rang, and then you say the attraction you are at, with the description of the queue jumper(s), and then a member of staff from the attraction would remove the offenders.
I feel that this is right.
However, if I'm halfway through the queue, I wont let them join as I've queued, just as everyone else has, which is fair for everyone.
If they kick up a fuss, then I alert a member of staff, and they can tell the people that it's against park rules.
If a group of people decides to jump in front of me without asking at all, then I'll politely ask them to join the back of the queue, as it's against the rules. If they refuse, I alert a member of staff and they'll take it from there.
In my opinion, this is the best method as it doesn't usually cause any problems, and it is fair for all people.
Unfortunately, queue jumpers will always be a problem at all parks, no matter how big, or how secure it is. If you ever see queue jumpers who are kicking off at people telling them to join the back of the queue, then simply alert a member of staff, and if they still refuse, park security.
The 'queue hotline' number would be good, but as previously stated, it could be abused. It would be gokd to trial it for around a month, and if it's a success, then put it in place permanently. The number could be rang, and then you say the attraction you are at, with the description of the queue jumper(s), and then a member of staff from the attraction would remove the offenders.
Andrew
TS Contributor
It depends on what day you visit.thefatone said:
A quiet day at both parks will see few queue jumpers, whereas a busy day will see more, naturally.
I think Alton and Thorpe both have the same amount of queue jumpers, but the number is lower than other parks because of the way they are dealt with.
I applaud the efforts of Alton and Thorpe!
Alastair
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Rise of the Resistance
It's always down to who's in the queue. In my experience, people mostly get away with it. I witnessed some chavs jumping several fences to get to the middle cattlepen queue section of Sub-Terra ahead of a good 1/3rd of the queue last week - and no action was taken on them as far as I could see. And that is the most blatant kind of queue-jumping.
Not to mention the kind where people just walk through asking people to move out of their way - generally no one stops them. They don't want the confrontation, and don't feel it's worth it. For this reason I feel the text service would be a good idea as it would mean people could report queue jumpers without having to go face-to-face with them.
Not to mention the kind where people just walk through asking people to move out of their way - generally no one stops them. They don't want the confrontation, and don't feel it's worth it. For this reason I feel the text service would be a good idea as it would mean people could report queue jumpers without having to go face-to-face with them.
djtruefitt
TS Team
I think the text option would be open to too much abuse and wouldnt work. It would also require staff/ride ops to check these messages which they might not do all the time. I think more of Alton queues should be covered by CCTV, so that ride ops or staff can see queues, and if someone does cut in, the staff should either put it over the tannoy, or simply make that person wait till they get to the front and then kick them out the queue. If that person argues get security and send them out the park. All the signs in the park say queue jumpers will be kicked out the park, but I bet 99% of the time it has never happened.
BigAl
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Forbidden Journey
Text reporting sounds good. It's open to abuse but so are emergency service lines. Just punish those that waste the time of staff that report people for fun and throw them out of the park and throw people out of the park that are caught queue jumping without any hesitation. People have no right to do whatever the hell they like and more should be done to stop it.
I wouldn't mind seeing more done about people smoking in the queues too. Perhaps, should Alton introduce text reporting, that they'll also allow you to report people smoking in queues too?
I wouldn't mind seeing more done about people smoking in the queues too. Perhaps, should Alton introduce text reporting, that they'll also allow you to report people smoking in queues too?
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Whilst I agree with the texting option, I don't think it would do any good. I did have a suggestion that they have members of staff having the ability to watch over certain points in the queue, however that would simply mean hiring more staff and having more cuts made next year.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1N5iz3WjSc[/youtube]
I really do applaud the staff here at Thorpe and whilst I would like this to happen more, especially as it humiliates queue jumpers, it would chip ride throughput down by a lot.
This is a sign of society as a whole really, increasingly people are not used to being told no and having that firm "no" reinforced. Mostly people get angry, rude and agressive once they do not get what they want.
I work in a retail environment and the number of times someone has told me they will kick up a huge fuss and make a scene in my shop if they dont get what they want must be at least once every two days. The problem is that this approcah works for them in 99% of shops becasue who ever is dealing with the situation let them get what they want.
The resolution is that everyone as a whole (rides ops, members of the public, park management) needs to stand up to these trouble makers and provide them with a polite and firm stance that the behaviour will not be rewarded. Any deviation from this will result in removal form queue lines/the park.
The park has not always had a soft approach. about ten years ago I tore into the car park early in the day showing off my new driving skills to my mmates in the car and when being guided to a spot my foot genuinely slipped off the brake and it looked like I had been showing off and tried to play "chicken" with the guy showing me to my space. Once I got out the car the guy in question gave me the riot act telling me any more behaviour like that would result in security and the police being called! Like I say it was only an accident but he thought I was being a leary teenager, I apologised and all was forgiven but someome that gets away with that behaviour at the start of the day will only get worse once in the park.
I work in a retail environment and the number of times someone has told me they will kick up a huge fuss and make a scene in my shop if they dont get what they want must be at least once every two days. The problem is that this approcah works for them in 99% of shops becasue who ever is dealing with the situation let them get what they want.
The resolution is that everyone as a whole (rides ops, members of the public, park management) needs to stand up to these trouble makers and provide them with a polite and firm stance that the behaviour will not be rewarded. Any deviation from this will result in removal form queue lines/the park.
The park has not always had a soft approach. about ten years ago I tore into the car park early in the day showing off my new driving skills to my mmates in the car and when being guided to a spot my foot genuinely slipped off the brake and it looked like I had been showing off and tried to play "chicken" with the guy showing me to my space. Once I got out the car the guy in question gave me the riot act telling me any more behaviour like that would result in security and the police being called! Like I say it was only an accident but he thought I was being a leary teenager, I apologised and all was forgiven but someome that gets away with that behaviour at the start of the day will only get worse once in the park.
Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
As some others have said here the best place I've seen for dealing with queue jumpers has to be Thorpe. Their staff seem to take a very serious stance on the matter, and many times I've seen then eject people from the queue.
On my last visit a girl and her three friends walked straight through the entrance to Ninferno and ducked under one of the dividing fences where the lines run parallel, practically cutting out the whole extension which people were queueing in. Almost instantly the operator came over the queueline sound system and said "Will the lady in the pink shirt and her friends who have just climbed over the fences please leave the queueline. You will not be riding Nemesis Inferno today." and had one of the hosts come down to make sure they were going. Overhearing the host and the girls arguing it sounded like when the op said "today" she meant it. The host was telling them they would not be able to ride Ninferno for the rest of the day! Perhaps a heavy handed approach, but hey it works, and will hopefully put some sense into the minds of the queue jumpers! Karma!
At Towers I've never seen the staff confront anyone in this manner, however at Towers the queues are very different, with many of them sprawling around the ride area, and staff not always being able to watch them. I do think it'd be nice for them to clamp down on the issue, but short of having staff walking the queuelines I don't think there is much they can do more.
On my last visit a girl and her three friends walked straight through the entrance to Ninferno and ducked under one of the dividing fences where the lines run parallel, practically cutting out the whole extension which people were queueing in. Almost instantly the operator came over the queueline sound system and said "Will the lady in the pink shirt and her friends who have just climbed over the fences please leave the queueline. You will not be riding Nemesis Inferno today." and had one of the hosts come down to make sure they were going. Overhearing the host and the girls arguing it sounded like when the op said "today" she meant it. The host was telling them they would not be able to ride Ninferno for the rest of the day! Perhaps a heavy handed approach, but hey it works, and will hopefully put some sense into the minds of the queue jumpers! Karma!
At Towers I've never seen the staff confront anyone in this manner, however at Towers the queues are very different, with many of them sprawling around the ride area, and staff not always being able to watch them. I do think it'd be nice for them to clamp down on the issue, but short of having staff walking the queuelines I don't think there is much they can do more.
DiogoJ42 said:
To be honest they should have done this a long time ago, those Towers should provide the perfect vantage point.
I've personally never had a problem with queue jumpers, I always seem to stand my ground and simply not people past. I'm the same at gigs, I've been stood there for longer than you, what gives you the right to take my spot.
I don't think there's an easy solution for Alton Towers, text systems would be abused, staff patrolling wouldn't happen due to expense. Perhaps some more signage in queues and more visible security on park, similar to that of Thorpe Park? Although that could perhaps create a slightly intimidating atmosphere.