Future of Queueline Displays?

[Ben]

With the park making a large jump to using wifi though the park and making progressions technologically they need to see how they can invest further.
Lets be fair some very loosely accurate LCD displays arent exactly cutting edge, and havent been since the early 90s.

I would *love* this:

Its currently only used on a cruise ship, as a navigational tool - but when you select shows it gives times, when you select restaurants it gives you waiting times for the buffet and seating times for the others. And when you pick somewhere to go, it gives you directions.

Its a very clever, touch screen system - apparently updated constantly, so second by second all events and queues can be managed. Apparently if you want to visit place A and it is busy, place B will be recommended and promoted before that. Thats some clever tech.

I dont think its a great stretch of the imagination, a few banks of these dotted around would be amazing.

See below for an example vid.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEurSq0LUvk[/youtube]

 

[Scott]

Future of Queline Displays?

Even an upgrade to some flat screen TVs or larger information boards with an LED time for each attraction would be better than the poorly scrolling boards that exist now.

I also think that ride entrances need to have clearer times. Th13teen, Ice Age and Sub Terra all use the new green LED signs which are clear and fantastic! The old scrolling signs on Nemmy, Blivvy and Air need to be updated to this and Rita needs to have *something* to show!

 

[DiogoJ42]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

They need the Phantasialand system.

 

[BigAl]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

They need the Phantasialand system.

Seconded!

But, again, this is an investment that Merlin would have to make and not expect a return. Merlin don't do generally that. At all. :/

 

[Ollie]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

Why the gap in the middle on the screens above? I personally prefer PortAventura's new system for 2012. They have displays like the above, but with just one screen with waits for major rides only. They are located at ride entrances and other points around the park.

 

[Alastair]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

All they need is change the current system so that the queue times are more regular and aren't interspersed with "today's ride close" messages which cause you to have to stand there for a minute waiting to see what ride you want. There isn't a need for LCD's - they are smaller which means they couldn't be viewed from distance and you'd need a lot of them to cover the park. The big boards are far more effective is operated properly all of the time.

 

[Rick]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

They need the Phantasialand system.

Seconded!

But, again, this is an investment that Merlin would have to make and not expect a return. Merlin don't do generally that. At all. :/

I really hope they don't adopt this system. It's so poorly thought out. On a busy day you can't get anywhere near it, you end up queueing to get to the queue board to find out how long the ride queue is - it makes no sense at all.

Yet with the LED signs at Alton (which I grant are more functional than they are pretty) - I can read them a mile off and they can be read by any number of people walking withing 50ft of them without the need for going anywhere near them.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

How about if they used a couple of 100" plasmas then? Best of both worlds.

 

[Nick]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

How about if they used a couple of 100" plasmas then? Best of both worlds.

Forget AT, how about they just put them in my house.

 

[DaveW]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

The plasma screen idea certainly seems like the way forward here, the LED displays at the moment are pretty useless. how many times have you all been waiting for the ride you wanted to pop up after waiting through about 4 screens!

 

[tothetowers]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

I love the idea of using plasma screens in stead of LED boards, but I cant help but think that they'll just fill them full of advertising as well :

 

[DiogoJ42]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

Ah good point. Merlin would have three pages of adverts for every one of queue times.

 

[Adam]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

One minor thing that needs sorting out is the queuetime board for Rita, last time I saw it actually displaying the queue time I'd just ridden Corkscrew. ;D

 

[Poisson]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

The current system would do if there were enough boards around the park.

 

[mark9]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

Long shot but I'd love for Alton Towers to get something which PortAventura has

Located at each major ride entrance and says when a ride is closed for maintenance or if a ride is scheduled to open late. Because at the moment, as much as I like Squirrel Nutty, it's not the kind of ride I want to know the queue time of.

 

[Adam]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

^

4 Hour queue for Stampida? ???

 

[John]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

It's not very clear, but that's a 1 not a 4, compare it with the 45 min queue for Baco and the 15 min Q for El Diablo.

My main issue with the ones at towers is how long it takes to get any useful info from them. The system at Thorpe and Chessington is better as you get more rides to a page and there's a separate scrolling banner for other information.

A cheaper option would be to improve the effectiveness of the current system. Combine the ride close and last monorail into a single message, freeing up a page. Don't put Air and (the other one, possibly NST) on every page. I think there are 12 rides on the system, at the moment they're spread over 5 pages, but you could easily fit them onto 3.

 

[Rollercoasters4Life]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

Long shot but I'd love for Alton Towers to get something which PortAventura has

Located at each major ride entrance and says when a ride is closed for maintenance or if a ride is scheduled to open late. Because at the moment, as much as I like Squirrel Nutty, it's not the kind of ride I want to know the queue time of.

These are what I would like to see at the Towers. They are simple and are spread out through out the park and at ride entrances. The only problem is from angles you cannot tell the exact times on the board as the LED's from certain angles look lit up. If you stand near to it you can easily see though - Maybe have a different colour LED would help like the current green ones used on Th13teen.

 

[mikeroller]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

Plasma/LCD displays should not be used for this type of feature. If you ever look into HCI you've got to develop inline with your customer and physical constraints of the system. The physical constraint of this system is most definitely sunlight and even the most covered screen can be hard to read. LEDs might not look modern or "cool" but they work and are still used regularly for devices that are used outdoors due to the high contrast available.

Phantasialands system might look the part but the small font and hard to read screen isn't helping anyone.

 

[Alastair]

Re: Future of Queline Displays?

Plasma/LCD displays should not be used for this type of feature. If you ever look into HCI you've got to develop inline with your customer and physical constraints of the system. The physical constraint of this system is most definitely sunlight and even the most covered screen can be hard to read. LEDs might not look modern or "cool" but they work and are still used regularly for devices that are used outdoors due to the high contrast available.

Phantasialands system might look the part but the small font and hard to read screen isn't helping anyone.

Plasma's are too small as well, I would imagine they would lead to overcrowding near the queue boards which would defeat the object.