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General Queue Times Discussion

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Out of interest, is it known what Galactica's theoretical load/unload time per train is, and can that simply be divided by 2 when the ride is running on 2 stations? (am I right to assume the number of trains being dispatched in a given time period effectively doubles when the ride is running 2 stations?)

I was only curious because from looking through RCDB, I've noticed that Galactica has the exact same listed theoretical (1,500pph) as many other flying coasters abroad with very different layouts, and even some with different numbers of riders per train (for instance, Manta at SeaWorld Orlando is also pegged at 1,500pph, but that has 32 riders per train as opposed to Galactica's 28 riders per train). Is 1,500pph just a baseline throughput for B&M flyers with dual stations?
 
The official figures are based on circuit time between blocks, dispatch time, dwell time and most importantly, guesswork. Actual figures are far more useful, like @John posted rather than me having to use guesswork.

Let's take an extreme example. Olympia Looping had 3 station hosts on 5 car trains with 3 on circuit on my visit to WW. Compare this to 5 hosts with 4 trains of 5 cars on my ride at Düsseldorf or even 7 hosts on 5 trains with 7 cars at Munich I believe it has. Your fixed numbers vary and more hosts reduce dwell time as restraints etc are lowered quicker and checked and the pressure is on.

Obviously when new, a manufacturer has to make assumptions. 1500 is a lot but parks will accept it depends on how they operate it and is a perfectly fine guesstimate to apply if possible.

Other factors are involved with dwell such as FT and Disabled guests. Look at the mess that The Smiler is for disabled guests and poor flow of guests, meanwhile Wicker Man is the best set up, with FT premerged, a bag room and disabled put in the station so they can be batched sensibly without having to wait or guess on numbers or having a row locked out of use all day or like 13 and Nemesis, put in the wrong side of the station.
 
The last couple of weeks they have really struggled to get rides open on time in the morning.

It seems to vary, but today for example Thirteen, Smiler, Duel and Get Set Go have all failed to open at 10am. The Rapids very rarely gets opened on time at 11am either.

I imagine the staffing issues are impacting tech services which is leading to not enough people to get rides ready on time?
 
AT86 said:
The last couple of weeks they have really struggled to get rides open on time in the morning.

It seems to vary, but today for example Thirteen, Smiler, Duel and Get Set Go have all failed to open at 10am. The Rapids very rarely gets opened on time at 11am either.

I imagine the staffing issues are impacting tech services which is leading to not enough people to get rides ready on time?
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For an attraction the size of Alton Towers, probably the most popular attraction in the uk, that's simply not acceptable. No other parks seem to be having the issue on the same scale. Galactica and oblivion running on 1 station just isn't right or fair on customers. If a ride is really popular then it is what it is you'll have to wait for a while, but waits being much longer simply because of staffing cuts doesn't justify value for money to me
 
Ethan said:
For an attraction the size of Alton Towers, probably the most popular attraction in the uk, that's simply not acceptable. No other parks seem to be having the issue on the same scale. Galactica and oblivion running on 1 station just isn't right or fair on customers. If a ride is really popular then it is what it is you'll have to wait for a while, but waits being much longer simply because of staffing cuts doesn't justify value for money to me
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This most definitely is not to do with staffing cuts. It is because of staff testing positive and having to isolate for 10 days, then likely a large portion of the same ride team isolating for 10 days due to close contact. The majority of employees at Towers are young and likely not fully vaccinated, unfortunately meaning they are most susceptible to catching the virus. 1 positive case can cause a massive issue with running rides at full capacity due to staff shortages, 2 cases and we may be at the point of rides having to close. With how rampant the virus is currently it's lucky we're not already at the latter stage yet...

EDIT: Also when you say no other parks seem to be having the same issue, have you not seen the news about Diggerland in Devon? It's been that badly effected by staff isolating and having to close rides etc that the park is closing down, permanently :(
 
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In just one town, 2 local secondary schools went back today, kids primary school going back tomorrow, my eldest secondary going back Thursday.
 
Jaybomuso said:
1st September and the Smiler is on 110 minutes queue time. Why aren't all the kids back in school?!
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I wouldn’t go with the expectation of an empty park. There’s a reason why Merlin now put on events in September - it’s because they know that if The Smiler and Wickerman are on 5 minute queues, it will inevitably mean they run at a fairly substantial loss that day.
Don’t get me wrong - those empty mid September days were glorious but they just don’t exist any more. I went in mid June, in term time and whilst the vast majority of universities hadn’t broken up yet and we still queued 45 minutes for Wickerman and I had to fast track a couple of rides to make sure I got on what I wanted, and even then I didn’t get chance to ride Galactica, Hex or Rita. Most uni term times don’t start until right at the end of September either, some don’t start until October. and we all know that uni students would love the thought of Oktoberfest!

It won’t be rammed, but just don’t visit with the expectation to walk on all the rides because you’ll just leave disappointed
 
Yeah I think the expectation of walk on queues need to be dropped, especially on a 10-7, you might get some early in the morning, the rides could be anywhere from 20-60 minutes, it won't be rammed by all means, but I'm fully expecting to wait a mixture of 20-45 minutes based on how I time my rides on September 24th.
 
Danscott22 said:
Yeah I think the expectation of walk on queues need to be dropped, especially on a 10-7, you might get some early in the morning, the rides could be anywhere from 20-60 minutes, it won't be rammed by all means, but I'm fully expecting to wait a mixture of 20-45 minutes based on how I time my rides on September 24th.
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That seems sensible. Get to The Smiler no later than 0930 to make sure you’re one of the first to ride, then go straight to The Dark Forest by 1030 to ride Rita and Thirteen which get notoriously long queues!
 
Early September has always been busy at Alton Towers. People assume they're missing the bulk of the summer crowds, but in fact, everyone there has the same idea. It's the same principle as the Tuesdays following a Bank Holiday always being double the crowds as the Monday.
 
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