I wonder if WickerMan being on three trains when it's quiet is a bit pointless? As much as I always like to see a ride running at full capacity if it's quiet enough that no real queue is forming it can cause problems, for example they always want to fill the pre-show room and now thats back in action again couldn't that mean people are sat on the brake run for a ges and that actually running two trains would make more sense.
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General Queue Times Discussion
Matt N
TS Member
It certainly didn’t need 3 trains; I did it 3 times today, and the queue never went further back than to the queue line shop!
Thats another point. WickerMans queue line shop is too far into the queue. You really barely have that much time to eat/drink whatever you've bought before you get to the station. Well that's when its operating properly anyway.
Skyscraper
TS Member
Queue line shops has always puzzled me. Contradicts the rule of not eating/letting your food go down before riding an intense ride.
Matt.GC
TS Member
I wouldn't worry about it, it'll be closed for good soon like all the others.
air_head
TS Member
At one point it was running on just 2 today. I could see the third train sat in the maintenance bay, as they’d very kindly left the fluorescent lights on for me to see it in all its glory.
Ahh I miss these September days of walk ons and re-rides. Growing up in uttoxeter was great. And then I moved to Devon
I am surprised though at how low queues are - I genuinely thought we’d be seeing higher queue times this year due to Oktoberfest and a lack of international travel. Enjoy!
I am surprised though at how low queues are - I genuinely thought we’d be seeing higher queue times this year due to Oktoberfest and a lack of international travel. Enjoy!
Tbh it’s probably so far in that its viable even on a quiet day …. Some are so far back that the queue only reaches it on peak daysQueue line shops has always puzzled me. Contradicts the rule of not eating/letting your food go down before riding an intense ride.
Yes I suppose its about finding that balance. I don't think a queue line shop would work in nemesis queue line as it moves too quick, it would just stop half the queue moving.
You're not wrong there! I rode it with a 70 minutr queue, we passed the shop after 60 minutes, so only about 10 minutes to drink and eat whatever you've brought.
Matt N
TS Member
If you’d be interested to hear, I did do some throughput timings on my trip!
Danscott22
TS Member
It's probably just a normal breakdown this time I'd assume?
In theory, the queue line shops are designed to be about 30 minutes before you board the ride. At least, that was the thought process when they retrospectively added in queue line shops years back, and what they were planning to adopt moving forward. So it might have changed by the time they designed Wicker Man's queue.
It's obviously difficult with new rides to judge where that mark will be. You can have a theoretical throughput, and perhaps even a target operational throughput, in mind when you're designing the queue, but you won't know what it will actually achieve consistently until weeks after the ride has opened.
Then take into account you have to design a suitable queue line, then location for the shop (and any possible constraints) and access for staff to the shop, and it becomes tricky.
Matt N
TS Member
I’d imagine the fact that Wicker Man exceeds its theoretical throughput by a good 50-100pph on a regular basis (theoretical is 952pph, but it often attains closer to 1,000pph, pushing towards 1,050pph on a good day) might have played havoc with any calculation like that!
Yes I suppose not knowing what the ride is meant to achieve must have played a part.
On the subject of queue line shops do you think we could see some of them return? Particularly the thirteen queue line shop which I used to think was well placed about 15-20 minutes before you entered the indoor queue. I was just thinking as Alton Towers attendance figures, in theory, should continue to grow and hopefully eventually reach previous numbers that it would make sense for the shops to return along with other closed things like some of the food outlets.
On the subject of queue line shops do you think we could see some of them return? Particularly the thirteen queue line shop which I used to think was well placed about 15-20 minutes before you entered the indoor queue. I was just thinking as Alton Towers attendance figures, in theory, should continue to grow and hopefully eventually reach previous numbers that it would make sense for the shops to return along with other closed things like some of the food outlets.
Already open again. It was obviously just a minor technical fault this time.
At the rate the queue was moving today that is probably about right. Wicker man on 2 trains gets a no from me
Matt N
TS Member
For some idea, it took me about 20 minutes to reach the pre-show batching area from the queue shop on 2 trains yesterday, and about 25 to get onto the ride.