The problem is that companies don't want to be seen to be profiteering from the crisis, otherwise people might boycott them when things get back to normal.
From a public relations point of view, companies need to be tactful. They will need to encourage and reassure people who want to come but set realistic expectations about what to expect. In return people want their loyalty to be appreciated and not feel like the crisis is being used as an excuse to rip them off.
But Alton Towers do like to profit from unexpected situations. I can specifically remember a case of Spinball Whizzer doing "down" and it was clear it was not going to be a quick reset. They delayed evacuating the queueline until the Refresh@Spinball catering unit had been opened up earlier than planned as it "was a good money making opportunity". (The exact words of the Director of Park Operations on the radio).
Thrill seekers may never have to queue for white- knuckle rides again as theme parks draw up plans for a safe reopening. Technology firm Accesso – whose clients include Thorpe Park and Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments – is working on the roll-out of a system that will let customers book timeslots on rides via their mobile phones.
Theme parks could axe queues amid plans to let customers book timeslots to meet Covid-19 safety standards
Good luck with trying to book a queue time slot, I hope that you all will have better luck than trying to book a home shopping groceries delivery slot
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...dards/ar-BB13QLaV?li=BBoPRmx&ocid=mailsignout
The parks all have parkwide WiFi (though granted, where it’s the Cloud as opposed to Merlin’s own it’s somewhat sketchy...), and do many people really go without their phones? Many at all?Might be a silly question but if you can’t just join and queue and you have to prebook a slot on your phone. What happens to all those that turn up to the park who don’t have mobiles or those who can’t get signal?.
And the first estop and it all goes tits up. People turn up and wait for the ride to open them more turn up and more and more and more
Yeah we know how it’s going to fail
The parks all have parkwide WiFi (though granted, where it’s the Cloud as opposed to Merlin’s own it’s somewhat sketchy...), and do many people really go without their phones? Many at all?
I know Legoland can lend phones to people that need them, as their RAP is already run on this system.
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No phone me.The parks all have parkwide WiFi (though granted, where it’s the Cloud as opposed to Merlin’s own it’s somewhat sketchy...), and do many people really go without their phones? Many at all?
I know Legoland can lend phones to people that need them, as their RAP is already run on this system.
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FWIW Disney were already using a "smart" version of virtual queuing on Rise of the Resistance, partially because of how often the ride breaks down. It would be interesting to see if/how it could be rolled out to be park-wide. Presumably there'd be a list of rides in the app with approximate return times for each, once you make a reservation you're placed in the queue and get sent a notification when it's nearly time to return. There'd be a nominal physical queue to keep things running smoothly. No need for any extra provisions for RAP (but use the accessible entrance if necessary). If they wanted to annoy me personally they could allocate some % of capacity to fastrack which would allow earlier access to the physical queue (return times for everyone else would already take this into account if so). Simple..?