Coasting to the Front of the Lines
Thursday July 10, 2008
Quick, what's the most frustrating thing about a day at the theme park? If you said, "the @#$%?*& lines," you're not alone. (And, if you said, "the @#$%?*& lines," watch your mouth, will ya? This is a family site for crying out loud.) Parks have devised a number of ways to cut down on their interminable lines. Disney has its complimentary Fastpass program, which issues time tickets to gusts. Most parks, however, charge an additional fee to bypass lines. Add Busch Gardens Williamsburg to the pay-your-way-to-the-front club. For an additional $24.95 above the price of general admission, guests can take advantage of the park's new Quick Queue option. The low-tech program provides one-time-use tickets to quickly board Busch Garden's most popular rides, including Griffon, Alpengiest, Apollo’s Chariot, and Curse of DarKastle. I'm conflicted about line-avoidance schemes such as Quick Queue. Sure, it's great to skip long lines. But, it sets up a two-tiered have and have-not system whereby those who can afford the extra freight literally walk past those waiting in interminable lines. Walt Disney's original conception of Disneyland was that every guest would be treated like a V.I.P. At many of today's parks, it takes V.I.P. bucks to get V.I.P. treatment. What do you think about extra-cost line-skipping programs like Quick Queue? Would you use them? Do you think they are unfair? Weigh in by clicking on the "Comments" link below.
Comments
I far prefer walking to standing, but Disney is well-engineered to keep the lines moving and entertain you in line. I still prefer the tactic of entering first thing when the gates open, zooming to your top pick for a ride (or one that gets a huge line later) and taking that in before the rest of the crowds arrive. I had a great time at California Adventure at Disneyland 2 years ago in coordination with the Disneyland Half Marathon. Getting in early, I was able to ride Tower of Terror multiple times with nary a line, and the water ride too.
Your strategy of arriving early (or late) might work well for one or two rides. But if you want to ride a bunch of the most popular rides at a park, lines will be inevitable–unless you cough up some more $ for programs like Quick Queue that eliminate the lines.
I use a number of strategies to make my themepark time more enjoyable.
Universal often has some great prices on 5 day tickets. So, we’ll arrive early, use their version of Fast Pass (I forgot what they call it), and use the single rider lines. Then, we’ll leave the park for a comfortable (and cheaper) lunch and maybe some shopping during the hottest part of the day. Then, if we’re up to it we can return for the last part of the day.
Standing in line can be a pain, but many of the parks have additional entertainment to distract you. Just be prepared, stay hydrated and wear sun protection. I also like to have someone waiting with me to converse and pass the time with.
Also, I’ve found that some of the seasonal parks are much less crowded in the fall shortly before they close for the year.
Nick, thanks for writing. Universal Orlando ended its free Express program a few years. It now charges guests for a “Universal Express Plus Pass.” As part of their perks, guests staying on-property at one of the three Universal Orlando hotels get front-of-the-line access by showing their room keycards. Fall can be a GREAT time to visit any park–seasonal or destination: The weather is cooler, the huge crowds are mostly gone, and the lines are shorter or non-existent.
-Arthur
We always plan our theme park trips in the fall or early spring. I love to go but only during times I can avoid the heat and those long lines.
Great idea Kathy. But families with school-age children typically plan their vacations around the school calendar–hence the long lines in the summer.
-Arthur
No one loves waiting, but I have met some nice people in lines at theme parks. My family uses the time to talk about what we are enjoying about our day or to plan what we want to do next. Attitude is everything. I don’t think it is exactly fair for people to be able to pay to get to the front of the line, but that’s just how it is most places.
That may be the way it is, but it wasn’t always this way. We’ve become terribly impatient, and parks (and other companies) are only too happy to charge us for the privilege of avoiding anything that might infringe on our time. Those who can’t afford it, however, end up waiting in even longer lines. No Connie, it isn’t exactly fair, is it?
-Arthur
My strategy…go on a Tuesday morning in February. It can backfire, because some rides may be closed for maintenance, but the lack of lines is worth it.
We fell for one of those ‘pay to get to the front’ systems once. Of course, what the park attendant neglected to tell us was that visiting the park on the day after labor day meant there were no crowds to bypass.
I found it very non-customer oriented that they were still madly hawking those passes on that day, when anyone who’d been to the park before knew that they were a complete scam on that day.
Disney may be overhyped and expensive, but they CARE about their customers. I would rather visit DisneyWorld for a week than return to Universal Orlando for one day. At Universal, all I was was a wallet for them to empty.
I think the extra-cost line-skipping passes suck, although I can understand the allure. I’m not one for standing in long lines in the heat, but it really is a great place to meet interesting people, and everyone at a theme park should feel equal. We’re all there for the same purpose: thrills!
I think that Disney’s FastPass system is wonderful. My son (13) was able to go on California Screamin’ 9 times purely due to the FastPass system. I don’t agree with charging for this, however – that seems a little much to me.
Hmm. Wendy, I’m trying to figure out your son accomplished that feat. Was this 9 times in one day? Disney issues a guest only one Fastpass at a time (within a two-hour window). If your son was able to ride CS, then get another Fastpass to ride again in a short amount of time, that must mean not many people were using the Fastpass system for CS that day, and would also probably mean that the standby lines were relatively short for CS. He probably could have just got back in line rather than getting another Fastpass.
I used to love, love, LOVE the PNE every year as a kid, if only for the rides. And then the lines started to become ridiculously long, so my family stopped going. My Dad’s take was, “I don’t want to pay money just to stand in line all day.” Fair enough.
Then, as I got older, they’d open the park earlier and earlier in the year with reduced fares or even freebie nights for local community groups. I’ve attended some of those evenings with delight, but for the most part, I don’t think I’d return if the lines were as bad as they used to be – QuickPass or otherwise.
I agree with Disney really caring about their guests. We went to Disney World last year and Universal this year. Universal just doesn’t seem to really care about us and you have to pay extra for the fast pass. Disney you get your ticket time and go do other stuff at no additional charge. We have young kids who hate waiting in line so we can just go do other stuff. Six Flags Great America has a Flash Pass system that costs extra,but we felt was worth it because otherwise you can wait up to two hours to get on a popular ride. You still have to wait as long as everyone else, just not in line.
As someone who travels several times a year to parks with great roller coasters, I love the pay-for-quick ride access, Six Flags Qbots,Universal Hotel passes. If I’m paying hundreds to fly, stay in a hotel, rent a car, and eat overpriced park food, a few extra bucks to get on the top coasters more times is worth it Big Time! Join a coaster club and enjoy Exclusive Ride Time (ERT) as well. It’s all good.