Posted August 19, 201312 yr comment_165795 http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/19-08-2013/Reserve-And-Ride-Trials Well who liked queuing anyway? Massively excited about this.. It has huge potential. Fantastic to see Thorpe once again working ages to improve guest existence.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165797 Woop! Thorpe park are finally becoming like Disneyland! A well themed park who care about their customers
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165800 I think this system will be great if they use it correctly and if guests actually turn up on time for their session. Obviously it does have its possible flaws that would arise if Thorpe didn't run it correctly such as over-booking but the way I see this is like a free version of fastrack because you aren't stuck in a physical queue and you can enjoy your extra time like a fastracker would. This also reminds me of the Q-bot system they use at Blackpool Pleasure Beach where you book your time and wait virtually but Thorpe's version is free that's the only difference. I hope this trial goes well and they expand it to all the rollercoasters and maybe the rides as well in the future.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165801 Sounds good!!!! A bit like Q bot at Legoland. Cant see it helping those in the general queue or fast track sales but for those that use it it should be great
August 19, 201312 yr Author comment_165802 Sounds good!!!! A bit like Q bot at Legoland. Cant see it helping those in the general queue or fast track sales but for those that use it it should be great There is no general queue this is what makes it quite different to queue bot
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165804 Does that mean the whole big queueline is not in use? What a waste of money
August 19, 201312 yr Author comment_165805 Think of all the space this could free up of unnneeded queue lines..
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165806 This sounds very interesting in terms that it would work that you can book a time slot to ride. I do see this as kill or cure though. Kill, if the system is over booked or mutates in to a fastrack variation, Cure if this eliminates most queues. It has quite some potential this. I hope people without smart phones can do the same too.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165813 Fair play Thorpe, I wasn't expecting this at all. Hopefully it becomes a permanent feature if run properly (and stays free). Think of all the space this could free up of unnneeded queue lines.. Double edged sword. Pathways would get much more congested.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165824 Woo Hoo this mean no Fasttrack I'm pretty sure fastrack will still be here, you just will go straight on the ride
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165836 Its interesting. If people had common sense and went there, they'd queue up digitally on all the rides, then wait until the busiest time of day and do them all queue free. It would be interesting to see if that worked (are you allowed to save your ticket along time after its gone to your time?) and if they'd keep it free.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165837 Its interesting. If people had common sense and went there, they'd queue up digitally on all the rides, then wait until the busiest time of day and do them all queue free. It would be interesting to see if that worked (are you allowed to save your ticket along time after its gone to your time?) and if they'd keep it free. I think you will have to get to the ride within 5 mins or something or you lose your time slot. As for it keeping free, I could see it turning into queue bot like legoland where you have to pay £10 or something to use it. Would be nice if they kept it free
August 19, 201312 yr Author comment_165842 I think it will stay free, I can see a paid version in the future which will give you faster access potentially replacing fastrack. Quite exciting the potential to become a queue free park!
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165844 I think you will have to get to the ride within 5 mins or something or you lose your time slot. Yes, I think that would be fairly logical. Haha, Queue bots are alot more then that, and to be totally honest, I find them fairly useless. I think it will stay free, I can see a paid version in the future which will give you faster access potentially replacing fastrack. Quite exciting the potential to become a queue free park! The only thing I see that could go wrong is getting stuck in a geniune queue, and then your slot runs out digitally. I have found in the past (visiting DLP) that queuing through paper takes the thrill away from the rides. There's lesser build up, and less of a moment before hand, where you start getting nervous and excited.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165845 Hmmmm yes, I see what you mean. There would be no waiting in the barbed wire on saw the ride etc. It seems to kinda take away the atmosphere.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165848 Okay, just so I get what this actually means... So, they get rid of the general queue and the Fastrack queue. Instead, you sign up for a time slot (I assume it'll be a 20 or 30 minute one?) and then just go along then and ride (and presumably there's a chance you experience a small queue)? This means there no 'queue' whatsoever. Seems all well and good in theory. However, in practice, I'm not so sure. Say you 'book' your ticket for 1pm, and then you're stuck in a queue for another ride at that time (due to the queue board being wrong / a breakdown / whatever). Then what? Surely there's potential for Swarm to become 'fully booked' if you will. If that happens, it would seem strange to say 'Sorry, you can't ride Swarm today as it's fully booked', especially after entering the park. I don't quite know what the queueing systems are like at DLP, so is this in any way similar to that? Then what happens if you spread this park-wide? Would you have to turn your day out at a theme park into a timetable, saying you're going to do 'Ride 1 between 10am and 10:30am', 'Ride 2 between 10:30am and 11am', etc.? Also, whilst your day may become queue free, what are you going to do whilst waiting for your time slot to come about? Not really a lot you can do. Obviously a lot of thought has gone into this, and the fact that they're trialling on the new and shiny Swarm means they must have faith in it. However, I remain a tad sceptical and pessimistic for the time being, and personally don't think it could be spread park-wide (though may work on just having it for 1 or 2 rides). Only time will tell I guess...
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165849 Fastrack still remains I can see them having the option to use reserve N ride, fastrack or a main queue meaning you can queue for rides while being on reserve n ride. Isn't this what they have at Disneyland?
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165851 Fastrack still remains But what's the point in Fastrack now? Why would you PAY TO QUEUE for a ride when you can freely book a ticket, join a virtual queue and do other rides, then go back to the ride at a set time and get on with, apparently, no queue whatsoever? Colour me confused now.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165854 Hmm, it will be interesting to watch this; loads more people in between rides and at others, instead of standing in the SWARM queue. Will this be another queue line at SWARM? I'll watch the "virtual space"!
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165855 it would mean fast track would become less effective... but I'm guessing with how many reserve and ride virtual tickets have been registered they have an idea of how long the queue will be and you will have to wait that length before your ticket to ride is allocated for? but in theory it may allow you to get on more rides in the day due to not spending that time queueing...
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165857 I wonder if people will actually bother using this system if Thorpe kept the main queuing system. I mean most people probably wont even take notice of the reserve and ride system and just go for the normal main queue system if they kept the main queue system that we use now. But if they did banish the normal main queue system imagine all of that space that would become available for development.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165860 Okay, just so I get what this actually means... So, they get rid of the general queue and the Fastrack queue. Instead, you sign up for a time slot (I assume it'll be a 20 or 30 minute one?) and then just go along then and ride (and presumably there's a chance you experience a small queue)? This means there no 'queue' whatsoever. Seems all well and good in theory. However, in practice, I'm not so sure. Say you 'book' your ticket for 1pm, and then you're stuck in a queue for another ride at that time (due to the queue board being wrong / a breakdown / whatever). Then what? Surely there's potential for Swarm to become 'fully booked' if you will. If that happens, it would seem strange to say 'Sorry, you can't ride Swarm today as it's fully booked', especially after entering the park. I don't quite know what the queueing systems are like at DLP, so is this in any way similar to that? Then what happens if you spread this park-wide? Would you have to turn your day out at a theme park into a timetable, saying you're going to do 'Ride 1 between 10am and 10:30am', 'Ride 2 between 10:30am and 11am', etc.? Also, whilst your day may become queue free, what are you going to do whilst waiting for your time slot to come about? Not really a lot you can do. Obviously a lot of thought has gone into this, and the fact that they're trialling on the new and shiny Swarm means they must have faith in it. However, I remain a tad sceptical and pessimistic for the time being, and personally don't think it could be spread park-wide (though may work on just having it for 1 or 2 rides). Only time will tell I guess... 1. Disney rides with Fastpass have 2 queues, Standby (normal) and Fastpass. Machines outside rides give out return time tickets. While the American parks will not let you in if you are really late (probably due to Fastpass+ coming in but also because people saved them for peak times. This is a pretty new rule.), DLP staff really do not seem to care despite the tickets having rather strict rules printed on them. I've used Thunder Mountain Fastpasses which expired 8 hours previously. 2. Day into timetable: yes this is one of the problems facing Fastpass+, more so because you can book ride slots months in advance. Breakdowns can also be a big problem with this system, hence the trialling on one ride. It's a pretty good choice of ride though since it's out of the way and forces guest movement across the park.
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