August 19, 201312 yr comment_165872 Me and Mum were there today, and after a while they just opened the queue normally as the wifi went down, due to everyone going on there near enough the same time, plus we saw trains going round half empty as they were'nt letting the people on to fill them. Personally I don't think it will work, but I suppose time will tell.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165874 With any system like this- you need to spend some time. I wouldn't be surprised if they did more test weeks later this season, or next.
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165895 Seems like a great idea. Risky as hell, but a very good idea. The whole concept of this is going to take a lot of getting used to, especially for first-timers. I wonder what will happen to the queue lines if some of the rides ever go queue-less? I imagine the rides on this system will have a queue of about 10 minutes at the station to make sure there's maximum throughput?? I can't help but think this wouldn't be necessary if they had just run their queues correctly in the first place though...
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165900 I heard about something similar in six flags in America but you had to pay for it though
August 19, 201312 yr comment_165905 I heard about something similar in six flags in America but you had to pay for it though Flash pass?
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165965 If they install this on every ride I can't see it working. The fact that you can only reserve one ride at a time means that if up you want to do rides in between your reservation, you can't. I think they would still need to keep the main queue but then have the options of reserve n ride and fastrack. That way, if you are on a reservation, you can ride something else inbetween that reservation. Also, on an off-peak day when the rides are walk on, it will be pointless reserving and you might aswell just go in the general queue. I think thorpe need to consider these as otherwise the system won't work at all. If they had three ways to get on the ride(like Disneyland!?) then I think that would work well however thorpe seem to be going for the worlds first theme park with a 'no queue garuntee'. I'm not sure how this will work out?
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165967 You can, it just depends on queue lengths and how long until your digital slot is ready. Otherwise, I completely agree. Sure, if the theme park attracts mass crowds on a daily basis, who have a little money, and the park isnt particularly full of attractions, this would be fine. However thorpe has (I believe, may be wrong) 30+ attractions.This means that, unless the day is full to near its full capacity, there will always be one ride with short queues. I'm not sure if it will work. Maybe it could be temporary, and they only have it on particularly busy days.
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165969 Making the Swarm queue more confusing then... Paper tickets, wifi, what happened to just basic queues? Already sounding like it's going wrong as well... I can see what they're trying to do, but it just doesn't seem needed and really open for it going tits up regularly...
August 20, 201312 yr Author comment_165970 Your right its not "needed" they are just trying to further improve guest experience. I think the biggest problem with it will be getting guests to understand it, its a simple concept but I can see some people not quite getting it.
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165971 I've been thinking about this quite a bit, and I'm getting less confident that they will get it to work... I'm thrilled they've realised queues are an issue, but I can't see this being the way forward. A few issues I can see... If people can't 'wait' in a queueline any more, where exactly are people expected to wait? In the restaurants and around the paths? These are too overcrowded as they are on busy days! They will be condensing the crowds in to a very small area where there isn't a lot of space left for extra people. What happens if there are too few people ready and waiting to ride? Do trains go around with empty seats? Guests are going to have to be very organised to make the most out of their day... They can't just wander around and say "ooh, lets go on that one now!" People aren't going to stick to their ride times... It's just not going to happen. This will result in queues forming at certain times, and few people at other times. What happens in the event of a breakdown? Does everyone just turn up to the ride and wait at the entrance?? (dare I say, in a queue?!) This system would be PERFECT if it was a free replacement of Fastrack (same as Disney, and Merlin's old system), but I think removing the queue entirely is far too risky... The park is not designed to handle this at all. People expect to queue at a theme park. Queueing is not the problem here - overselling of Fastrack is! If the queues were good in the first place, then this new system wouldn't be needed. Sorry to be pessimistic, but that's my opinion. Thorpe might prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165972 Fantastic to see Thorpe once again working ages to improve guest existence. Always nice to see guests existing. This is actually hilarious, actually hilarious. This essentially works the same as Virtual Q.. a system they abolished because it doesn't work. It might work on paper, but in real life it's a complete logistical nightmare. This trial will remain exactly as it is, a trial which won't go beyond this. Why? Because it makes fastrack pointless. Because it's incredibly difficult to get right and because it'll never work anywhere near as smoothly as they may think it does. Find it extremely funny people seem to think it'll work, and that it'll benefit guests. It'll do sod all to help people. Love how they always do this to poor swarm, all the effort to make that queueline experience different to other rides always gets blasted by the park.
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165973 Your right its not "needed" they are just trying to further improve guest experience. I think the biggest problem with it will be getting guests to understand it, its a simple concept but I can see some people not quite getting it. Know what else is a simple concept? Standing one behind the other in a physical line waiting for your turn... So I turn up for opening, I want to go straight to Swarm but don't know about this system... I go to the entrance but get turned away because I don't have a slot... Assuming I lack a Cloud account or WiFi access, I now have to queue to get a slot, missing a chance to get a big ride out the way... Alternatively, I arrive late, what if there are no slots remaining for the rest of the day? How does restricting access to a ride like that benefit the guest? Then it goes onto every ride... Now I have to think what ride to 'queue' for so much more than just pointing to one and riding it... That sounds exciting, planning my ride list in advance to ensure maximum ride count... Sure the average guest will REALLY love that on their single trip of the year... Absolutely turd idea now that I've spent some of my trip home thinking over it...
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165982 Just checking, this won't be trialling during Summer Nights will it? I sure hope not as there are no queues anyway.
August 20, 201312 yr Author comment_165984 Know what else is a simple concept? Standing one behind the other in a physical line waiting for your turn... So I turn up for opening, I want to go straight to Swarm but don't know about this system... I go to the entrance but get turned away because I don't have a slot... Assuming I lack a Cloud account or WiFi access, I now have to queue to get a slot, missing a chance to get a big ride out the way... Alternatively, I arrive late, what if there are no slots remaining for the rest of the day? How does restricting access to a ride like that benefit the guest? Then it goes onto every ride... Now I have to think what ride to 'queue' for so much more than just pointing to one and riding it... That sounds exciting, planning my ride list in advance to ensure maximum ride count... Sure the average guest will REALLY love that on their single trip of the year... Absolutely turd idea now that I've spent some of my trip home thinking over it... Because like it or not, the majority of guests would rather not be standing in a long queue for a ride. It takes less than 5 minutes to sign up and book a slot and there are staff on hand to help so I dont really see it being an issue in that way. Its a trial for a reason, but apart from earlier in the day when the Reserve n Ride system crashed, it sounds like its working just as planned so far today.
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165986 Because like it or not, the majority of guests would rather not be standing in a long queue for a ride. It takes less than 5 minutes to sign up and book a slot and there are staff on hand to help so I dont really see it being an issue in that way. However, they'd lso like to be able to join a queue and ride a ride when they want. If they wanted to ride swarm now, they'd have to book it and wait 2.5hrs until they can ride. I bet you, if they had the option of either coming back in 2.5hrs and "not queueing" or joining a half hour queue, they'd do the latter.
August 20, 201312 yr Author comment_165990 I guess we wont really know the feedback they get but I really hope it does work, it could totally change the way people visit the parks in future.. as I said earlier its all about if guests get it. Its well and good saying queing is simple, people would rather this and that but ultimately IF thorpe can make it work it will improve how people visit the park. I'm sure when the iPhone came out people will have said what do I want a touch screen ./ apps for..
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165991 At the end of the day, Thorpe are trying something new to improve guest satisfaction. If the system fails then it fails and they may move onto other ideas. But if it works, which it seems like it has done so far (apart from one blip which is expected in a trial) then Thorpe could be onto a really great idea here. Just give them time to test the system and see if it works.
August 20, 201312 yr comment_165993 Suddenly, I like this idea. 4 people - 4 smartphones. Book Swarm 4 times. Go to plaza, say you do not have smartphones. Get paper tickets. Ride swarm 5 times in near succession. Success!
August 20, 201312 yr comment_166003 Q: How much does Reserve ‘n’ Ride cost? A: Reserve ‘n’ Ride is a free system for all guests. Does this mean that it will always be free? Add to that FREE is constantly in bold Edited August 20, 201312 yr by Dominic Franczak
August 20, 201312 yr comment_166004 I would certainly hope so, because if you have to pay per ride the whole concept of a theme park falls down. It's interesting to see on the reservenride website that you have to choose the "service level" whenever you book a slot - there's only one option (free one) available at the moment, but I imagine they will eventually offer another option at a price if you want an immediate or sooner slot. Maybe that new paid slot option would replace the current Fastrack system?? __________________ __EDIT____________ Also, just had a look on there.... Today's timeslots have apparently all sold out and you are unable to reserve... So does this mean nobody else is allowed to join the queue for the Swarm for the rest of the day? The park doesn't close for another 2 hours. Maybe they've finished the trial for today and it's back to normal?
August 20, 201312 yr comment_166008 The pros & cons if this system ever happened. Pros/ Better guarantee of going on the ride you want (e.g Swarm forwards) Less queuing for rides Plan your day out better Better than fastrack (Currently) free to guests Cons/ Could disrupt normal queue down even more if fastrack (and normal queue) still exist May congest further park areas Could be problematic when a ride breaks down Won't work on all rides (only primary (and maybe secondary) rides) May be useless on off peak days (and perhaps even salt the wound) Might make the ride less impressive to 1st timers (the build up)
August 20, 201312 yr comment_166010 It is a very risky system. WDW attempted something similar on Aerosmith and that seemed very short lived. At least if something like Fastpass is undersold the main queue can just move faster, rather than people being unable to enter the queue in the first place. A better way around this would be to keep the normal queue and somehow integrate this idea with the Fast Track queue.
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