Wholesale virtual queueing; what are your thoughts?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Queues are a fact of life at theme parks; the attractions only have a finite throughput, and demand can often outstrip supply at a given moment. Therefore, queues formed on a first-come-first-served basis are a necessity to ensure order within theme parks and to ensure that everyone is treated fairly when trying to experience an attraction.

 

One increasing school of thought within the theme park industry is to incorporate virtual queueing instead of a physical queue, where guests can go off and do other things, such as eating, drinking, shopping and watching shows, whilst “queueing” for an attraction. Many theme parks have incorporated this principle into queue jumping options like Fastrack/FastPass/FastLane, as well as into disabled accessible alternative queueing methods such as the Ride Access Pass.

 

A smaller number of theme parks and attractions, however, have gone past this, and attempted to go completely queue-less, embracing wholesale virtual queueing as the norm. This idea gained considerable traction in a number of parks following the COVID-19 pandemic, and even before COVID, the idea of queue-less theme parks and attractions did start to enter the conversation. With us living in a digital age, virtual queueing is arguably easier to facilitate than ever, and it could be argued as a way to make queueing more accessible and fairer. With this in mind, I’d be keen to know; what are your thoughts on wholesale virtual queueing for all, and the idea of the “queue-less” theme park? Do you think that universal virtual queueing is the long-term solution to parks’ queueing woes, and the future of theme parks? Or do you think that it’s a passing trend, and merely a short-term fix rather than a true long-term solution?

 

Personally, I’m a little bit torn, but I am somewhat sceptical about the prospect of a queue-less theme park.

 

On the one hand, I can definitely see the benefits of going queue-less all round. If implemented well, a queue-less theme park could drive up guest feedback by making waits seem shorter than they actually are; psychologists have proven that people perceive waits to be shorter and are happier when they are occupied, which a virtual queue is certainly better suited to facilitate than a physical queue. It could also drive up spend per capita by encouraging guests to spend in food outlets and shops during their virtual wait rather than forcing them into physical queues where they can’t spend any money. Furthermore, it would make queueing more accessible and fairer; if nobody queues physically, then that negates the need for alternative queueing provisions such as Ride Access Pass, which is a win-win because disabled guests don’t have to apply for anything and the park don’t have to spend administrative costs implementing it. Wholesale virtual queueing would solve the perceived RAP implementation issues that some parks are currently facing because if no one queues physically, then RAP isn’t really needed in the first place.

 

On the other hand, however, I have my doubts about the viability of an entirely queue-less theme park as a long-term solution. This is due to various real-world attempts at going entirely queue-less. From what I can gather about past attempts at wholesale virtual queueing for all, the concept of the “queue-less” theme park and universal virtual queueing is an idea that sounds terrific on paper, but doesn’t really work in practice, particularly in theme parks not originally designed for virtual queueing. For example, Thorpe Park’s brief experiment with Reserve’n’Ride a few years back did not go particularly well, from what I gather, and was very quickly reversed. I’ve also heard that Walibi Holland’s attempt at a queue-less theme park during the height of COVID was not very well received. On an individual attraction level, Disney’s “boarding pass” virtual queuing system, used on its recent new attractions such as Rise of the Resistance, has generated considerable controversy. Even Universal’s Volcano Bay, a water park designed with universal virtual queueing in mind, has had considerable teething problems with the implementation of a “queue-less” park, from what I can tell.

 

Overall, I don’t deny that virtual queueing has its merits as an idea, and in fairness, I’m sure that it could work if a park was properly designed with it in mind and some radical ideas to spread crowds were implemented. However, I am overall sceptical about it as a long term solution simply because if you’re going to take people out of queues, you need to find somewhere else to put them. That is easier said than done, particularly in theme parks not designed with wholesale virtual queueing in mind.

 

But what are your thoughts on wholesale virtual queueing for all, and the concept of the queue-less theme park? I’d be really keen to know your thoughts!

[Mark9]

Lovely idea in theory, but will never work completely in a theme park environment. No theme park has enough space to have over 10,000 guests roaming and never having to wait for an attraction. 

 

Genie+ and Lightening Lane at the American Disney parks is a compete disaster IMO. It's turned the parks into rich peoples playgrounds and even they have awful times with the system and it is is near impossible to wait less then half an hour for even the smallest rides. 

 

Europa Park which still runs it on some of the bigger rides, and is a park that could maybe do it, still has a stand by line. 

 

Virtual Queuing falls apart whenever there's even a slight issue. Ride breakdowns, reduced capacity, guest action. 

 

The real issue is theme park guests turn their brains off when they get beyond the front gate. The more barriers put in the way, the harder the day becomes. It becomes a system where those in the know such as AP holders are the ones that get the real benefits but the average guest will never really feel like it works.

 

The closest I can relate this too is the RAP queue for disabled guests. In theory, that could be a wonderful system and really benefit the guests who are unable to wait. But that is completely open to abuse. People hate to hear this but it's the AP holders, the ones who know how to get around the system that are making that whole thing a nightmare for everyone to use.