Worldwide Operations/Throughput Timings Thread

[Matt N]

Hi guys. I don’t know about any of you, but one thing I personally like doing at theme parks is timing ride throughputs and observing the operations on rides. With this in mind, I decided to make a thread for like-minded people who are interested in throughputs and operations to share their throughput timings and operational insights from parks around the world. Whether your timings and operational insights are from Chessington, Europa Park, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Oakwood or anywhere else in the world, I’d love to hear about them and I’m sure many others would too!

 

My reason for deciding to create this thread is because I have some throughput timings and operational insights of my own to share. Currently, I’m coming towards the end of a trip to Florida, so I thought I’d share some of the throughput timings and general operational insights I was able to log at Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa.

 

For various reasons, I could not time throughputs quite as comprehensively as I would normally like on this trip; things like metal detectors and themed queues obscuring sight of the rides at Universal and queues that were often too short to get a comprehensive average at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens meant that I had to rely more on chance occasions where I was standing within eyeshot of a ride at Universal in particular and as such, the averages are often based on lower amounts of dispatches than the 10 I normally aspire towards. Nonetheless, here are some of the throughput timings and general insights I was able to gain from Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa.

 

Islands of Adventure

• Flight of the Hippogriff (Theoretical: 993pph on 2 trains) - 951pph (2 trains, 12th June 2023, average of 3) Note: I did not ride this, but I got a good vantage point from the queue line of Hagrid’s.
• Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (Theoretical: 1,700pph on 12 trains) - 1,617pph (unknown number of trains, 12th June 2023, average of 10)
• Incredible Hulk (Theoretical: 1,920pph on 3 trains) - 1,138pph (possibly only running 2 trains (as I did not stack, which I didn’t think was possible on 3), 12th June 2023, average of 4), 1,608pph (unknown number of trains, 21st June 2023, average of 3)
• VelociCoaster (Theoretical: 1,800pph on 4 trains) - 1,489pph (unknown number of trains, 17th June 2023, average of 3), 1,566pph (4 trains, 21st June 2023, average of 6)

Universal Studios Florida

• Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (Theoretical: 1,850pph on 7 trains) - 1,329pph (unknown number of trains, 13th June 2023, average of 3)

SeaWorld Orlando

• Ice Breaker (Theoretical: 650-750pph on 2 trains) - 564pph (2 trains, 16th June 2023, average of 2)
• Kraken (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains) - I did not get an exact throughput for this, but the ride was running 2 trains and stacking on the brake run was routine. According to the dispatch timer in the station, the ride’s average park time seemed to be around 3 minutes. (16th June 2023)
• Mako (Theoretical: 1,680pph on 3 trains) - 960pph (2 trains, 16th June 2023, average of 4). In terms of general insights, there was quite often a gap in the station between trains and the dispatch timer showed the train being parked for as little as 60 seconds on some occasions.
• Manta (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains/2 stations) - I did not get an exact throughput for this, but the ride was running 2 trains and 1 station, and stacking seemed fairly common. (16th June 2023)
• Pipeline The Surf Coaster (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 474pph (2 trains, 16th June 2023, average of 7)

Busch Gardens Tampa

• Cobra’s Curse (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 trains) - 527pph (unknown number of trains, 22nd June 2023, average of 2)
• Iron Gwazi (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 493pph (2 trains, 22nd June 2023, average of 5). In terms of general insights, stacking was routine and park times in the station averaged around 2.5 minutes according to the station dispatch timer, sometimes going as high as 3 minutes.
• Kumba (Theoretical: 1,700pph on 3 trains) - I did not get a reading for this, but the ride was seemingly only running 1 train. (22nd June 2023)
• Sand Serpent (Theoretical: 1,120pph on 10 cars) - 331pph (4 cars, 22nd June 2023, average of 4)
• Scorpion (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 357pph (1 train, 22nd June 2023, average of 2)

I hope you find this interesting; I know I certainly found this data interesting to gather! If I’m able to do any notable readings at Universal tomorrow, I’ll report back, but as my Florida trip is mostly over, I thought I’d report my current findings.

 

If you have any throughput timings and/or general operational insights from a recent park visit that you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about them in this thread!

[Matt N]

I’m back! This time, I have readings from my first ever visit to Flamingo Land, and this is one that I was quite interested to time the throughputs of, seeing as it reputedly has throughputs and operations on the other end of the spectrum compared to somewhere like Europa Park or Universal Orlando. I was led to believe that if Europa has famous operations, Flamingo Land has infamous operations.

 

Here are the readings I managed to gain today:

• Hero (Theoretical: 600pph with 6/7 cars) - 167pph (2 cars, 7th August 2023, average of 10)
• Kumali (Theoretical: 1,125pph with 2 trains) - 214pph (1 train, 7th August 2023, average of 2)
• Mumbo Jumbo (Theoretical: 480pph with 5 cars) - 171pph (3 cars, 7th August 2023, average of 6)
• Sik (Theoretical: 1,250pph with 2 trains) - 373pph (1 train, 7th August 2023, average of 4)
• Velocity (Theoretical: 518pph with 1 train) - 252pph (1 train, 7th August 2023, average of 4)

These are some of the slowest operations I have ever personally witnessed, but in fairness, I managed 9 rides, and the longest queue all day was 40 minutes, so I can’t really complain too much.

 

The operations didn’t seem overly disproportionate to the crowd levels at the park, for the most part; they could have been faster, for sure, but a park of Flamingo Land’s calibre is never going to be hammering trains out at light speed and getting 1,800pph on every ride, and I honestly don’t think they really need to be given their visitor numbers.

 

One thing I did notice, though, is that the people batching the rides were the same ones who checked the restraints and dispatched the rides. I don’t know if this is par for the course at Flamingo Land, but the number of staff operating each ride seemed low compared to most other theme parks I’ve been to. Maybe the operations would be faster if the rides had more staff?

[Benin]

Mingo also has a more recent issue of removing seats off of things like Flip Flop and Pterodactyl, further reducing throughputs.

 

Guess the caravan park been a bit quiet with the poor weather. But those throughputs are god awful no matter what way its spun as "only" 40 minutes. Would've been far less and a far higher ride count if things were run even slightly better, but sounds like maintenance wise there's a lot of issues with stuff breaking down often.

[Matt N]

26 minutes ago, Benin said:

Mingo also has a more recent issue of removing seats off of things like Flip Flop and Pterodactyl, further reducing throughputs.

 

Guess the caravan park been a bit quiet with the poor weather. But those throughputs are god awful no matter what way its spun as "only" 40 minutes. Would've been far less and a far higher ride count if things were run even slightly better, but sounds like maintenance wise there's a lot of issues with stuff breaking down often.

That’s a good point that I forgot to pick up on. I noticed that Pterodactyl appeared to be missing arms, and I’m guessing that’s why Flip Flop looked more like one of the KMG frisbee-style rides with gaps between seats when I thought that it was supposed to be one of the Zamperla rides with a continuous ring of seats all the way around?

 

I was perfectly content with the queues on the day I went; 40 minutes is no worse than I’ve encountered in many other places, and most queues were no longer than 30-35 minutes or so. Had the day been busier and the queues been longer, I can see how the operations may have been more problematic, and I can also see how my day may not have been as fruitful had I not followed prior advice on which rides to do first, but if considering my own day in isolation, I was satisfied with the amount I personally got on.

 

Breakdowns were a minor issue, as Cliff Hanger remained closed all day and Zoo Monorail and Pterodactyl both broke down as I was waiting for them. However, I’m not sure if that’s entirely the park’s fault; things break down, and that can’t really be helped.

[Matt N]

I went to Chessington yesterday, and I managed to get throughput timings and insights from the 3 coasters I did.

• Dragon's Fury (Theoretical: 950pph on 8 cars) - 497pph (unknown number of cars, 17th September 2023, average of 10) Note: This number assumes that all 4 seats in a car were full for the sake of simplicity. Due to a rule imposed by Chessington allowing no more than 3 adults per car, seats were going out empty more often than not; some cars were going out full, but most seemed to be going out with only 2 or 3 seats filled out of 4. Therefore, the actual attained figure is most likely a fair peg lower than the one given above. For some idea, the average dispatch interval I timed was approximately 28 seconds, and in the period I wasn't timing, I'd say that the average interval looked to be somewhere around the 30 second ballpark.
• Mandrill Mayhem (Theoretical: 840pph on 1 train) - 575pph (1 train, 17th September 2023, average of 9)
• Vampire (Theoretical: 1,200pph on 3 trains) - 418pph (2 trains, 17th September 2023, average of 6)
• Tomb Blaster (Theoretical: Unknown on 5 trains) - I could not time Tomb Blaster exactly, as I was ushered onto the ride too quickly to gain any timings, but my very vague timing (aka checking my watch) of the dispatch I was on came to roughly a 3 minute dispatch interval, which would equate to around 600pph if all 30 seats on the train were full. (unknown number of trains, 17th September 2023)

Overall, I'd say that the park was mixed to weak operationally, if I'm being honest. The staff on the ground were working very hard and trying their best, but I would say that the park had some of the lowest throughputs I've ever seen relative to the crowds it gets. The throughputs of most of the rides I did seemed to be stunted to some degree by either procedure, a lack of staff, or both; the operations were certainly no fault of the staff themselves.

 

The strongest operations of the day were on Mandrill Mayhem, by my reckoning. Yes, the procedure that means that guests can't wait on the platform behind the airgates is a considerable stumbling block for efficient operations, and that's probably something that could have been avoided during the design phase, but there's not a lot that they can do to rectify that now. With all things considered, I thought the ride was being operated very well. With the cards that have been dealt in terms of the intrinsic throughput of the ride and the H&S-related loading procedure, I thought that an average dispatch interval of just shy of 3 minutes was very, very good, personally; I was certainly pretty pleased with this figure seeing as the ride only has 1 train and has to load in the way it does. The ride seemed relatively well staffed, and the staff were doing an excellently prompt job of checking restraints and such. Great job, Chessington!

 

Weight limits notwithstanding, Dragon's Fury definitely wasn't operating as promptly as Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers mostly does. On Spinball, the cars continuously motor through the station, with the continuously moving loading system being well utilised and not really having any kind of delay, and dispatch intervals as quick as 20 seconds are achieved. On Dragon's Fury, however, the continuously moving loading system was not really being used (I could have sworn it had one the same as Spinball's from previous visits, but I could be wrong there), and 2 or 3 cars or so often seemed to be stacked up in the station at once. With that being said, a good number of cars were seemingly running, and 30 seconds certainly isn't a terribly slow dispatch interval by any stretch of the imagination, although the weight limit definitely limits the throughput potential of the ride and the likes of Spinball do show that faster dispatches can be achieved with the same ride hardware.

 

Vampire definitely had some of the most surprisingly slow operations of the day, and this was due in large part to the fact that the ride was seemingly lacking staff. One operator was running the whole show for the main queue, being left to both batch and check the restraints on the entire right hand side of the train. They had one companion, who was batching what appeared to be the RAP queue and checking the restraints on the entire left hand side of the train. These staff were working incredibly hard and certainly putting all their energy into checking the restraints and batching, but at very least, I feel that a separate bayloader for each queue would not have gone amiss and would have sped things along considerably. The whole process of the operator checking restraints, pressing the send button and then having to jump over the separating fence and batch people before jumping back over to check the restraints for the next train and repeat the whole process again definitely slowed things down, and as a result, dispatch intervals of over 4 minutes were timed in some of the slowest cases, with the overall average coming to around 3.5-4 minutes per dispatch, despite Vampire looking like a ride that could quite easily attain quick dispatch intervals on paper. It reminded me of Flamingo Land, where they run things in a similar manner, and with queues being markedly longer at Chessington than they were on my visit to Flamingo Land, I don't think this method is as proportionate to the crowds at Chessington as it is at Flamingo Land.

 

The situation at Tomb Blaster was very similar to that on Vampire. One operator was running the entire show on their own here, being left in charge of batching, checking restraints and sending the ride. The operator was working very hard and doing a very prompt job, but the fact that they were having to do everything slowed things down, and as a result, a ride that looks like it should attain fairly quick dispatch intervals on paper was dispatching around every 3 minutes. To be fair, though, the queue was not as long for this, with me only waiting around 30-35 minutes, and the ride's fairly large train means that a throughput of roughly 600pph would still have been attained, which, if I had properly timed it, would probably have been the highest on park. Similarly to Vampire, though, 2 additional staff members (one bayloader and one operator sat in the cabin sending the ride) would not have gone amiss and would have sped things up notably, in my view.

[Benin]

Fury can't run 8 cars and I believe hasn't since it first opened.

 

Usually 6 or 7 cars. Target was approx 600-700pph.

 

Doubt Tomb Blaster runs 5 trains either. Its shocking that a number of once fairly high throughput rides are so badly operated these days.

 

Lot of this concerns me that when I visit I'm going to spend most of my time being far more annoyed than normal.

[Mark9]

I love theoretical throughputs, even on 8 cars there is absolutely no way it could get 950 people per hour. Its absolute maximum was 750 on 8 cars which it last did in 2005. 

[Matt N]

For anyone who's interested, I managed to time various ride throughputs on my visits to Alton Towers yesterday and today. The throughput readings I managed to attain are as follows:

• Galactica (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains/2 stations): 871pph (3 trains/2 stations, 24th March 2024, average of 10)
• Nemesis Reborn (Theoretical: 1,400pph on 2 trains): 1,301pph (2 trains, 23rd March 2024, average of 8 )
• Oblivion (Theoretical: 1,900pph on 7 shuttles/2 stations): 1,146pph (5 shuttles/2 stations, 24th March 2024, average of 7)
• Rita (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains): 394pph (1 train, 23rd March 2024, average of 5), 357pph (1 train, 24th March 2024, average of 8 )
• Runaway Mine Train (Theoretical: 1,061pph on 1 train): 473pph (1 train, 23rd March 2024, average of 4) Note: The back car was missing, so the 473pph figure, which assumed a full train of 46, would have been more like 432pph in reality due to the train actually only carrying 42 riders as opposed to the usual 46. The average dispatch interval was 5m 49s, for reference.
• Wicker Man (Theoretical: 952pph on 3 trains): 829pph (2 trains, 23rd March 2024, average of 8), 770pph (2 trains, 24th March 2024, average of 8 )

I also have a few other side observations and insights to offer:

• Operations on Nemesis Reborn were noticeably slower today than they were yesterday. Yesterday's operations, listed above, saw dispatch intervals of 90s or less and little to no stacking, with a train often being dispatched as the one in front of it was still completing the course. Today, however, dispatch intervals of no faster than 2 minutes were being attained and stacking was routine. I'm not sure what the difference was, but today's operations were notably slower. I was unable to get a proper timing, but a brief attempt I made at timing saw a dispatch interval of over 2 minutes being attained, and I'd say that this was quite par for the course for the time I was in the queue. Pretty much every train I saw stacked outside the station for a notable period. For some perspective, I waited 60 minutes from the gun for my ride yesterday, while I queued 50 minutes from a little before the Phalanx shipping container lab for my ride today.
• The Smiler looked as though it might have been running 4 trains today, but I wasn't sure. I say this because the ride was often attaining perfect duelling, which I wouldn't imagine is possible on only 3 trains!
• I noticed that the intervals on Galactica appeared to be pretty inconsistent when I was doing the timing above. The intervals appeared to range between 80s and over 3 minutes!

[Cal]

Thanks for this @Matt N always find these interesting! 

 

Its so satisfying being in the Nemesis queue, always seem to have a good team running it and the queue constantly moves. Nice to see Oblivion is being ran slightly better this year hopefully that continues. 

 

Only timing I got last week was in the Wickerman queue as I was bored and was interested how it does on 2 trains. Were dispatching trains roughly every 2 mins so 720.

[Matt N]

On 3/25/2024 at 12:58 PM, Cal said:

Thanks for this @Matt N always find these interesting! 

 

Its so satisfying being in the Nemesis queue, always seem to have a good team running it and the queue constantly moves. Nice to see Oblivion is being ran slightly better this year hopefully that continues. 

 

Only timing I got last week was in the Wickerman queue as I was bored and was interested how it does on 2 trains. Were dispatching trains roughly every 2 mins so 720.

Hopefully this is the start of slightly stronger ops on Oblivion! In previous years, it's often had slightly weaker operations, with throughputs slipping to 800-900pph on occasions, so I was pleased to see this improved throughput reading!

 

That's an interesting finding with Wicker Man. Clearly it was going a bit slower during your visit, as both of my readings had it closer to 800pph, or dispatches roughly 10s or so faster.