[xlcanada]

Wow, $30 bucks is a great deal if you can get a group together! This price-point definitely grabs my attention. I wouldn't mind making a trip or two with a group of friends during the busy summer months now.

i have a family of 4, but why for the extra 10 bucks, ill get 5, and just grab soembody by the door and bring them in with me and give them a wrist band.

Heck anybody that lives in the area and can keep me updated with some info on the lower attendence days as observed from the parking lot, would more then qualify for a free fastpass band

Your logic doesn't make any sense? Why would you purchase fastpass when the park has lower attendance?

As I mentioned before, the effectiveness of the fastpass increases as attendance increases in the park.

[chadta]

Wow, $30 bucks is a great deal if you can get a group together! This price-point definitely grabs my attention. I wouldn't mind making a trip or two with a group of friends during the busy summer months now.

i have a family of 4, but why for the extra 10 bucks, ill get 5, and just grab soembody by the door and bring them in with me and give them a wrist band.

Heck anybody that lives in the area and can keep me updated with some info on the lower attendence days as observed from the parking lot, would more then qualify for a free fastpass band

Your logic doesn't make any sense? Why would you purchase fastpass when the park has lower attendance?

As I mentioned before, the effectiveness of the fastpass increases as attendance increases in the park.

that wasnt what i meant

keep me updated during the year on low days, and on the busy day that i go ill hook ya up with an extra fastpass, i mean if you live in the area its not a huge deal to look out the window, having said that, ive been by wonderland everyday the past 2 weeks for work, i hope i get to do some work out that way in the summer too.

[kresslia]

So I noticed one of the Fast Lane attractions is Orbiter...

... I'm actually not even kidding.

[CTC]

So I noticed one of the Fast Lane attractions is Orbiter...

... I'm actually not even kidding.

Well, one of the rides is Klockworks so....

I wonder how the fastlane will work on a ride like Klockworks or Orbiter. Would guests enter from the exit or would they create an entirely new queue. If they were to enter from the exit the staff would have to calculate how many people the ride can hold from the regular line.

[bratman]

For Klockworks.... I see a separate small queue set up, prehaps at the exit.

That said, when I saw that they were adding the ride to the system, my first response was "huh??". I am guessing they want to add a little more value to the pass.

[cheese]

Has any information been released regarding how the park will deal with Fast Lane for rides that do not have a separate queue? I really hope they don't have Fast Lane users go through the exit - if there's one thing I've learned from Six Flags it's that having Flash Pass users go through the exit really frustrates guests in the regular queue.

[kunpc1]

Not sure exactly how it will be handled at all the rides yet. I'll inquire next time we make a trip to the park.

[sheldonmans14]

I'm sure they will treat it like how they handled disabled riders. The people will go up the exit, show their papers to the attendant at the exit and they will let them board before the air gates are opened to everyone else.

[coasterboy]

I'm sure they will treat it like how they handled disabled riders. The people will go up the exit, show their papers to the attendant at the exit and they will let them board before the air gates are opened to everyone else.

Agreed... and at least for the first year until this catches on, it should have minimal impact.

[Vekomondial]

I could see them running Fast Lane through the exits on the more smaller attractions, but for the coasters I believe they will have a proper merge point (think Disney Fast Pass). Based on the success of Kings Island's Fast Lane, I can see Cedar Fair (and Ouimet) giving some cash to make the Fast Lane installs work well.

Edit: CGA (the first of the Cedar Fair seasonals to open this year) apparantly has been installing seperate merge points on their Fast Lane rides. This is a good sign!

[Kaytee]

I have a feeling they will have separate queues of some sort because having them combined or having people enter from the exit just seems like it would cause complete chaos and anger the general public in line (for those who participated in Coasting for Kids last year remember how angry everyone got when we entered our cars from the exit? Even though it was for charity everyone wanted to rip our heads off watching us get on before them and they were anything but quiet about it in the worst way possible... I can't imagine what it would be like on a normal day without a charity event taking place).

[CTC]

Apparently at Kings Dominion and Carowinds Fastlane is not going too well. Guests using the system entering from the exit of the attraction and than choose their seats. The ride ops hold the airgates until they are seated and than open the gates. I can see this causing MAJOR delays in dispatch times now having to wait for an extra set of people to take their seat and the fact that 99% of them will choose the front seat causing the regular front seat queue line to move VERY slowly. I hope they do a system like Six Flags where they merge the queue at the entrance to the station similar to what they are doing on Leviathan on all rides. Just a thought

[rollin_n_coastin]

^That doesn't sound perfect but it's a way to get the system implemented quickly I'd guess. Maybe they're still working out the budget and infrastructure requirements to create merge points?

The system can only get better with time and I see a merge point being the best way to handle it eventually. A group of us had exit passes at KD a few years ago and wow, the venom from the people waiting next in line when we just walked in through the exit was brutal. To be honest, we sat in the middle of Grizzly's train because of that. Maybe that was very Canadian of us?

But guests knowing that such a system is in place this time around will hopefully help with that.

[Dom497]

^One time when I was next to go onto Behemoth (which was last year when CW had the VIP Tours), a group of girls came to the exit and took up the last 3 cars in the train. Not only were the people in line mad about that but even one of the operators said he was totally against the VIP Tour and "budding" the line thing!

[pcwnut]

This whole premium front of the line service will ALWAYS cause issues at parks. Even at Disney, where it's free, people in the regular lines whine about it.

Fact of the matter is, its a great system and revenue source for parks to have. Don't like how people are "jumping" in front of you? either a) pony up the cash and join in or b) accept it for what it is and don't' sweat the extra minute or 2 you end up waiting.

You will never be able to please everyone at one time, it's just not even possible. I saw good on Wonderland and Cedar Fair for implementing this feature in all their parks. I can't tell you how disappointed I get when I go to a park and can't get on anything due to long lines sometimes. Ya it's a risk you take but with a system in place like this you can get on all the major attractions on not worry.

Would I use this at Wonderland being my home park? Probably not as I will be there a lot as it is, so whatever I don't do one day I'll do another. However, if I make a trip down to Cedar Point or Kings Island or some park I've yet to try, of course I'd spend the extra cash on it. I had a Fast Pass on my first trip to Magic Mountain and loved it.

I am sure the first year will be a little rough around the edges, but let's see how it works, controlled, etc and then make judgement one way or the other.

Josh "Optimistic" McLachlan