Most and least successful implementations of queue jumping systems (e.g. FastPass)?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Over the years, queue jumping systems have become increasingly prevalent within theme parks. Whether free or paid, the majority of theme parks now have some kind of system in place allowing guests to skip the queues in some capacity. Whether you like it or not, Fastrack, FastPass or whatever your local park's queue jumping pass is called is here to stay. The implementations of such a system differ, however, so I'd be intrigued to know; in your opinion, what have been some of the most and least successful implementations of queue jumping systems? Which systems work well, and which ones don't work quite so well, in your opinion?

I'll get the ball rolling with my answers...
Most Successful
I can think of a couple of examples that seem to work well, off the top of my head.

• I controversially quite liked FastPass+ at Walt Disney World. The fact that it was free and everyone had the same opportunities from it was great, I personally benefitted from it a fair amount when I used it, and it didn't seem to affect the main queues too much, as they always moved well.
• While I never used it, I also remember Universal Express at Universal Orlando Resort seeming to work well. It never had too much of an impact upon the main queue line.

Least Successful
In terms of ones that don't work so well; the only one I can think of that I even remember picking up on was FastPass at Oakwood Theme Park. When I went to Oakwood on a school trip in July 2016, usage of it was heavy, and the main queues moved slowly as a result. The FastPass queue was a bona fide queue in itself, nearly as long as the main queue, and the park would make full trains consisting only of FastPass users. They rotated trains between "train full of main queue" and "train full of FastPass", and a queue for Speed that would probably have been no longer than 10-15 minutes or so at most theme parks took 90 minutes as a result. A queue for Megafobia that would have been a 1 or 2 cycle wait (no longer than 5 minutes) in many places took 30 minutes. In fairness, the queues did still move periodically and I did get on the rides eventually, so that's probably a bit harsh of me to criticise. And I'd imagine that the busyness of the day probably exacerbated the demand on the system. I still got on 6 rides during the day, which was pretty good!

But which are the most and least successful implementations of queue jumping systems in your view?

 

[Jamesss]

My favourite is Europa Park's system.

 

[Matt N]

My favourite is Europa Park's system.

Did you like the Virtual Queue? I never got to use it, but it didn't seem to be impacting the main queue much at all on the few attractions it was available on!

So much so that I forgot Europa even had a VQ until you mentioned it...

 

[Jamesss]

Ah, I didn't know Europa had virtual queue. What I meant was when I went Europa it had no fastpass options and everybody had to queue normally!

 

[Matt N]

Ah, I didn't know Europa had virtual queue. What I meant was when I went Europa it had no fastpass options and everybody had to queue normally!

Ah, sorry; didn't twig that!

They do have a free Virtual Line system available now (I believe it was initially bought in as a COVID control measure), but availability is very limited and it's not available on many attractions at all, so for the most part, Europa is still like that.

 

[cocoa]

Yeah, the defunctland video which I'm sure we've all seen has me now thoroughly convinced there is no real successful fastpass system, even though I did indeed benefit from disney's old system which I knew how to rig.

maybe, at the end of the day, the best system is just having digital signs all over the park that advertise where there are short queues and where there are long queues to keep the crowds flowing even more efficiently. or maybe... charge a bit more for admission and lower the park capacity. I'd take that swap I reckon. I wouldn't mind if parks with a few big etickets (eg, disneysea) would just give out a single queue pass for each eticket for free with your park ticket, and you only get to ride once.

 

[rob666]

For me personally, the best system is good old pay for individual rides, the best method of getting ultra efficient operations on the coasters.
Pay one price/wristbands are not as good at making park owners munch through queues, which results in even more profits via queuejump systems, which makes things even worse for the "poor" average punter.
Capitalism at its finest!
No incentive to improve ops.
Scrap the lot, ban season passes, bring back tickets/tokens/cash/phone app pay for each ride, and the two hour queues for the coasters will be a distant memory.
Blackpool went crap when they started using bands.
Never queued more than ten minutes for most of the rides for years, only the new coasters got big queues.

 

[Munchy Road Hippopotamus]

Universal Express was very hit and miss in my experience, as an Express user I found some of the waits far longer than I would expect given that I'd paid to stay in a hotel for said privilege. An example of this would be fact that on Dudley do Right's Ripsaw Falls we waited over 45 minutes even with the Express pass (standby only said 60 mins). Fortunately for me and my family we still managed to get on just before the ride was closed due to an impending electrical storm. Not fortunately for me and my family was the fact that we got utterly drenched (I actually didn't mind it is a water ride after all however my wife was not so understanding).

Looking at the speed of the standby lines at both universal and Disney, express and Genie/Individual Lightning Lane definitely have a considerable impact on the throughput of the standby line. I would say though that in Disney the Lightning Lane seemed to move a lot quicker than the Express line at Universal.

At SeaWorld the quick queue was even less well organised, at both journey to Atlantis at Mako there were no staff at the quick queue entrance so anyone could have just got on without having purchased quick queue. Kraken was a walk on from the standby line however the quick queue had at least 20 people in it. My son and I queued for the front from the standby line quicker than people were able to get on from the quick queue.

 

[DJW]

For me personally, the best system is good old pay for individual rides, the best method of getting ultra efficient operations on the coasters.
Pay one price/wristbands are not as good at making park owners munch through queues, which results in even more profits via queuejump systems, which makes things even worse for the "poor" average punter.
Capitalism at its finest!
No incentive to improve ops.
Scrap the lot, ban season passes, bring back tickets/tokens/cash/phone app pay for each ride, and the two hour queues for the coasters will be a distant memory.
Blackpool went crap when they started using bands.
Never queued more than ten minutes for most of the rides for years, only the new coasters got big queues.

I have to agree with that statement totally 100%

I know someone who works at Knightley's Amusement Park in Towyn he said the attitude of public is terrible towards the staff generally they feel because they have a wristband they own you. He said people are riding for the sake of it the machines are being run into the ground for pennies a rider and he felt the Pay One Price system is the worst invention to ever hit the industry.

I was in Blackpool last July - the Pleasure Beach was shut by 6 yet the piers were riding black until midnight - mid week! We watched the Waltzer on South Pier do full ride after full ride until midnight that night and Central was also doing a very good trade generally riding full. Yet the Pleasure Beach from a distance looking at the Big One and the tower (less so the Flying Machine) didn't appear to be that busy looking at the frequency they were going.

The Pleasure Beach for me when I was younger was untouchable - no other park came close the atmosphere at night was amazing the park was brilliantly lit and they really did load those trains up fast - their attitude at the time was people standing in a queue are not spending any money and wanted the queues moving as fast as possible and kept as short as possible.

 

[Gavin]

I quite liked those Qbot things at the Six Flags parks, whatever they called them. No idea if they still use them, but I thought they worked well for the user without impacting the main queue. A combination of one of those and single rider lines can mean barely waiting for anything if you know what you're doing.