How do I keep ride queue times down?
- Thread starter Sonny1
- Start date
I think certain rides have too much draw, its funny cuz so many people complain there lines are short
this is a bit of a problem, not sure if it can be fixed though. many people have requested separate loading/unloading stations
My log flume ride has a long queue time, so I thought a wise thing to do would be to add a priority pass line... and almost nobody uses it.
Well, queue time is a function of 2 things: 1) the rate (customers/minute) that the ride can process (number of seats/train * number of trains per minute) and 2) the number of peeps in the queue. For any given ride, there's only so much you can do to increase customers/minute. Thus, if the ride is popular enough to draw a huge crowd, you have no control over queue time once the line gets to a certain length. But here's the thing... Everybody in the queue has already paid to go on the ride, so even if they're complaining, you're not losing money on them. You only lose sales on those who don't enter the queue, but they're obviously the minority because the queue is so full. The moral to the story is, you can't please everybody so don't worry about it. If your queue is jammed full, then the ride is making lots of money, which is its whole purpose in life. So that's a good thing.
Still, you definitely don't want trains having to wait to enter the station. This really kills the excitement rating of the ride, plus keeps your throughput of customers/minute lower than it should be. Ideally, you want 1 train to pull out just as the next enters, so there's no waiting. There are several ways you can tweak the ride to prevent this. One may work, or another, or it could be you'll have to do some corrective surgery on the track layout instead.
A train takes a certain amount of time to unload and then load. Those getting off walk slowly to the exit and when the last one finally gets off the platform, the exit gate closes. A second or so later, the boarding gates open and those next in line sprint onto the train, which takes effectively no time. Once all the seats are full, there's another slight delay as the restrains lock, then the train leaves the station. The real bottleneck in this process is the customers getting off the train having to completely exit the platform at slow walking speed, but you can speed this up with careful design of the station. Here are some tips:
#1. Entrance and Exit on Opposite Sides of Station
This is essential for any train with multiple cars, but doesn't matter for 1-car coasters or track rides. With multi-car trains, having the exit on the opposite side of the station from the entrance allows you to put the exit gate even with the center of the parked train. This minimizes the distance peeps have to walk to get off the platform and thus allows loading the next batch to start sooner. If you have the exit on the same side as the entrance, it will be at the front of the platform so peeps in the rear car have to walk the whole length of the platform, which maximizes the time required for them to go out the exit gate. So when building a coaster with multi-car trains, be sure the layout doesn't force you to put the exit on the same side as the entrance.
#2. Exit Gate In Line with Yellow Arrows
If you have the exit on the same side of the station as the entrance (OK for 1-car trains, bad for multi-car trains), the platform will have yellow arrows on it pointing out. Put the exit gate directly in line with these arrows, which again minimizes the distance peeps have to walk to get off the platform. If you have the exit anywhere else, peeps will waste time walking along the edge of the platform to reach the gate.
The above 2 things minimize the time required to unload 1 batch of peeps and load the next. The longer the train, though, the longer this minimum time will be due to the longer distance peeps from the end cars will have to walk to the exit gate. So if the above aren't enough to solve the problem, you're left with tweaking aspects of the coaster itself, as follows:
#3. Adjust Station Wait Time
You don't want the train to be all ready to go but not leave the station for a while. This again reduces throughput and increases queue time. So, you should set the "minimum station wait time" to zero. Then the train will go as soon as it's full. HOWEVER, you have to take this into account when designing the track layout. If your track isn't the right length, or doesn't have a block brake somewhere in the middle, then the train might leave the station quickly and then stop at the top of the lift hill. However, this usually isn't a problem if you're having trains waiting to enter the station. In that case, getting trains out of the station quickly reduces the odds of the next train having to wait on the brake run, and probably won't cause the opposite problem.
#4. Adjust the Lift Speed
In general, this should be increased to full speed because the faster the lift, the less of an excitement deficit you start with at the true beginning of the fun part. However, you can if necessary throttle the lift down a bit. Changing lift speed changes the duration of the ride---the faster a train goes up the hill, the sooner it returns to the station. So if nothing else has worked and you've still got trains waiting at the station, try slowing down the lift so it takes a few seconds longer for a train to return to the station. This isn't recommended, however, because it reduces the excitement rating of the ride.
#5. Lengthen the Track
Again, you're adjusting the duration of the ride, trying to increase the time it takes for a train to return to the station, so it won't have to wait on the previous train's loading cycle. There are, of course, a number of problems with this approach, which is why it's low on the list. First, there are spatial constrains. Second, the easiest place to drag things out is at the end, where the coaster is already pretty slow, so you risk making a long, boring ending that kills the excitement and fear ratings. But if all else fails, this is about your last resort.
#6. Decrease the Number of Trains
The main cause of having trains waiting to get into the station is trying to run N+1 trains on a track that can only support N trains. All the above is to try to force 3 trains to run on what is really a 2-train track. When none of the above have solved the problem, then the only way to prevent waiting to enter the station is to just go with 2 trains. After all, if a train has to wait at the station and you've already minimized the loading cycle, then having the 3rd train is not helping your throughput because that's still limited by the loading cycle.
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As to priority passes, folks only buy those if 1) you have a fair number of rides with priority queues, and 2) those rides are popular enough for the priority queue to actually save them significant wait time. In general, priority passes are going to cost about as much as entrance tickets so those who buy them are essentially paying double to get in the park. Thus, they won't do this unless they think they're getting their money's worth.
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Glad to be of service.