.
Higher Capacity Rides
AKA making sure the queues don't appear in the first place

While Fast Pass, Fastrack, Q-Bot et al are all gimmicks, far and away the best way of coping with queues is to actually build a high capacity ride to start with, and not to destroy the virtues of efficiency by installing a system like Fast Pass.

Most theme parks don’t actually install particularly high capacity rides. Few Tussauds rides seem to be designed around a particularly high capacity, and theme parks which are mindful of high counts of people per hour are certainly in the minority.

In terms of coasters, 1000pph (people per hour) is the bare minimum at any discerning theme park. 1200pph is preferable, but anything higher will keep the queue shuffling along comfortably.

Look no further than Disney, who are industry leaders in terms of high capacity roller coasters. Flagship coasters such as California Screamin’ and Paris’ Space Mountain gnaw their way through a meaty 2400pph.

But even the mighty mouse’s appetite for efficiency is overshadowed by the travelling German roller coaster.

Bruch’s Eurostar, for example, is capable of getting through a remarkable 2800pph, which is almost three times that of Rita – Queen of Speed. And while theme park coasters almost never get close to theoretical capacities, the same can’t be said of travelling coasters.

So, how do these coasters manage to get through so many people an hour? And if it can be done, why aren’t more parks doing it?

Linear loading is one way, but it has to be applied correctly. Rides using linear loading include Stealth, Rita – Queen of Speed, Eurostar, Duelling Dragons and Top Thrill Dragster.

1: Trains approach the station from the left and stop at platform A and unload. 2: Train moves forwards empty onto platform B where it is then loaded. This leaves platform A behind it empty for the next train to unload. Stations using this system: Eurostar Rita – Queen of Speed Stealth Grand National Oblivion* Rock ‘N Roller Coaster Oblivion uses a similar system, although both trains unload from A and B simultaneously and then load simultaneously before both dispatching at the same time.

There are several stations – normally two, sometimes more, each with a specific task, such as unload and load. Stealth and Rita use this system completely inefficiently, with one station for unload, before the train moves forward into the loading station.

The problem is that unloading takes a matter of seconds, while loading is often the most time consuming part of operating a coaster. On rides as short as Stealth and Rita, the train spends most of its time in the stations empty. Indeed, on Stealth, the airgates have only just opened as the second train has just finished the circuit.

The benefits of loading like this are questionable, neigh on non-existent.

Tussauds boasted on their Stealth Minisite that ‘Disney advice isn’t required at the moment’ saying – basically – that their choice in station design was down to cost. They couldn’t justify the extra cost of gates, the switch track and extra labour to operate it.

While they also cite that they can batch two groups of guests on the platform, and have streamlined how people deal with loose items such as bags, they cannot boast that they don’t need Disney advice with a coaster with a capacity well under half that of one of Disney’s. Continues...