THE one thing the Six Flags Theme parks lack.

[ParkTrips]

^ If I remember correctly, the ride calls in the wait time to the Lo-Q office, very lo-tech. This may have become more advanced since the program has expanded so much since SFOG first got it, but I'm pretty sure that's where the q bot expected wait time came from

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Something like that would be nice but in reality is about #18,993,573,742 on the priorities list.

 

What's it saying about Six Flags that something like that (which does improve the guest experience) is so low on the list?

 

It's saying that when in bankruptcy, not everything in the world can be bought. Things must be prioritized. That should be fairly obvious.

[Jew]

^As Gav pointed out, a park doesn't have to spend a ton of money on an info board...

 

Personally, if I was SF management...I would be all for a low tech information board. It's EXACTLY the type of thing Six Flags should be thinking about during their bankruptcy: cheap ways to improve the guest experience. Phone lines already exist at the rides, and I find it hard to believe they couldn't find a staff member or two to keep it updated...

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I suggested an electronic info board years ago. Others have made similar suggestions. It's just not the kind of thing that's a priority right now.

 

There's really nothing more that can be read into it than that.

[jamesdillaman]

^Phone lines already exist at the rides, and I find it hard to believe they couldn't find a staff member or two to keep it updated...

 

The employees are texting on their cell phones anyway, just have them text in the wait times real quick....

 

-James Dillaman

[robbalvey]

I can really think of quite a few things that the Six Flags parks can use before a ride wait time board.

 

For example, it's nice to finally see some of the bathrooms getting a makeover.

 

--Robb

[wiyoh1984]

I think there are more pressing issues than a ride board. Just my opinion.

[Loefet]

Liseberg have screens by their ticket booths that scrolls through the waiting times, operational status, opening times of all the rides in the park.

[Sir Clinksalot]

I wish they would bring the wait board back to DCA. Maybe once the construction is done?

[monsterfan99]

Does it? Do you know for sure that's how the system works?

 

I was under the impression that the system isn't quite as detailed (although it may seem that way in the palm of your hand.)

 

I had always thought that there was a "general setting" that was based on how busy the overall park was, and that wait times for rides were based on that. Remember that the Q-Bot doesn't really care *exactly* how long the line is, just that your wait is shorter (for Gold) or equal to the approximate wait in line (which could vary due to several conditions, but you can make a very educated guess by how busy the park is.)

 

Then they could tweak the setting individually if they needed to (like if a ride is closed, or only running one train instead of two.)

 

I'm not sure that Q-Bot automatically monitors the wait times for each ride at all times throughout the day.

 

I think it's set by the central reservation group based on general attendance or if there is an abnormal situation called in by the ride.

 

Again, the infrastructure needed to constantly monitor a ride's line and then send that information to a central area is not a small task.

 

Hopefully someone who works for Disney or Universal who is more familiar with these systems can chime in.

 

--Robb

 

At SFOG, I rented the regular Q-Bot and the time were way off. As in Mindbender was around a hour wait (we waited in the line) and the q-bot time was 2 hours plus before we got in the line and 3 hours after we rode. So I asked to speak to a manager. They told me every have employees that walk the park and call in the time every 20-30 minutes.

 

Now they could have been BSing me to get me out of the building, but it is what they told me. If that is the case, of them walking by the ride, there is no way a time board would work. They were already inflating the wait times as it was on a product that cost. I could only imagine the times listed on a wait board.

[KevinM]

It looks like you guys are right in saying how flaky and low-tech the ride-time system in Q-Bot is. Here's what Lo-Q says:

 

The Q-bot has up to date information about ride wait times to ensure that reservations are adequately accurate. Staff in the park input the queue wait times into the server.

Lo-Q will introduce a system using predictive algorithms to significantly reduce the amount of information to be entered by park staff. The current Q-bot users ride demand is fed back to the VQ2020 server, which predicts the ride times from its knowledge of the characteristics of each ride and the park population.

 

So as it stands now, the Q-Bot system isn't all that smart.

 

I got that snippet from this PDF.