Riders per Hour

[coasterlover420]

Another thing to consider is the rides actual interval time (the time you're supposed to dispatch trains in) and the time it takes to actually load said trains. Some rides have a longer interval and therefore are easier to reach "theoretical" capacity, whereas rides with a load time around 30 seconds are quite difficult. This also depends on whether or not trains are completely filled and whether or not the ride ops care about their job. Single rider lines do help with loading trains completely quite a bit, so that does give quite an advantage.

[saxman47]

EDIT: ^beat me to it!

 

Some rides are obviously way easier to achieve the "theoretical" capacity than others, since most of the time the manufacturers theoretical capacity is an indication of what the ride is technically capable of, assuming dispatch interval is hit every time and with completely full trains. This number can be almost impossible to come near for some rides with complicated restraint systems, etc. For example just because the ride is capable of dispatching a train every 60 seconds doesn't mean it is possible with the limited number of crewmembers that some parks staff at their rides.

 

I know when I used to work at Nitro we could hit 1400-1500 pph if we were really hustling. Basically you dispatch the train in the station the moment the previous train drops off the lift. The lift always has a train on it and the trains roll right into the station without stopping on the transfer. It's a beautiful thing when a crew is pumping trains out like that. On other rides, this is not so easy. B&M hyper restraint design has a lot to do with it.

 

Some parks like Disney however, will very realsitically run the ride at its maximum capacity all day long, just because they have the staff and the appropriate planning/logistics/ergonomics of the ride system down to a science.

[CorkscrewFoley]

When I was queueing up a second time for Space Mountain (I got Alpha and Omega creds), I had asked the op what the riders per hour was, she didn't know, but she told me they dispatch every 22 seconds...I mean, that's impressive to say the least.

[saxman47]

When I was queueing up a second time for Space Mountain (I got Alpha and Omega creds), I had asked the op what the riders per hour was, she didn't know, but she told me they dispatch every 22 seconds...I mean, that's impressive to say the least.

 

Assuming they are running both sides and the trains are full (6 people per train, per side), that would give an hourly capacity of about 2000 riders/hour.

 

Pretty good, but there are other disney rides that do even better. I know Pirates of the Caribbean is well over 3000 people/hour.

[signaltwo]

 

Assuming they are running both sides and the trains are full (6 people per train, per side), that would give an hourly capacity of about 2000 riders/hour.

 

Pretty good, but there are other disney rides that do even better. I know Pirates of the Caribbean is well over 3000 people/hour.

 

The Omnimovers must get a pretty high throughput too, Spaceship Earth's line could be wayyyy out the door but that line will be constantly moving.

[dj snow]

Based on quick observation, Forbidden Journey can accommodate around 2,400 riders per hour. Not bad at all!

[PKI Jizzman]

At Diamondback, during our 'power hours' we could get through 1400-1600 people per hour. That's rushing, and safely pushing people in and out of the ride as quickly as possible. Got to keep in mind there are riders who may not fit into the ride, have loose articles they need to put aside, aren't riding properly (wearing sandals, which aren't allowed), asking questions, etc.

 

If everything went perfect, we'd get 1600 or so. That's pretty much the max. I couldn't imagine getting more people in an out in ONE HOUR. Trust me, after a 1560 hour.....holy crap. That's a feat.

 

The main operator will count a full train/empty seats with each train.

[eltoro96]

Crew makes a difference too. I've been on Nitro where they can get a train loaded and out in under a minute and later that day when they change the crew it could be longer. Also, there could be different circumstances per train. On Apocalypse (it was Terminator back then) when the ride ops were having a contest to see who could push down the lap bars the fastest (becoming more and common and rides which I like. Adds excitement lol) and one kept popping up so they had to lift all them and put them all back down again. That happens on inverts a lot too. Like if a it goes down a notch too far and is uncomfortable they have to raise all bars on some, but just the car on others...

Also, when there's a single rider line it makes people like me ecstatic. When you spend two full days at Cedar Point waiting on every line alone and watching EVERY SINGLE MF train with a half dozen sporadic empty seats, the single rider line halfway through Maverick is the best part of your visit. Actually, once when I was on Maverick there was no guy there so I nonchalantly line jumped that whole staircase area

[Fire2box]

^^Honestly, a single rider line makes an absolute minimal amount of difference in wait times.

 

It might not make a significant difference in riders per hour but it makes a huge difference if you are the single rider!

 

Which I am for the most part. Out of like the 10 rides I did at SFMM my dad's girlfriend wne ton Terminator with me, Superman and.. well that's it. She didn't even go on collsus even after I told her the ride is smooth. So later on I was a single rider standing in line for at least a hour in both riddler and X2. Though X2 wasn't moving for a while.

 

Plus when me and her went on tatsu together, the 2 seats next to us were still open. But yeah single rider's line do nothing for groups who want to ride together, and SFMM taking the single rider lines off ridder likely spured single riders to invest in flash pass for 30 dollars. So honestly Six Flags kind of sucks in that perspective. Put me in any row if I am a single rider, I honestly don't care. But I'd like the right to complain if every train has 4 seats open throughout the whole day.