Unnecessary Queuing Lines

[gisco]

I think when planning a queue for the ride they plan for the worst case. After a ride has been open a while or turns out to not be popular a large portion of the queue sits empty. I have seen some huge empty queues and wonder if they have ever been full and who would wait that long to ride a coaster. I think TPR has spoiled me with ERT and front of line passes. I don't like to wait anymore!

[NAMTABSFGAm]

Batman: The Ride and The Boss at Six Flags St Louis.

[azza29]

I actively avoid visiting parks during peak times, especially if I'm on vacation, so I've seen quite a few sets of switchbacks and thought, "damn, would anybody really wait that long?!" Millennium Force has a lot of queue space but it wouldn't surprise me if it fills up during the summer, ditto for Kingda Ka.

 

My brother and I got into an argument the first time we went on Flight Deck at KI because he didn't believe the queue/path would be so long and thought we were heading in the wrong direction...

 

The Monsters Inc ride at DCA has a big outdoor queue that I've never seen used, same goes for the long trail down to It's Tough to be a Bug (although this may be intended as a footpath and not a queue.)

[goatdan]

Indiana Jones's long line actually serves a purpose: to get people beyond the berm to the show building.

 

 

I've seen this queue full on a number of occasions, too.

 

It doesn't really fill any more because of Fast Pass, which is too bad as it makes a lot of the really cool stuff that they did in there stuff that you just walk by. Before that point, it filled constantly, and it would probably still fill up on many operating days today. I've heard brief talks about them making a secondary Fast Pass queue so that they could reclaim a large portion of the outdoor queues that are kept because of the walk back.

 

Another interesting factoid about this one - IJA has (or maybe had) a queue that can be directed to the roof of the Jungle Cruise for overflow control. Imagine waiting in *that* queue when the ride opened.

[cymonster-rex]

Dragon Challenge maybe its full when it isn't off season but the queue went on forever i got a work out from walking that long

[mark549]

Mean Streak has too long of a queue. Most all the other rides had waits and Mean Streak had no wait, but it took 5 minutes to walk to the station.

 

If Rocky Mountain converts this into Iron Streak it would likely have a huge line ...

[simon8899]

I think most "Once-upon-a-time" first rate coasters have huge queue spaces which are today dormant or converted back into gardens.

 

I know Nessie at Hansa-Park which was in 1980 the first stationary installed looper in Germany - some may point to Superwirbel but it "only" has two corkscrews. Another is Big Loop at Heide-Park the first 4-inversion coaster in Germany.

[coasterbill]

Every single coaster at Dorney has an unnecessarily long queue line.

 

People always say that they get crowded on Saturdays but we go on Saturdays all the time and there is never more than a 5 minute line for anything, even after the waterpark closes. I feel kind of bad for Dorney, it's almost like they really think eventually they'll have a day where people actually show up.

[Subject_12]

I've never seen Flight Deck (CGA) full.

[Double0Kevin]

I've never seen Flight Deck (CGA) full.

 

I have, many times.

 

The queue that comes to mind for me is Monsters Inc at DCA. Huge overflow area outside and NEVER full.

[Mstankow]

I wonder if people complaining about Mean Steak never had to wait a full line for it. I remember waiting 3 hours to ride it back in 1998 when the entire line was filled up.

 

Anyway, I think the new American Eagle line fits. Such a long walk for such a long distance. Dueling Dragons also gets a vote because even 10 years ago the outdoor line was no longer in use it seemed and the outdoor line was crazy long with all the switchbacks next to the castle.

[djboss302]

The Dark Knight Coaster's queue at Six Flags Great America is way too long I think.

[Arrow Dynamics fan]

Six Flags St. Louis has several long ones. While it does make some sense for Boss and Mr. Freeze since the lines pretty much go straight to the station, it is super annoying on Batman The Ride since you are forced to zigzag back and forth through a park, then take the longest possible route around to the station entrance. When I visited (a Sunday in July), the ride was only a station wait but it took at least five minutes just to get from the entrance to the station. I can't imagine the park ever gets busy enough to have more than a 45 minute wait for this coaster, but based on the queue length it seems like it was built for a 2+ hour wait.

Back in the day, the Batman queue was not unnecessary. When it was new they needed the full length of the queue line. Nowdays, they could safely shorten it.

 

The Flight Deck and X2 have to be the worst I can think of.

[TheMaxster]

I thought Dueling Dragon's queue was very long' but it was one of my favorite queues I've ever walked through because it felt like I was in a cave and the theming was great. I think that Iron Wolf had an unusually long queue when the ride was a walk on or 15 minute wait most of the time. Raging Bull's queue is actually a good size because I have seen the line go out on to the path before so I don't think it's too long.

[Coastergenius250]

I also must add Den of Lost Thieves. It is a short queue but it is popular, and it also broke down once, so I had to wait 20 minutes or so.

[Kumba2013]

The Boss at SFSTL has way to long of a queue along with Batman there too, I hope that they change them soon.

[jk1w]

The Boss at SFSTL has way to long of a queue along with Batman there too, I hope that they change them soon.

 

The boss is long because of how far back it sits, currently it ain't going to change. Batman on the other hand everyone can agree on how incredibly long that thing is.

[VF15]

American Eagle and Viper at Six Flags Great America both have long queueing lines. Maybe a long time ago they were popular enough to warrant such long queues, but nowadays, I don't think they get lines that long.

 

Kraken has about four different queue houses, but when I went there, it always had a station wait, which really confused me. Kraken is an amazing coaster, but it never had a long line, even during Summer.

 

Steel Venom at Valleyfair used to have an unnecessarily long queue until this year when they took out a bunch of unused switchbacks.

[Cullvion]

Zumanjaro Drop Of Doom has an UNBELIEVABLY long queue, it must have taken my sister and I 8-9 minutes to get to the actual line itself! Also, Mean Streak's switchbacks look so long, too bad they're never used.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Cullvion

[YoshiCraft2011]

When I think of an unnecessarily long queue, I immediately think of Jaguar! I've never seen the line fill up to the first floor and I only saw people waiting at where the ramps are once. However, I give props to the Knott's family for theming the queue to an ancient temple. It looks pretty great. The second ride I can think of is Bigfoot Rapids. There's just too many stairs and ramps before guests enter the switchbacks.

[mike541x]

Hurler and Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion come to mind. Rebel Yell's exit queue is what bothers me the most. I remember there were some upcharge attraction in the way, so the exit queue had to go around it, but now that it's gone they should really shorten the queue.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

American Eagle and Viper at Six Flags Great America both have long queueing lines. Maybe a long time ago they were popular enough to warrant such long queues, but nowadays, I don't think they get lines that long.

 

Kraken has about four different queue houses, but when I went there, it always had a station wait, which really confused me. Kraken is an amazing coaster, but it never had a long line, even during Summer.

 

Steel Venom at Valleyfair used to have an unnecessarily long queue until this year when they took out a bunch of unused switchbacks.

 

 

Eagle's Queue used to be where Kidzopolis is now on the right 1/2. There were alot of switchbacks there but they were hardly used.

[tatsu_dude]

When I think of an unnecessarily long queue, I immediately think of Jaguar! I've never seen the line fill up to the first floor and I only saw people waiting at where the ramps are once. However, I give props to the Knott's family for theming the queue to an ancient temple. It looks pretty great.

 

Oh, I've waited in the Jaguar queue when the whole bottom room with switchbacks was full, and the line spilled out of the pyramid. It was not pretty!

[cfc]

For a lot of queues, it depends on the day you go. For example, Alpengeist has a huge queue that they often don't bother using (you can just walk a ramp right into the station on slow days). But I've been there on busy days where they do get some use out of the whole queue.

 

That being said, I agree completely about Hurler's and Rebel Yell's queues; oddly enough, I have seen Anaconda with a full queue (strange, but true).

[GwaziBSRider1]

I remember when Phantom's Revenge first opened, they built a huge queue for it. During it's entire opening season, I don't ever remember it being less than full. A few years later, they removed about half of it because they never needed the excess. I don't even think I've seen what they've left full. I believe the longest I've ever seen it is to the bottom of the ramp at the beginning of the bridge, and that's only on a really busy day.