[Question] Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

[Bob Weaver]

It amazes me that people are willing to spend an hour or two hours waiting for a 4-minute ride. (And I've read that at Tokyo DL three-hour waits are common). And yet people would balk at buying ride tickets now, even if the park's general admission was greatly reduced to just a nominal charge, but ride tickets were sold on the old A, B, C, D, E system, except now 50 cents through $2.50, and reserved seating for shows was sold as well.

Assuming someone pays $72 to get into the park for a day, and spends 12 hours there, they are paying $6 per hour to be at the park, therefore waiting 2 hours for one ride means they are effectively spending $12 for that ride, plus 2 hours of their time. If people had to buy a ticket, would that make the lines shorter?

What about the idea of a basic park admission, plus individual ride tickets - the model that worked for the park's first 27 years? There could be specialized ticket books, such as Kid's pack (one ticket to each Fantasyland and Toontown ride), or Thrill Pack (one ticket to each of the thrill rides) or a Premium Pack (15 tickets that could be used on any ride, plus tickets to Fantasmic and World of Color) etc.

Disregarding for a minute the Fast Pass system, and also disregarding the complications of annual passes, my question is: would you rather spend $2.50 with no wait, or stand for one hour waiting for your favorite ride?

[Ice101]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Patience....

[wolfy]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

It's a virtue....

[WDITrent]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

You will never be able to get rid of a long line at this point in time, unless the ride capacity is extremely, extremely, inhumanly efficient. Even if everyone paid the line wouldn't disappear, defeating the purpose. One good way to do it is have tickets available to be distributed that reserved you at a cetain time in the line to minimize the problem of overcrowding the "Fast" line. Oh, yeah, that's Fastpass- and it's FREE.

[sleepyjeff]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

You will never be able to get rid of a long line at this point in time....

Yes you can....if there was a monetary value attached to each attraction you would eliminate those who do nothing but ride E-tickets all day; which was the whole point of the ticket books.

Think about it. With ticket books you increase the capacity of the park by chaining an E-ticket ride with a less popular one.......which means someone who might otherwise be in line for their 8th ride on one of the Mountians might instead be in line for Mr. Toad.

Right now, if the line for Tarzan is longer than 10 minutes, no one is going to get into that line.....rather spend that time in line for a more exciting attraction.....but if you bought a ticket book and have a -B- ticket to burn 10 - 15 minutes won't seem so bad.

Now some would say the FP system does the same thing but in reality it doesn't because of the Phantom Queue factor......Fast Pass only works for those who are well acquainted with it and are willing to sacrifice spontaneity.

Walt knew what he was doing and he respected the intelligence of his guests which is why he used the A-E ticket system and not some half baked shell game like FP.

[AlohaStitch]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

I've used the old Ticket Books before (in fact I still have three complete ones)... I'll take the crowds and the waiting times over having them back.

[MonstersGoBoo!]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

I'd rather wait. It's part of the experience.

[ChessurInWonderland]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

I'd wait in a line. lots of the lines are fun and interesting!

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Reminds me of the joke circa 1984... "Wanna see a day at Disneyland?" and then you stand and shuffle forward slowly.

[d1mex]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Some queue's can be considered rides; Indy for example. The anticipation and excitement you get after waiting for so long in line is phenomenal. Waiting awhile for Indy or Space or Splash or ToT (as examples) is alllll worth it once you ride. I totally forget I even waited afterwards. I just talk about how much I enjoyed the ride. The wait is part of the experience for me. Would you rather have Disneyland completely souless and empty or crowded? I would say the latter.

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

So I guess everyone here would be 100% opposed to the idea of individual ride tickets ever again.

[OldSchoolMickey]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Walt knew what he was doing and he respected the intelligence of his guests which is why he used the A-E ticket system and not some half baked shell game like FP.

Yep, 50 years ago! (and I am one that remembers using the ticket books)

But, sadly, from many personal observations in recent years, the intelligence level of way too many of the current-day guests have diminished quite considerably since the days of Walt.

Heck, folks don't even have the common sense to have their entry ticket or AP out and ready to hand to the CM at the entry turnstiles! How can we expect that they will be able to handle individual ride tickets any better???

I can't imagine the lines and confusion that would occur if DL went back to the ticket books for rides. Way too many guests can't even decide if they want the hamburger or the chicken-burger after they have been standing in the food line for 15 minutes, let alone decide how many E-Tickets they'll need for the day!

Nope, in this day and age, ticket books will never work!

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Not even if the ticket was just a card, that you inserted into a machine at the ride's entrance, and it automatically deducted that ride from it or that price from it? And you could "recharge" your card at a machine similar to an ATM?

I'm sorry everyone, but standing in line for one hour, no matter how interesting the queue is, just doesn't seem "magical" to me.

[Villains Fan]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

I'm against the ticket books (or just ticket idea) too. SleepyJeff's arguement made total sense...instead of long lines just on the e-tickets, this would create longer lines on everything. And as OldSchoolMickey said, waiting for people to fumble around with tickets would make the lines even longer.

If you charge people a nominal entrance charge and then charge seperate for ride tickets, not only will you have lines on rides, but it would be even more crowded with people just there for the atmosphere, entertainement, or the other aspects of Disneyland that attact people. They may not go with the intension of riding rides, but then figure oh, what's another $2 to go on a ride, and before you know it, the lines would be even longer due to the increases crowds entering just for the nominal charge.

To be honest, I haven't waited in a line for more than an hour in ages. The efficiencies of the lines have improved greatly since the ticket book era. Also, most of the rides, that do have lines of over an hour, have fastpasses, and using those, you don't have to wait an hour in line.

So, my vote goes to NO tickets! :razz:

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

I don't quite follow how charging for a ride creates a line for it, or lengthens the line for it. If anything, it would reduce the number of people trying to go on that ride.

[sleepyjeff]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

So I guess everyone here would be 100% opposed to the idea of individual ride tickets ever again.

Um, did you read my post?




I am with you on this one

And as OldSchoolMickey said, waiting for people to fumble around with tickets would make the lines even longer.

No, it wouldn't..........if someone is fumbling with tickets in front of you and delays you 30 seconds from entering the line the only way your wait time will increase is if the line is less than 30 seconds long to begin with.

[I.M. Loco]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

So I guess everyone here would be 100% opposed to the idea of individual ride tickets ever again.

Yes.

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

In the old days, I don't remember anyone "fumbling around" with tickets or causing any delays at the ticket-taker. And if it were all done electronically, tied to your admission ticket, then there would be no need for individual paper tickets. I think people could handle it and I don't think people are stupider now than 50 years ago. Fatter and less informed, yes, but not inherently stupider.

[WDITrent]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Yes you can....if there was a monetary value attached to each attraction you would eliminate those who do nothing but ride E-tickets all day; which was the whole point of the ticket books.

Think about it. With ticket books you increase the capacity of the park by chaining an E-ticket ride with a less popular one.......which means someone who might otherwise be in line for their 8th ride on one of the Mountians might instead be in line for Mr. Toad.

Right now, if the line for Tarzan is longer than 10 minutes, no one is going to get into that line.....rather spend that time in line for a more exciting attraction.....but if you bought a ticket book and have a -B- ticket to burn 10 - 15 minutes won't seem so bad.

Now some would say the FP system does the same thing but in reality it doesn't because of the Phantom Queue factor......Fast Pass only works for those who are well acquainted with it and are willing to sacrifice spontaneity.

Walt knew what he was doing and he respected the intelligence of his guests which is why he used the A-E ticket system and not some half baked shell game like FP.

Less people in line, more people crowding the walkways, less park capacity. No.

[sleepyjeff]

Re: Would you rather pay for a ride or wait in a long line?

Less people in line, more people crowding the walkways, less park capacity. No.

But that wouldn't be the case......As I explained earlier lets say you have 2 lines, one is an hour long and one is 10 minutes long.

The hour long line leads to an attraction you've already been on twice but you really, really like it so you're queuing up again.

The 10 minute line leads to an attraction that you find mildly interesting but you'd rather not waste that 10 minutes when you could be using it to wait in the line for a more exciting attraction.

But wait, in order to ride the exciting attraction you are going to have to buy another E-ticket since your booklet has no more.....but inside your booklet you do have a B-ticket.

No what are you going to do?

1) Buy one more E-ticket and ride Indy, Space, or Pirates, etc.

2) Use that B-ticket that you already paid for.

3) Wander around and crowd the walkways(with an unused B-ticket in your pocket).