Slowest Moving Line you have been in
What's your worst?
From Bob Miller
Posted September 8, 2011 at 4:20 PM
For me the answer is not V2, not Vu (Never rode it) and not Rajun Cajun. It actually was TTD. I don't know if it just had a bad crew, or if it was because of high winds but as many of you know TTD boards two trains at a time. They dispatched a pair of trains ever 5-6 mins. Is this always how TTD operates.
Anyways what about you?
Hmm. well compared to ttd, kingda ka has bursts of speed. like the line is completely stalled for about 3 to 5 minutes and then you move up a bunch... so on average its an ok-moving line.
Besides that, Batwing at SFA is probably the slowest ive been in. Besides the fact that they only run 1 train ALWAYS these days, it takes a WHILE to load one 4x7 seating arrangements. Also, there are about 6-10 seats open on everytrain, even if its a packed park. to add on to THAT, it certainly breaks down about 1ce every half hour. fairly legitimate, too.
From Bob Miller
Posted September 8, 2011 at 7:56 PM
^Most of SFGAm coasters operate like that because of Flashpass. They let Flashpass people go up to the station and then let a large amount of people in line up there as well. Of course KK is at SFGAv and TTD is at CP which doesn't have a Flashpass, Fastpass, Quick Queue etc.
From Mike Seary
Posted September 8, 2011 at 8:04 PM
Peter Pan's flight @ WDW in Orlando. Went there 2 years ago (first time visiting since childhood, like in 20 or so years). Remembered all the great attractions from my youth - thankfully they were just as great again at 30. Then I was like "Hey, I used to be pretty fond of that Peter Pan ride, GOTTA HIT IT UP!"
I can honestly say that felt like one of the longest lines in my life. It blew my mind how long the wait was... needless to say, that was the only ride which didn't pack any nostalgia punch.
Toy Story Midway Mania at WDW. The first time we went to DHS this summer, we waited 2hrs 30mins and boy it felt slow. We returned at rope drop a few days later and still waited 45mins. It's a great ride but the queue is very, very slow.
That Roger Rabbit thing at DLR
Andrew, I was surprised about your answer of Toy Story Midway Mania. We were there in June, didn't have Fastpass but decided we wanted to do it anyway. They told us the wait was 105 minutes (which I thought was a rather odd way to put it) but we waited anyway. It took only about 40 minutes to get all the way through, including waiting for lots of Japanese tourists taking lots of pictures with Mr. Potato Head (OK, we did also). We loved all the detail, especially how on the back of the Barrel of Monkey monkeys you could see the mold marks, just like on the real ones. It made me wonder how many more details like that I missed on other attractions where I was "lucky" enough to not have to wait.
James, there's only so much Toy Story music I can bare and this is coming from a guy called Andy who loved TS3, had all the toys marked with my name on their foot and used to wear a Buzz costume ;) The music was really repetitive, and all I could see was rows and rows of people waiting. It probably didn't help that I started having a headache. For some reason the theming felt really tacky but I'm not sure why now, probably the All Star/Pop Century resort type memorabilia but thats obviously the theme that they want. Potato head was also good for a short period but after an hour the jokes get really tiring.
Our wait time actually said 60 mins the first time, and as we waited outside it gradually increased to 100 mins. Another pain when we got to the platform was one person occupying a four person carriage. Don't get me wrong the ride is amazing and we thought we were only visit DHS once (as well as having about 2 hours till our booked dinner) so had to wait. If we had only done it the second day, then my opinion would probably be different. I become very critical of looking at the stuff for 2.5 hours.
Crush's Coaster @ Disneyland Paris. It's queue is ALWAYS 120 minutes, and it's never working at rope drop.
Many years ago like 20 or something we went to Chessington. The Vampire Ride was still brand new and having lots of technical issues. 10.30/45 we joined the line. 11.00 the ride broke down. told 10 minutes so we stood. and stood. and stood. 12.30 the ride reopened. 1.30 we can see the loading bay and it breaks down. Having come this far we wait. 15.00 we got on the ride. Complained got family tickets to come back within a year, which we did and we avoided the Vamp like the plague I can tell you! So anyways, 4 and a half hours from que to ride. That was a LOOOONG day!
From Joe Brown
Posted September 9, 2011 at 7:53 AM
Nearly every ride at King's Island. I went there earlier this year. It was the first time I had been there in about 15 years. The place wasn't busy, but every ride we went on seemed like the load took forever.
From Tony Duda
Posted September 9, 2011 at 9:16 AM
The Toy Story Midway Mania line wait is way longer than it should be. The ride loaders are terrible there, half the cars go out with less than 4 people even when there are single riders (usually me) telling them they are ready to board. I have seen empty cars depart because the loaders are slow.
Tony, that was one of my biggest complaints. We wait in line for hours and when we get to the front, vehicles have 1 or even no people on them. I don't know why they don't allow solo riders go through. For some reason they privilege pairs.
The Toy Story Mania line usually moves faster than the posted time. However, on the last Monday night of our May trip, we waited for well over an hour, despite the posted 50 minute wait time. The line just stopped a couple times, either because of a temporary breakdown, or to let some handicapped people on. The only consolation was that we got to see Mr. Potato Head sing twice.
As a general rule, ride TSM in the morning, or with Fast Pass. It's the only really "kid friendly" ride in the park, so it's endlessly popular. Even Tower of Terror and Star Tours have much shorter lines.
I didn't find TSM to be that bad in 2010 when we where last down to Disney World. Yeah we got fast passes in the morning, when we returned we waited perhaps 25 minutes which wasn't insane. Later we went into the normal line and waited perhaps 50 minutes which also didn't seem unreasonable for the newest ride in the park.
It always seemed to me the two lines that NEVER SEEM TO MOVE from childhood to adulthood have always been Peter Pan and Dumbo. I don't know why, logically I know I've only been in like XX minutes but it just seems like it's been years. Another huge offender is Test Track, if your not in the single rider line it always seems to feel like double the line time.
Probably Forbidden Journey. It went kinda slow and seemed to last forever.
Forbidden Journey is a voracious people eater. We were there in May, and rode it four times. Our longest wait was maybe 20-25 minutes.
I love to get caught in long lines on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It is the only line I have ever felt that way, as when the line moves fast, you miss many of the amazing details in the queue.
I went to Universal for the first time ever and the Simpsons ride had just opened. We decided to get on and this is the reason I despise that ride. We waited for well over 3 hours and what did we get at the end. A bad simulator about a show we don't even watch and it made us sick. When I went back recently the wait was 10 minutes and I thought that was too much of a wait for this horrible ride so I didn't ride it.
Pterodon Flyers at IOA was the longest (and most boring) line. Since it only seats 2 per flyer & they don't fill it up, and the ride is slow (for kids) the thing just doesn't move quick. Standing in the sun, minimal mister systems that are turned on. Since you have to have a kid to ride it...you get to stand in line with a bored kid, then you get a super short ride. I told my kids: ok...we did it...never again! Wait time said 15 mins. We were in line for 45. Only other really bad one was Peter Pan at WDW. It wasn't so much the ride not being filled or anything. But the fact they were letting the fast pass people in line about mid-way through the line & not alternating regular vs fast pass people. They were doing all fast pass people at once. So you could be standing there for a super long time before they would let 4 regular pass people through.
My was soarin in in the first week of opening 3 hours
From Steven D
Posted September 10, 2011 at 10:59 AM
I think that the slowest moving line i have ever been on was drachen fire of superman krypton koaster. Drachen fire's line was slow because the coaster only had one train.
Definitely Soarin' a few years back during it's first year at Epcot. It was worth the wait though and still is. :)
Test Track at Epcot and Toy Story Midway Mania are two of the slowest lines I have ever been in. I would even put those up against Soarin and Peter Pan's Flight. The first time I rode these (and I might add the only times I have ridden), both were both posted around 45 minutes to 50 minutes wait time. For Test Track, it ended up being two and a half hours. Toy Story Midway Mania ended up being and hour and forty-five minutes! Needless to say, I liked the rides but did not feel that they lived up to the long waits in line. If the lines for those are longer than thirty minutes and there are no fast passes, then we won't be waiting around on them.
Mine is Volcano: The Blast Coaster at King's Dominion. That was a little over three hours for a ride I ended up finding very boring. This was the same day Intimidator 305 opened, and I waited only twenty minutes for it. The problem is, it was before they "fixed" it and I had a terrible migraine for the rest of the day.
A close second is Soarin' after it first opened and I waited about two and a half hours, but at least I found it entertaining.
Soarin' at Epcot in 2007 was the top contender for a LONG time. I was blown away this past summer at DLR by just how superior the line there is.
But, my worst is Indiana Jones Adventure this past summer.
The sign outside said 45 minutes, which honestly sounded fine. I'd spent my entire life reading about the amazingly themed temple and I was very much looking foward to inching through and taking in the atmosphere.
Nope.
I'm not sure if this is policy or not, but apparently they were only letting so many people into the temple proper at the time. So, while the outside line was 45 minutes, it was extended to 90 minutes because for every one or two of us in the regular line they sent through, they let in EVERY BLOODY FAST-PASSER that strolled up.
By the way, it's 9 at night.
We finally get in the temple... and we have to rush through to keep the line moving. Years of waiting and I only got a cursory glance at the gorgeous theming on display.
Of course, this was all made up for on my last day when the ride broke down and I got to walk through the still working boulder scene in the evac. So cool.
Volcano. When it first opened and only held 8 people. Nightmare. But totally worth it.
Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure. I could list every ride at that park that day. We were there 9 hours and rode 6 rides, but the Batman crew took their time. Seemed like each time the trains came back they sat for 5 minutes before getting people off.
Marriage line walking down the Aisle… Felt like an eternity….And it still has not ended..
From chris cona
Posted September 12, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Big thunder railroad long line plus it's so hot in the little area!
Rip Ride Rocket, waited 2hrs finally got to the platform and it shut down due to weather. Still have not ridden it yet hope to in Dec.
Well, The Mummy took a while on Saturday....nearly an hour, I believe.
For me I think is Sorin cause when I get there the lines always over 45 minutes and all the fast passes are gone. Then when your in the line your moving through low dimly lit rooms that makes you wanna fall asleep.
Rock n Roller Coaster at DHS this past December.
The sign said it was a 45 minute wait, and the standby line barely moved, while fastpass users just breezed through.
I'm not one to bash the fastpass system; I think it's incredibly useful, but this was ridiculous. the guy in front of me complained to the attendant, and the attendant told him that he was just maintaining the ratios like he was told. Apparently the ratio is 80% fastpass riders/ 20% standby.
I'm not going to b!#ch and complain about how I think the ratios are wrong; I'm just not going to go on that ride without a fastpass again.
Jack I had exactly the same problem with Splash Mountain...at the front of the standby line after an hour wait and watched about 100 fastpass people go by, over approximately 20 minutes. Then when we were let through it was just my party - 3 of us! 100 to 3 is definitely not a ratio of 80/20. And to not let the Standby line go at all for 20 mins - ridiculous. I appreciate I could have had a fastpass myself - but the system could most definitely have been a LOT better then. I hope Disney fixed this as I've always had a fastpass for it since then.
Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure. 3 hrs.
This one is easy--the men's room at Animal Kingdom, especially after they opened Expedition Everest. The line were so long on the day I went, one guy was taking a whiz into Kali River Rapids! UGH!
From Adam Dodds
Posted September 14, 2011 at 1:16 PM
I know how frustrating it can be to see empty seats on rides. However, there are things to consider.
I work at Space Mountain. The way we have time to group, organize and pull parties from the line, there should be zero or one empty seats on the ride.
However, when I was at the Jungle Cruise, the boats have a capacity of 32 guest (really skinny guest). The management did some calculating and measuring and found that if we only sent a boat with roughly 15-20 guest and sent to boat out faster, our capacity actually increased dramatically over filling each boat to capacity. In a sense, it's like the Haunted Mansion constantly moving. The more it moves, the more people it carries even if a doom buggy is half full or empty. If they stopped the ride to fill those seats, the wait time would spike.
TSM works the same way. It isn't a moving load platform, but they have a certain number of seconds to load a train, full or not. If they don't, the ride backs up, slows down and wait time spikes. So as annoying as those empty seats are, it's because they would rather have the ride running smoothly and not what is called "cascade". Cascading which breaks down rides like Space Mountain often or spikes wait times, is what to be avoided at all cost
Yes, that's what breaks a lot of Disney rides down, cascading from guest taking too long to get on or off. When a ride starts to cascade, we often send nearly or fully empty vehicles to get back on schedule.
HOWEVER, this doesn't excuse the horrible slow loaders, even at Disney, but mostly at Six Flags parks...I can't go to Six Flags without getting frustrated because employees don't even care of they load in a timely manner.
Dom, some of the lines were surprisingly short. Simpsons never went over 30 mins. Jaws got as low as 5!
From N B
Posted September 14, 2011 at 5:14 PM
Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens.... that was excruciating. Next time we go QuickQueue. Damn you Universal, I have been tainted for life with Expess Pass.
Dumbo at Magic Kindgom was almost just as bad... all for a ride that you can get on at any local carnival, except the cars are elephants.
Easily Space Mountain at MK. I swear that line never moved and I waited in that line easily for close to 2 hours. Never again unless I go back there in the mid to end of September or February. And I was reading everyone else's responses and they said The Mummy and Aerosmith. I was surprised because even though I just recently went to Orlando this past August. My girlfriend isn't coaster rider at all, I pretty much used single rider line were they were available.
From Adam Dodds
Posted September 17, 2011 at 9:40 AM
@Aaron, blame the Brazilian tour groups at Space. We can keep a constant 1 to 1.5 hour line until a large tour group comes and that spikes the lines up to 2 to 2.5 hours easily.
Another rides would be
Toy story midway mania 2 hours
Soarin
As a couple of others have said, Volcano at Kings Dominion. I waited 4 hours once the first year it opened. I only stayed in queue because my friends wanted too.
Before the era of & the addition of Q-bot ride reservations, I waited 3 hrs for Screamin' Eagle at SFOMA (now SFSL...SF St. Louis).
Twister at Elitch Gardens in Denver. I was at a high school physics day giving a talk about math and thought I'd bag a coaster before heading back to the office. The line didn't look all that long, and it was a school day, so I'd figured I'd be on and off in a few minutes.
Except that Six Flags (who ran the park at the time) was running only one train. And the operating crew was taking its sweet time between runs. Since my theme for the day was math, I did some calculating, and figured that the coaster was putting through, at best, 120 people per hour. Once I counted 100 people in front of me, and realized I hadn't yet counted half the line, I bailed.
Over two hours for a mediocre coaster on a weekday? Even work looked more exciting to me.
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