Single Rider Experimentation at Toy Story Mania

[flynnibus]

My father was in WDW this week, and reported that while the parks were not busy, TSMM was still regularly 50-70min waits, tho they saw 40min waits posted twice.

He complained that the FP line was taking upwards of 25mins for TSMM. I'm pretty sure he was referring to total time, not time to merge.. but what was interesting was he mentioned they were experimenting with a Single Rider queue. They would take people out of the FP line, or people that asked to be Single Rider at greeter.. and put them in a separate queue.

They knew single rider doesn't have as many opportunities on a ride vehicle like TSMM, but they said they were able to use it two times and only waited about 5 minutes. I bet the huge difference was mainly due to single rider would need to go all the way to load, not just merge. I'll clarify that with him when I talk to him again.

For this to work, Disney must be willing to sit strangers together on the same bench. I know they do this, but they also seem to shy away from it on other attractions. Maybe this is them trying to ensure they get the max rider throughput since it's such a popular attraction with too high of waits in the park.

 

[disnyfan89]

If they where pulling after the FP merge then this is a regular practice used everyday at TSMM. After merge, if you are a party of two or one they will send you up the original single rider queue line. This, as you guessed is to help improve the hourly capacity and ensure each car is going out as full as possible as it is fairly regular (due to parties of 6 or similar numbers) that a seat or bench will be empty when dispatched

 

[emcclay]

I would definitely get in a single rider line for TSMM. The only problem I see with this is everyone jumping on the bandwagon once they see the single rider line does not have that much of a wait. :brick:

 

[Hercules11]

As a TSMM CM I can tell you that they do this regularly, but they have to be careful to control the number of parties going up the two's line. If they don't send enough then they risk vehicles being sent with empty rows. If they send too many than the guests waiting in that line are likely to spend more time waiting than they would have if they had stayed in the regular line. Generally, guests asked to use the two's line will only save a couple minutes so it is preferrable that parties just stay together instead of trying to break up to go up that line.

 

[Tigger1988]

It had a single rider line when it opened.

 

[flynnibus]

If they where pulling after the FP merge then this is a regular practice used everyday at TSMM. After merge, if you are a party of two or one they will send you up the original single rider queue line. This, as you guessed is to help improve the hourly capacity and ensure each car is going out as full as possible as it is fairly regular (due to parties of 6 or similar numbers) that a seat or bench will be empty when dispatched

Yeah, but this was single rider accessible without waiting in standby or requiring a FP

 

[disneyragazzo]

TSM at Cali has a single rider line... or at least they did.

 

[Disney Dawg88]

If they where pulling after the FP merge then this is a regular practice used everyday at TSMM. After merge, if you are a party of two or one they will send you up the original single rider queue line. This, as you guessed is to help improve the hourly capacity and ensure each car is going out as full as possible as it is fairly regular (due to parties of 6 or similar numbers) that a seat or bench will be empty when dispatched

I was at HS on Monday night (Feb 6) for EMH just before the park closed and this same thing happened to me. Right where you grabbed the glasses and you go through the turnstile, they asked me how many, I was there solo, and they sent me up the right stair case which I believe is the FP line. I don't remember seeing anything about a single rider line at all, but like I said I was there on Monday night.

 

[Tom]

From the entrance to the merge point, there are only two actual queues, right? So, to implement a TRUE single-rider queue (like at Test Track) would be impossible, wouldn't it?

And even after merge, they have two queues going up the stairs and back down. Is one of those currently a single-rider queue? I guess I've never paid attention. I just assumed it was going to a double load zone.

 

[kennygman]

They have regularly been using the right hand stair case for singles and doubles for several months, but its discretionary based on the crowds.

 

[wdwcandice]

On my solo trip to WDW last week, I experienced this as well....when they asked me how many in my party, they sent me to the right side, which I thought was the fast past line since I was single. However, when they placed my in my line, they asked if I minded if someone rode with me...of course I didn't but I liked that they asked me. I think it is always a long line there, no matter how crowded the parks are, it's now the go to attraction at the park.

 

[thecompman]

TSM at Cali has a single rider line... or at least they did.

They don't anymore. When I was there in Sept I asked the CM about it, and they actually laughed and me and said "we don't have a single rider line".

I told him "you did 2 years ago when I was here"!

 

[dxwwf3]

I really miss the SRL at this attraction. It really added to the amount of times that I was able to ride, especially at night.

 

[markc]

This isnt news or anything new. They've been doing this for over 8 months now. It's just their way of utilizing the cars better. They aren't opening single rider up to the general public though - just Fastpass holders.

It's unfortunate, since many cars do go unfilled, and a single ride line could substantially help out its wait time.

 

[the-reason14]

They don't anymore. When I was there in Sept I asked the CM about it, and they actually laughed and me and said "we don't have a single rider line".

I told him "you did 2 years ago when I was here"!

OMG DCA got rid of their single's line!!?? I heard about that, I think a year or two ago, but I thought that person didn't know what they were talking about. They had one back in 2009 when I was there. So it's juts a regular line now? No fastpasses either!? I guess DL can get away with that.

 

[flynnibus]

This isnt news or anything new. They've been doing this for over 8 months now. It's just their way of utilizing the cars better. They aren't opening single rider up to the general public though - just Fastpass holders.

They were letting people without FPs in as single riders...

 

[10Magic]

I experienced this several times when I was there solo two weeks ago. I had a FastPass, and when I got to the merge, I told the CM it was just me. He let me go to the stairs on the right, and I was on the ride (very happily) within five minutes. But I rode alone both times that this happened. Nobody asked if I would share a ride vehicle, which I would have been happy to do. So wouldn't that defeat the purpose of using a single-rider line to speed up the process, if people were riding solo anyway?

 

[RSoxNo1]

This attraction actually needs a "double rider lane". I think it's probably too tight a fight for a single rider lane. I understand the need to do it for capacity, but the greater need is groups of two. This can be done at the fastpass merge point and the groups of two can be sent up the stairs. The used to do this - I'm not sure why it stopped.

 

[flynnibus]

This attraction actually needs a "double rider lane". I think it's probably too tight a fight for a single rider lane. I understand the need to do it for capacity, but the greater need is groups of two. This can be done at the fastpass merge point and the groups of two can be sent up the stairs. The used to do this - I'm not sure why it stopped.

That would be inefficient.. especially given the heavy family population in the parks. Using 'doubles' would dramatically cut into your valid combinations. Given your 'odd' situation can only be 1.. that's what you make as your exception line. There is no need to leave a bench completely open in a vehicle when you can fill it with part of a group or couple from the main line.

 

[RSoxNo1]

That would be inefficient.. especially given the heavy family population in the parks. Using 'doubles' would dramatically cut into your valid combinations. Given your 'odd' situation can only be 1.. that's what you make as your exception line. There is no need to leave a bench completely open in a vehicle when you can fill it with part of a group or couple from the main line.

How often are you asked to sit with another family even in the same dark ride vehicle. When there are individual seats (Test Track, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur), it's a little different than a bench seat set up. I certainly agree that a single rider line is more efficient, but I don't view this as an attraction where you should be sitting with strangers. There's an element of competition on this attraction which is a little strange to have with someone that you don't know.