Successful Ride Openings

[Bowser]

Watching the TPWW review of Voltron opening and it looks fairly terrifying in terms of the crowd control issue.

Have there been any well organised major ride openings in recent years? Have they always been like this and it's just that there are so many people documenting it now?

 

[Matt N]

I’d argue that Nemesis Reborn’s opening day had no major issues; from what I gather, Alton Towers were well-prepared, starting the queue from down by RMT and having staff managing the whole thing. Yes, the queue got long, but from an organisational standpoint, it all seemed to operate pretty smoothly.

I’d also say the same about some of Universal’s coaster openings, particularly Hagrid’s. With Hagrid’s, the ride may have hit a 10-hour queue, but the park was supposedly well-prepared, with huge amounts of extended queue lines and staff.

 

[Bowser]

a 10-hour queue,

10 hours!!! Were people told that was how long they could wait? Were they allowed to go to the toilet or given water?

 

[Matt N]

10 hours!!! Were people told that was how long they could wait? Were they allowed to go to the toilet or given water?

I don’t know, but that was how long the queue was and Universal prepared for that and just let them wait. That really isn’t overly uncommon in the big Florida parks; I believe Slinky Dog Dash at Hollywood Studios also opened with some obscenely long line.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

it's just that there are so many people documenting it now?

This is certainly the conclusion I'd have made. Not only are there so many people documentation it, but they're all pretty much doing it in real time too.

What I would suggest though, is that although we've seen this level of attention for large rides over the years, we haven't really seen it for supporting attractions until fairly recently. I think you could chalk people's awareness and excitement of even the smallest ride opening down to the prevalence of social media.

Having said all of that, The Wave at Drayton Manor Park & Zoo was sort of the inverse of what you're describing.

 

[Bowser]

Having said all of that, The Wave at Drayton Manor Park & Zoo was sort of the inverse of what you're describing.

Yes and Adventure Island announced their new drop tower was open at 4pm.... after it was already open! Don't think either of those qualify as "major ride openings" though and subsequently didn't garner attention from The Relevant Media

Hyperia is arguably the next big opening in Europe afaik so will be interesting to see how that pans out.

 

[rob666]

I did Ice Blast, or as some of you know it, Playstation the Ride, on the opening evening, a Friday night I think, when it was expected to open on the Saturday.
Preview rides at £2 if I remember rightly.
Cost social services a fortune in petty cash that evening.
Full blown chippy on the way home to celebrate as well.

 

[flyingguitar]

I’d argue that Nemesis Reborn’s opening day had no major issues; from what I gather, Alton Towers were well-prepared, starting the queue from down by RMT and having staff managing the whole thing. Yes, the queue got long, but from an organisational standpoint, it all seemed to operate pretty smoothly.

I was there are would agree Alton handled it very well, it was VERY busy, and a lot of people got there before opening (I think around 9:00-9:30 the entrance/security queue was queued back past the zebra crossing on the walk in), when I joined that queue there was some people from security informing people this was the entrance queue, preventing people from blocking the zebra crossing and helping sort the line out at the split between baggage stations in addition to this, when in the park and queueing they had staff managing it, actors would come down and entertain the queue a bit.
I think in addition to the extra staff the security bag check and fact that AT opens its gates early made a difference to Voltron as the entrance queue meant there was a steady flow of people into the park rather than everyone crowding round the gates and racing off the line.

 

[Matt.GC]

I've only ever attended one ride opening (Wickerman) and that was entirely accidental. I can't think of anything worse than running like a prat, as if my life depended on it, to ride something that will be there for the next 25-30 years anyway. I don't understand the urgency. Unless you're one of these social media "content creators", there doesn't seem like much point to me.

But then my idea of "atmosphere" is walk on rides rather than waiting 4 hours for something whilst you need a wee.

 

[Bowser]

I've only ever attended one ride opening (Wickerman) and that was entirely accidental. I can't think of anything worse than running like a prat, as if my life depended on it, to ride something that will be there for the next 25-30 years anyway. I don't understand the urgency. Unless you're one of these social media "content creators", there doesn't seem like much point to me.

But then my idea of "atmosphere" is walk on rides rather than waiting 4 hours for something whilst you need a wee.

Tbf I think part of the running is so they don’t have to queue for 4 hours. Though obviously somewhat negated by arriving at 7am.

 

[Matt.GC]

Tbf I think part of the running is so they don’t have to queue for 4 hours. Though obviously somewhat negated by arriving at 7am.

Very true. Although they could avoid the 7am wait, desperate panic running, and 4 hour queue by just visiting the very next day.

 

[Bowser]

Very true. Although they could avoid the 7am wait, desperate panic running, and 4 hour queue but just visiting the very next day.

Lots of people like to be the "first" to do something, combined with the ever increasing culture of impatience (eg people paying £70 for a digital download of a video game on release day). And pretty much everyone has a social media account that they will inevitably be boasting to people on.

I do kind of get it, if you're very passionate about something then it's all part of the fun and the atmosphere does generally look good at these things. Voltron rewarded people with a certificate which was a nice touch too, though i imagine some would have preferred plasters and paracetamol.

You couldn't pay me to do it at this point mind, i'd much prefer to go on a ride when it's (hopefully) finished and running as intended.

 

[Matt N]

I have to say, I’ve never felt overly compelled to attend an opening day either.

I technically attended the park-billed “opening weekend” of Wicker Man in 2018 (24th/25th March, after the originally planned opening on 17th March was delayed by snow; I know it actually opened on 20th March, but the park was bigging up 24th/25th March as the “opening weekend”), and I have to say that it did not give me strong inclination to attend an actual opening day. I’m glad I was able to ride Wicker Man around its opening period, but in terms of my actual visit, it was not one of the better visits I’ve had to Alton Towers.

On the 25th, the day we actually went into the park at 9am to ride Wicker Man during ERT, we ended up waiting 2.5 hours for the ride to even open and then got stuck on the brake run at the end for a long enough time that we didn’t get off until around 1:30pm after being evacuated.

When considering that I live far enough from any theme parks that I can’t just pop back and revisit on a whim, I don’t think I’d want what could well be my only visit, or at most one of only two or three visits, to a given park that year to be an experience like that for the sake of getting on the ride a little bit sooner and experiencing the “atmosphere” of an opening day.

I also think that consciously booking for an opening day is a risk in case the opening gets delayed and you get spited. Again, I wouldn’t want to consciously go to a park for potentially my only visit of the year, or possibly my only visit for at least a few years if it’s a far away park, and be spited by their new ride.

From now on, I’ve decided to try and plan my visits for a week to a month after opening. That leaves enough time for the initial hype to wear off and also leaves some wiggle room in case the opening is delayed, but is a short enough amount of time that I don’t feel as though I’m waiting ages to ride the new ride. With Hyperia, I’ve pencilled in a visit for 10th June. That’s 2-3 weeks after the opening on 24th May, which should be long enough for the opening period hype to subside and long enough to give me leeway in case the opening is delayed, but short enough that I don’t feel like I’m waiting ages and ages to ride it.

 

[flyingguitar]

I went on day one because of a few reasons i was wanting to get back to AT after close season, i live close enough to be able to go on a whim and i wanted to experience the new area first hand without spoiling it online, i wasn't bothered by riding it first
tbh i am happy i did it as i had a good time and could experience the new area taking in the new themeing

 

[Bowser]

I'm actually worried i'm going to be an unintentional victim of this. I've booked what will likely be my only ever visit to Universal Osaka in September, which i had hoped would be several months after the opening of the new Donkey Kong Country. But now it's delayed so i'm potentially faced with either missing it completely or perhaps even visiting during the opening period. Considering the park gets 3 hour queues on a typical day, i dread to think what an opening would look like.

 

[flyingguitar]

tbh it probably isn't too good of an idea to an opening day if you live far away and it would be your only visit as the ride queue is gonna be very long probs better to wait a few days or weeks.