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Dollywood Discussion Thread

P. 796 - Ride closing 10/30 to remove launch and install chain lift!

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How do they limit the number sold each day in that setup?

 

The same way they're keeping track of it now with plastic wristbands...

That's the thing, they have no limit in place other than only two rides allowed on LR

 

Dollywood last year had a few record breaking days with over 35,000 guest. That's a lot of guest

 

5000 of those guest buy bands (I don't know the true number,, that's just a guess) and head to one of the two rides that backs up even on slow days at Dollywood (LR or Firechaser).. That flash line is going to back up quickly. Yesterday parking only made it to lot c but LR had 45+ minute wait.

 

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How do they limit the number sold each day in that setup?

 

The same way they're keeping track of it now with plastic wristbands...

That's the thing, they have no limit in place other than only two rides allowed on LR

 

Note: TimeSaver operating days may vary. TimeSaver wristbands are available on a first-come, first-served basis, in limited quantities each day.

 

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Yeah, but what are those limited gtys? They aren't advertised anywhere. I have heard of days where cedar fair will sale a couple thousand of them..

 

I mean I'm sure the park has a hard cutoff but we don't know that number.. even if it's 1000, that's a lot of people on the rides that do back up.. a lot of people when you only have 3 or 4 rides that even need it on a busy day.

 

On a sold out day at dreammore they could very well possibly issue over 300 bands just for staying there

 

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Edited by dstephe9
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My biggest thing is not limiting sales but limiting the amount of people in the fast line. Q-Bots and app based systems allow that to be managed VS wristbands that are just pull tabs or punch systems..

 

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How do they limit the number sold each day in that setup?

 

The same way they're keeping track of it now with plastic wristbands...

That's the thing, they have no limit in place other than only two rides allowed on LR

 

Note: TimeSaver operating days may vary. TimeSaver wristbands are available on a first-come, first-served basis, in limited quantities each day.

 

Link

 

I agree with everything you've said on this issue. It's practical, cheap, and easy - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

Also, I'm glad you got on LR (and loved it!), great review!

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How do they limit the number sold each day in that setup?

 

The same way they're keeping track of it now with plastic wristbands...

That's the thing, they have no limit in place other than only two rides allowed on LR

 

Note: TimeSaver operating days may vary. TimeSaver wristbands are available on a first-come, first-served basis, in limited quantities each day.

 

Link

 

I agree with everything you've said on this issue. It's practical, cheap, and easy - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

Also, I'm glad you got on LR (and loved it!), great review!

That's the problem, currently the bracelets aren't very popular at Dollywood.. it's to early to see if they will cause backups on some rides or not but with a way of not being able to manage the amount of people getting in line of some popular rides, I can see that really hurting Dollywood on some rides such as LR and Firechaser that already backup, even on slow days.. who knows, it might not be a problem at all..

 

What you also have to remember is that all resort guest get a free band (I believe they still do this year, an email I received said so anyway).. not sure if the get only one for each guest or one for everyday they visit.. that claims 100+ bands daily on busy days.

 

The current design of their bracelet though is broken and needs fixed.. I saw one family arguing with ride ops on LR Sunday bc they claimed they lost their "Star" card.. who knows if they really lost it or not lol so even if these bands don't result in long timesaver lines, they really need to revisit the design for sure.

 

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Got it, maybe Dollywood is just testing a basic system for now and seeing if an unmanaged system will work for them.

 

I know Sunday they pretty much let the folks with a wristband on as soon as they arrived.. wasn't a huge issue but again on Sunday the park was only at parking lot C (A is handycapped and B is a very small lot) so not many guest.. even then LR had about a 45 min wait most of the day and Firechaser had 30+

 

This caused us to miss one train due to a larger family with bands getting on but wasn't a huge issue. We will have to wait until one of these slammed days with 35000+ guest! Last year I was unfortunate enough to be at the park one of those days and it was pretty miserable as is but if the timesaver line is backed up we will see how they manage LR or Firechaser or even MM which are the three coasters that get over an hour and a half wait on those days as is

 

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Edited by dstephe9
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How do they limit the number sold each day in that setup?

 

The same way they're keeping track of it now with plastic wristbands... simple, basic inventory tracking.

 

You described stacks of bands/cards at multiple locations.

 

Does each location get an daily allotment and when they run out send people to other locations hoping that place has some

Or is it centrally controlled, ie location has to verify that they can sell another one each time?

 

Both sound more troublesome than a single point of sale in the park.

 

And DW isn't that big anyway. You can get from any place to anyplace in 10 minutes. So having to go to a single location isn't that bad.

Edited by STDog
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we will see how they manage LR or Firechaser or even MM which are the three coasters that get over an hour and a half wait on those days as is

 

 

Back in 2013 I recall 90+ minutes for Wild Eagle too. Line was out to the eagle statue. Haven't seen it that bad in later years, but we hit it early or meal times when the lines get shorter for everything.

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How do they limit the number sold each day in that setup?

 

The same way they're keeping track of it now with plastic wristbands... simple, basic inventory tracking.

 

You described stacks of bands/cards at multiple locations.

 

Does each location get an daily allotment and when they run out send people to other locations hoping that place has some

Or is it centrally controlled, ie location has to verify that they can sell another one each time?

 

Both sound more troublesome than a single point of sale in the park.

I imagined my last trip to Biltmore when I read "qtys limited".. online Biltmore said "sold out" but tickets still available at the mansion.. They didn't turn anyone away that was willing to pay the $85 for the ticket when they arrived that day.. about a hundred people had been in line when I was there and they didn't turn any of them away and everyone had a view time of the mansion.. it was so packed, we Upgraded to a season pass and came back later in the week

 

So do you feel a theme park would really turn money away if someone was willing to buy those passes? They might!! Not saying they won't, but for now I am skeptical.. to early to say what will happen I guess

 

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You described stacks of bands/cards at multiple locations.

 

Does each location get an daily allotment and when they run out send people to other locations hoping that place has some

Or is it centrally controlled, ie location has to verify that they can sell another one each time?

 

Both sound more troublesome than a single point of sale in the park.

 

And DW isn't that big anyway. You can get from any place to anyplace in 10 minutes. So having to go to a single location isn't that bad.

 

You could do it either way, the advantage of selling them at shops or kiosks is to save on staffing but if you wanted a central location then that would work too.

 

Most of the complaints or concerns people are bringing up seem like roundabout ways of complaining about skip the line systems in general. My point is that a cheap paper wristband or card makes more sense than a plastic thing that keeps having tabs fall off. Concerns about POS system integration or quantity being sold are really a separate issue that have nothing to do with my initial point because they'd be an issue with either option.

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So do you feel a theme park would really turn money away if someone was willing to buy those passes?

 

 

And that's how you end up with 45 minute waits in the "fast" lane.

Yeah and I see, potentially, on a busy day folks buying these bands up like crazy thinking there will be no wait.. I have faith Dollywood will actually cut the bands off at one point but who knows what that true number is, if anything

 

At least having an electronic system like Q-Bots, or app based or whatever will allow the fast lane line to be a little more manageable..

 

Eitherway, it might be a mute point and we may not have any issues with the new unmanaged line system.. it'll be interesting to hear thoughts on it on a busy day and how it worked.. I try to avoid busy days personally but usually get caught on one of their record days every season

 

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I haven't ever physically purchased a ticket at dollywood but don't they have computer systems that keep track of these things? in other words, it doesn't matter how many stacks of punch cards or whatever you have lying around, you just ring them up in the POS as you sell them. They set a limit of x express-line sales for the day and once x is reached across the whole park, the system says they're sold out for the day.

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You could do it either way, the advantage of selling them at shops or kiosks is to save on staffing but if you wanted a central location then that would work too.

 

OK. I was just wondering how the scheme you were discussion would work as I've never dealt with one.

 

 

Most of the complaints or concerns people are bringing up seem like roundabout ways of complaining about skip the line systems in general. My point is that a cheap paper wristband or card makes more sense than a plastic thing that keeps having tabs fall off.

 

Practically anything would be better than DW's current plastic bands and tabs.

I don't care for the concept of a limited number of uses and I suspect existing DW customers to really dislike that.

10x (and only 1 or 2x for certain rides) is a massive change over what was previously offered at the price point, limited only by your choices and hours of operation.

 

Add in the ease with which the tabs fall off becoming unusable or even lost, and I see real headaches ahead.

Even changing the policy to have them collected so that loose tabs that fell off can be used (as long as you have the band) won't correct the lost tab issue.

 

While I don't care for the systems in general, I find the virtual queue concept most palatable.

Next most the Disney FastPass (and the + system in FL) next most.

The express lane style from Universal I like the least.

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I haven't ever physically purchased a ticket at dollywood but don't they have computer systems that keep track of these things? in other words, it doesn't matter how many stacks of punch cards or whatever you have lying around, you just ring them up in the POS as you sell them. They set a limit of x express-line sales for the day and once x is reached across the whole park, the system says they're sold out for the day.

I'm not really sure how integrated their systems are.. I have a fairly decent background in Microsystems and it looks like they might be using a few different versions of software or at least the systems might not connected

 

For example, last year I was looking for Advil towards the end of the season.. (a lot of places had been out of stuff like this because it was after Christmas) the clerk could see his location​ was out on his system but couldn't see what other locations had.. I know six flags can see other locations so can Disney and other parks

 

This isn't hardcore proof that Dolly's systems don't talk to each other but they weren't that day or the clerk didn't know how to make them.

 

They very well could talk to each other though

 

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Edited by dstephe9
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You could do it either way, the advantage of selling them at shops or kiosks is to save on staffing but if you wanted a central location then that would work too.

 

OK. I was just wondering how the scheme you were discussion would work as I've never dealt with one.

 

 

Most of the complaints or concerns people are bringing up seem like roundabout ways of complaining about skip the line systems in general. My point is that a cheap paper wristband or card makes more sense than a plastic thing that keeps having tabs fall off.

 

Practically anything would be better than DW's current plastic bands and tabs.

I don't care for the concept of a limited number of uses and I suspect existing DW customers to really dislike that.

10x (and only 1 or 2x for certain rides) is a massive change over what was previously offered at the price point, limited only by your choices and hours of operation.

 

Add in the ease with which the tabs fall off becoming unusable or even lost, and I see real headaches ahead.

Even changing the policy to have them collected so that loose tabs that fell off can be used (as long as you have the band) won't correct the lost tab issue.

 

While I don't care for the systems in general, I find the virtual queue concept most palatable.

Next most the Disney FastPass (and the + system in FL) next most.

The express lane style from Universal I like the least.

Luckily, from what I have heard, Universal is testing a new system with NFC bands like Disney but much more advanced

 

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Luckily, from what I have heard, Universal is testing a new system with NFC bands like Disney but much more advanced

 

Well it's not the technical/technological aspects I dislike.

 

Is that Universal FL or CA?

 

My understanding is that Disney FL is the only one with the FP+ system that uses NFC bands/cards. The other locations still use paper tickets printed at the ride.

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I'll try to find the article about Universal.. it popped up in my Google Now news feed earlier this year.. my understanding is the testing is going on at one of their waterparks currently

 

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Found an article, it's going to be used at the new universal waterpark in FL..

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-blog/os-et-universal-volcano-bay-taputapu-20170209-story.html

 

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/11/2-reasons-disney-world-fears-volcano-bay-1-reason.aspx

 

The bands look to work like a Q-Bot system that alerts riders it's their time to ride.. I'd imagine you can Google taputapu bands (their name) and find more info

 

These aren't bands you keep (they have a screen) but one of the articles I read said that universal plans to get the cost down and implement this in all their parks after the testing phase.. I can't find that article at the moment.. that same article said they planned to implement these with an app as well sometime during the testing phase.. the app would be more useful in the themepark as at the waterparks people don't carry phones

 

 

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With the new pull tabs could two people use tabs from one band at the same time? If so that might be a good option on not so busy days if only FCE, LR and WE had lines that you would need to skip.

I assume you could, I didn't check the pricing, but in the past i thought Dollywood allowed you to include several people without much of a fee, if any fee at all.. Dollywood isn't like six flags where it's $35 for one person, $60 for two and so on.. So not really sure how much you would save with only one ba d

 

 

 

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Edited by dstephe9
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DW was always a per person fee, but what persons wasn't really controlled. You paid for 2 people, it could in theory be any two; the person with the bot and another. And it was $35/person.

 

The bot had a belt clip and could easily be passed around.

 

Not sure, but i don't think the new bands can​ be taken on and off repeatedly. And you have to be wearing the band when they remove the tab.

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