Why queue for hours?

[gavin]

I think I've only done one opening day: Thirteen at Alton Towers. I can't really remember specifics, but I must've got a free ticket or something because I didn't have an annual pass and I probably wouldn't have paid knowing that I wasn't going to get a "proper" park day out of it.

From what I remember, it was a decent day overall. I don't recall the queue being excessive - we were outside the cattle pens, but I don't think we had to wait too long - so after getting it done there was time to do other stuff.

This was before every c**t with a camera decided to be a vlogger though. I'm being an old fart, but I don't think I'd particularly enjoy what I imagine the experience to be like these days.

Just realised as I'm typing this that I also did the official opening day of Frozen at Hong Kong Disney, but I got there in the late afternoon and they'd already had so many previews by that point that it just felt like a busy but normal day.

 

[Will]

^
They're a lot busier than they were, which is frustrating when you realise that half the people you're queuing with weren't born when Spinball, Rita and the like opened.

And as you say, the number of ****s with youtube channels is painful.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

^
They're a lot busier than they were, which is frustrating when you realise that half the people you're queuing with weren't born when Spinball, Rita and the like opened.

And as you say, the number of ****s with youtube channels is painful.

Wait... I've just... Actually never mind that... YOU have a youtube channel yourself!!!!

 

[Hyde]

Wusses, the lot of ya.

In defense of hours-long queues, while it's (obviously) not the standard operation none of us would hope for, there is a certain romance to "saying you were apart of it" when recounting the birth of a brand-new coaster or ride experience.

Digging deeper, this might be a bias instilled in me during the peak of the late 90s/early 00s coaster wars, and growing up with Cedar Point in your backyard. There was a certain piousness to waiting hours on end for your first ride on MF, Wicked Twister, and TTD (to @Ian's first post), the latest "salvo" in the Cedar Point vs. SFMM battle to see who comes out on top (spoiler alert, Six Flags won ). 4+ hour queues were the norm for the popular rides in my local community, and something you did if you wanted to earn your notches.

Playing it forward, I've brought this attitude in earnest for any other chances to be apart of the opening day preceding for roller coasters or lead attractions; I know I am purposely waiting multiple hours for a roller coaster that I otherwise will have chance to get a walk-on/30 minute queue on. But the point is never just the ride, it's taking in the entire park atmosphere, at the "peak moment" when the ride is the center of attention. Or at the very least, helps you get quoted in the local paper when things go awry.