Fast Lane (Six Flags)

Fast Lane is an optional, pay-per-person line queue system offered on select rides at legacy Cedar Fair amusement parks, now Six Flags amusement parks. The system provides shorter lines, and guests who want access must pay a fee in addition to general park admission. They are given a wristband for identification, and an unspecified, limited number are sold each day to control wait times. First piloted in 2011 at Kings Island, the system was rolled out to the rest of the Cedar Fair chain in 2012. An upgrade called Fast Lane Plus featuring additional rides is available at some parks.

Example of normal and Fast Lane lines as seen on Blue Streak at Cedar Point

History

[edit]

On July 18, 2011, Kings Island announced the introduction of Fast Lane, a separate line queue featuring shorter wait times.[1] The upcharge for access during its debut year was $50 per person, and the purchase did not include park admission.[2] It was also only active from noon until 7:00 PM originally, but the system was later expanded to all-day availability. Cedar Fair wanted to test the system before deploying to every location, and Kings Island was chosen for that purpose.[3] Fast Lane received positive feedback, and it generated nearly $1 million in half a season.[4] Cedar Fair deemed it a success and decided to roll out Fast Lane to the rest of their parks in 2012.[4] Cedar Fair's Fast Lane differs from the virtual queue system utilized at some competing parks such as Disney's Lightning Lane, which allows guests to reserve their place in line without actually standing in line.

Fast Lane Plus sign at Cedar Point's GateKeeper in 2013

Fright Lane, a Halloween version of Fast Lane, is also available during the fall season at Cedar Fair parks.[5] In 2013, Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Cedar Point, Kings Dominion, and Kings Island introduced an upgraded tier called Fast Lane Plus, which adds a few additional rides not available to the standard Fast Lane tier. Dorney Park and Worlds of Fun followed suit in 2014, introducing Fast Lane Plus for water park attractions at Wildwater Kingdom and Oceans of Fun.[citation needed]

In 2017, Michigan's Adventure launched a season pass add on which allowed users to receive a fast lane wristband every time they visit. This was later expanded to the other Cedar Fair parks in 2018 and 2019.[citation needed] Some parks in the Cedar Fair chain also offer Fast Lane during the Christmas season, often featuring a smaller number of rides due to limited ride operation.

Process

[edit]

Visitors purchase Fast Lane access at the park or online, individually or as a group, with group pricing offering a lower price per group member. Access provides a wrist band to guests that allows them to enter the Fast Lane line queue at attractions that support it. The amount of Fast Lane wrist bands sold per day is restricted to help control wait times.[citation needed]

Reception

[edit]

The priority queuing system was originally controversial. An earlier version implemented at Cedar Point in the early 2000s allowed guests to enter a virtual queue, similar to Disney's FastPass at the time, where riders would return to a ride several hours later and skip to the front of the line. The system was first called Ticket to Ride and was later renamed FreeWay. It was discontinued in 2004 due to negative reception, as guests were uncomfortable with the park "sanctioning line-jumping".[6] Fast Lane received higher marks when assessed internally by Cedar Fair, and the system has been in place at all Cedar Fair parks since 2012.[3]

List of Fast Lane attractions

[edit]

As of March 16, 2024:[7]

Fast Lane
Barney Oldfield Redwood Rally Mass Effect: New Earth
Celebration Swings Pacific Gliders
Delirium Patriot
Delta Flyer/Eagle's Flight Patriot
Demon RailBlazer
Drop Tower Rip Roaring Rapids
Flight Deck Rue Le Dodge
Flying Eagles The Grizzly
Gold Striker Tiki Twirl

As of 4 April 2024:[8]

Fast Lane Fast Lane Plus
Backlot Stunt Coaster Sledge Hammer Behemoth
Drop Tower Soaring Timbers Leviathan
Flight Deck Swing of the Century Yukon Striker
Klockwerks Timberwolf Falls
Krachenwagen Time Warp
Lumberjack Tundra Twister
Mighty Canadian Minebuster Viking's Rage
Psyclone Vortex
Riptide Wilde Beast
Shockwave Wilde Knight Mares
Skyhawk WindSeeker

As of March 9, 2024:[9]

Fast Lane
Afterburn Hover and Dodge
Air Racers Hurler
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill Mountain Gliders
Carolina Cyclone Nighthawk
Carolina Goldrusher Rock'N'Roller
Carolina Skytower Scrambler
Copperhead Strike The Air Walker
Do-Si-Do The Flying Cobras
Drop Tower Thunder Striker
Electro-Spin Vortex
Flying Ace Balloon Race WindSeeker
Fury 325 Windstar
Gear Spin Zephyr
Gyro Force

As of September 3, 2024:[10]

Fast Lane Fast Lane Plus
Atomic Scrambler Giant Wheel Power Tower Maverick
Blue Streak Lake Erie Eagles Raptor Millennium Force
Cadillac Cars Magnum XL-200 Rougarou Steel Vengeance
Corkscrew Matterhorn Skyhawk Valravn
Dodgem maXair Troika
GateKeeper Monster Wave Swinger
Gemini Pipe Scream Windseeker

As of February 5, 2024:[11]

Fast Lane
Aqua Racer Meteor Talon
Aquablast MT Buckets Thunder Canyon
Boa Blasters Musik Express Thunderhawk
Cedar Creek Cannonball Possessed Tilt-A-Whirl
Constrictor Python Plummet Wave Swinger
Dodgem Revolution Whip
Dominator Road Rally White Water Landing
Hydra the Revenge Runaway River Wild Mouse
Iron Menace Scrambler Wildwater River
Kaleidoscope Steel Force

As of March 23, 2024:[12]

Fast Lane
Backlot Stunt Coaster Dominator Shenandoah Lumber Company
Bad Apple Drop Tower Tumbili
Blue Ridge Tollway Flight of Fear Twisted Timbers
Carousel Flying Eagles Wave Swinger
Delirium Pantherian White Water Canyon
Dodgem Reptilian WindSeeker

As of March 23, 2024:[13]

Fast Lane
Adventure Express Flight of Fear Sol Spin
Backlot Stunt Coaster Franklin’s Flyers Surf Dog
Banshee Invertigo The Beast
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill Kings Mills Antique Autos The Racer
Cargo Loco Monster Thunder Falls
Charlie Brown’s Rushing River Log Ride Mystic Timbers Tropical Plunge
Delirium Orion WindSeeker
Diamondback Rendezvous Run Woodstock’s Air Rail
Dodgem Scrambler Zephyr
Drop Tower Shake, Rattle & Roll Zoom Flume
Eiffel Tower Snoopy's Soap Box Racers

As of December 1, 2023:[14]

Fast Lane
Calico Mine Ride Los Voladores
Calico River Rapids Pony Express
Coast Rider Sierra Sidewinder
GhostRider Silver Bullet
HangTime Sol Spin
Jaguar! Supreme Scream
Knott's Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair Timber Mountain Log Ride
La Revolucion Xcelerator

As of August 15, 2022:[15]

Fast Lane
Adventure Falls Mad Mouse
Dodgem Scrambler
Flying Trapeze Shivering Timbers
Giant Gondola Wheel Thunderhawk
Grand Rapids Tilt-A-Whirl
Lakeside Gliders Wolverine Wildcat
Logger's Run Zach's Zoomer

Schlitterbahn Galveston

[edit]

As of August 5, 2022:[16]

Fast Lane
Bahnzai Pipeline Loopy Luge
Boogie Bahn Massiv
Dragon Blasters Rohr!
Faust und Furious Thunder Tub
Guada Loopy Wolfpack
Infinity Racers

Schlitterbahn New Braunfels

[edit]

As of August 5, 2022:[17]

Fast Lane
Black Knight Master Blaster Uphill Water Coaster
Boogie Bahn Surf Ride Raging River Tube Chute
Congo River Expedition White Water Tube Chute
Dragon's Revenge Wolf Pack Raft Slide
Hillside Tube Chute

As of February 7, 2023:[18]

Fast Lane
Breakers Plunge & Pipeline Power Tower
Corkscrew Renegade
Delirious Steel Venom
Excalibur SuperCat
Flying Eagles The Wave
High Roller Thunder Canyon
Mad Mouse Wheel of Fortune
Monster Wild Thing
North Star Xtreme Swing
Northern Lights

As of April 16, 2024:[19]

Fast Lane Fast Lane Plus
Boomerang Predator's Plunge Detonator
Constrictor Prowler Hurricane Falls
Fury of the Nile Scrambler Riptide Raceways
Le Taxi Tour Shark's Revenge Spinning Dragons
Mamba Steel Hawk Zambezi Zinger
Mustang Runner Timber Wolf
Patriot Viking Voyager

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "NewsPlusNotes: Kings Island Announces Fast Lane". Newsplusnotes.blogspot.com. July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  2. ^ "Kings Island – Fast Lane". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Glaser, Susan (April 28, 2012). "Pay to get in the Fast Lane and you'll wait less at Cedar Point: close to home". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Cedar Fair Is Looking Fun Forward". NewsPlusNotes. January 21, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  5. ^ "Cedar Point 2012". PointBuzz. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  6. ^ Glaser, Susan (July 30, 2011). "Amusement parks offer different ways of letting people skip long lines". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  7. ^ "Fast Lane". California's Great America. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  8. ^ "Fast Lane Passes & Deals". Canada's Wonderland. Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  9. ^ "Fast Lane". Carowinds. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Fast Lane". Cedar Point. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  11. ^ "Fast Lane". Dorney Park. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  12. ^ "Fast Lane". Kings Dominion. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  13. ^ "Fast Lane". Kings Island. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  14. ^ "Fast Lane". Knott's Berry Farm. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  15. ^ "Fast Lane". Michigan's Adventure. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  16. ^ "Fast Lane". schlitterbahn galveston. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  17. ^ "Blast Pass". schlitterbahn New Braunfels. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  18. ^ "Fast Lane". Valleyfair. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  19. ^ "Fast Lane". Worlds of Fun. Retrieved October 25, 2021.