Optimizing Tourist Experience in Queuing Areas
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When planning a water park or theme park project, numerous factors must be taken into account. Queuing areas are essential for amusement, performances, popular attractions, and interactive events within each park. These areas serve as the current waiting and warm-up zones for various activities. While they may not be the most exciting part of the park, they are filled with essential elements.
The well-designed queuing area acts like a “preparation zone” before entering the main attraction, allowing visitors to “hear the sound before seeing the person.” During this time, tourists can grasp the theme and safety instructions of the attraction. Additionally, the queuing area includes details that enhance comfort and ensure the safety of visitors. Let’s delve into the design of queuing areas, focusing on technology control, application, and theme creation.
Technical Control of Queuing Areas
1. Orderly Guidance
The primary aim of establishing a queuing area is to organise tourists to enter various venues or amusement zones in an orderly fashion, ensuring they enjoy the recreational activities safely and smoothly, rather than rushing in. This concept is similar to queuing areas in front of other public service facilities. Consequently, the width of the standing line is typically sufficient for a single person to pass through, with no abrupt changes to prevent queue jumping.
Moreover, important information such as height requirements and health restrictions should be clearly displayed at the entrance of the queue area to prevent any issues when the queue is halted at the attraction’s entrance.
2. Evacuation of Tourists
Extended queuing times can sometimes lead to unexpected situations, such as the need for a temporary emergency exit, children needing the toilet, or even special disasters requiring full evacuation. In such cases, exiting and returning via the original route can cause disputes among tourists. During emergencies, it’s easy for tourists to form a crowd, leading to potential stampede accidents. For instance, at Lanchao Discovery Kingdom, emergency evacuation doors are installed in the queuing area of the samba balloon project, leading to an external activity site. The exit channel is positioned between the queuing area and the greening area, parallel to the outermost part of the queuing channel, facilitating rapid evacuation and effectively guiding the flow of people during special circumstances.
3. Coping with Large Passenger Flow
During holidays, parks often experience peak passenger flow, and the length of the queuing area is usually determined by the flow during stationary periods. To prevent overflow during peak times, the planning and layout of temporary queuing areas should be considered from the outset of park design. If you’re planning to build a water park, this aspect should be considered as well.
At Lanchao Discovery Kingdom, for example, the large pendulum project is highly popular. Its temporary queuing area is set up on hard ground near the venue. This semi-open area provides shade and rain protection without obstructing the large flow of people. The hard ground is pre-drilled, allowing temporary guardrails to be inserted as needed to define the queuing space. During off-peak days, the temporary queuing area is removed, and the boreholes are covered with metal caps, ensuring no obstacles are left to trip tourists.
4. Preview Area Setting
Many 4D/5D or medium and large stage theatres, as well as some theme amusement equipment, guide tourists to a preview hall before queuing for admission. This space acts like the introduction of a novel, aiming to focus tourists’ attention and pique their interest before entering the main venue.
In some cases, theatres may place the rehearsal hall before the queuing area, allowing tourists to queue in batches according to specific rules. The size of the rehearsal hall depends on the number of tourists the theatre or amusement equipment can accommodate in the next batch, providing enough space for most tourists to stand comfortably. Rehearsal time should be brief, clearly explaining the play’s background and viewing precautions.
5. Seat Setting
During the Shanghai World Expo, the Saudi Pavilion was immensely popular, with queuing times reaching up to 8 hours. A portable folding stool was introduced, highlighting the need for seating. In high-intensity queuing areas, tourists often sit against the railings, prompting theme park owners to consider providing seating. Some domestic theme parks have begun installing simple wooden stools along the railings. Although only 20-30cm wide, these stools offer tourists a place to rest and set down their belongings. When tourists are comfortable, issues like pushing, shoving, and railing riding naturally diminish.
6. Fast Track
To allow some tourists to experience attractions more quickly, many theme parks have introduced fast lanes and single channels alongside regular queuing areas, offering convenience by exchanging money for time. On peak days, more tourists are embracing this method to experience various attractions more comprehensively. Therefore, the fast track can be seen as a strategy to enhance and streamline the tourist experience. If you’re planning to build a water park, this aspect should be considered as well.
The entrance to the express channel is often adjacent to the regular channel, with a similar design style but a shorter path. However, the fast track requires two to three times the outdoor queuing area, so it should be selectively implemented for specific projects. Performance and exhibition venues can eliminate the need for a fast track by setting up a guest area.
