Single rider is glorious

[disneymom0104]

I guess I just don’t equate all of the other abuse you’re talking about with the single rider line. The single rider line is designed to fill empty seats. It self-regulates itself.

I think it‘s advertised as a potentially faster option, but it wasn’t designed so people travelling alone could ride faster then a couple or family.

Exactly. This thread honestly blows my mind. It is the single rider line. Anyone who rides apart from their family is a single rider, whether they stand in the line with them or not. It is not a "solo traveler" line. It's not intended to mean no wait. Depending on the ebb and flow of the day, those lines will vary just like any other. There is no way it is an abuse of the system when it is being utilized exactly as Disney intended.

 

[jimmymc]

The single rider line is for.......SINGLE riders. Parties of one. It's not for greedy families to split up and abuse just so they can get through the line faster.

This is logistically wrong. The point of a single rider line is to fill in gaps in parties, which makes the ride run with a higher throughput. Who gets in that line does not matter if they don't care about sitting together. Disney didn't put these in to give solo travelers an advantage.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I hope I write this the way I mean it to come out and I’ll start by saying that I don’t think greed and selfishness are bad.

That being said, I think anyone who uses single rider line is being greedy and selfish. Has anyone ever heard of someone entering a single rider line doing so to help the park with its efficiency? I certainly haven’t. It has always been done to save time waiting in line.

I don’t think the OP did anything wrong at all. As stated many times already, it is open to anyone who is willing to wait for an open single seat. But based on their post they were doing it to save time for themselves and not to make standby more efficient for everyone else.

That’s greedy. That’s selfish. That’s okay.

 

[Leight19]

I want to add in to consensus that groups breaking up in single rider line is not abuse in anyway. This isn’t a perk for solo travelers it’s a method to make the ride run more smoothly if you are flexible about riding separately. Groups taking single rider line for shorter wait isn’t “gaming the system” it’s literally the intention of the single rider line (offering shorter wait as incentive to get groups to split up to increase ride efficiency). The only abuse to system would be if groups got in single rider line and made a scene/refused when actually asked to split up.

 

[dmband]

For those of you that don’t see the difference between single rider and group single rider, it is pretty simple…
when A group of people enter the line designed for a true single it pushes the wait of those singles back.

not saying I have not done it but that also doesn’t mean it is “right” and the true singles are getting a longer wait time.
pretty much common sense really

 

[pants]

This topic came up on Len Testa and Jim Hill's podcast today and they estimate that the single rider line can increase operational capacity by potentially 3-4% per hour, getting closer to theoretical capacity (where every seat is filled every time, no lag in loading/unloading, etc). That throughput is worth it to Disney and adds to the overall capacity of the park without inflating the regular standby wait times.

Is it disappointing to wait longer than expected in a single rider queue? Yes. Will that ruin a vacation? "I'm just happy to be here."

 

[Dug720]

I have never found the single rider option to be the best on RnRC. The design of that loading area makes it very easy for parties of 3 to say "4" at the front of the line and then they are around the curve where the CMs can't as easily see that there actually are spots for solos to fill in (multiple times doing the single rider line I'd see open seats in the area behind the curve on the coaster). I was in the solo rider area one time and it got so backed up in that pen they had to run a couple of trains of nothing but solo riders to prevent serious injury to people in there.

The last time I did it - going through the regular line even as a solo - they had more CMs around the curve who would signal as soon as they saw one person from a party get into a line so that was helping a bit. But with reduced staffing that might have gone by the wayside now.

 

[disneymom0104]

For those of you that don’t see the difference between single rider and group single rider, it is pretty simple…
when A group of people enter the line designed for a true single it pushes the wait of those singles back.

not saying I have not done it but that also doesn’t mean it is “right” and the true singles are getting a longer wait time.
pretty much common sense really

Everyone in the group is a single rider at that point. Every one of them is a "true single". Because they are riding alone. Why are "solo travelers" more entitled to a shorter wait?

 

[Leight19]

For those of you that don’t see the difference between single rider and group single rider, it is pretty simple…
when A group of people enter the line designed for a true single it pushes the wait of those singles back.

not saying I have not done it but that also doesn’t mean it is “right” and the true singles are getting a longer wait time.
pretty much common sense really

My kids are to young so have never used single rider line but what gives you impression single rider line is designed not intended for groups to split up? Someone posted exact text from Disney above that indicated directly it’s an option for groups to split up and ride. There is nothing wrong about groups riding in single rider line if they split up. It’s literally the intent of the line.

 

[BrianL]

You did nothing wrong. The only way it would be abuse is if you got to the front of the line and demanded your family not be split up. Which you did not do.

Yeah - and this happens sometimes and that would be abuse of the system. If a family is willing to be split up, then Single Rider is perfectly fine to use. I usually go with adult friends, and we absolutely use it as we don't much care if we ride together every time.

ETA: Also, of course kids have to be old enough to ride alone, but they ask when you enter the queue if it is in question.

OP, it is really no big deal! SR works great, especially at Test Track. I've had mixed luck with MFSR and RNRC, but EE is also pretty good. I like Disneyland even more as they have even more SR lines!

 

[kylenne]

but there are probably other actual single riders who had to wait longer because larger groups were using it to have a shorter wait. It happens all the time at EE, pre-covid anyway, sometimes the single rider line would be almost as long as the regular line because so many families would jump in that to avoid the line. You are at the mercy of the size of the groups in the regular line, and if a lot of families/larger groups hop in the single rider line and there happen to be a lot of groups that don't allow for a lot of single riders to be needed then that line doesn't move...and then it gets looooooong.

I mean it’s not against the rules any more than day guests going back to the TTC using the resort monorail because the line is shorter at the end of the night, but it is a jerk move imo. It doesn’t seem like a very big deal in the scheme of things, and maybe it isn’t, but if enough people do it there is a negative impact, which is something i don’t think groups who do it realize. Like I’m convinced people doing this is why the single rider line at RNRC is always so terrible to the point of uselessness.

I tend to just roll my eyes and don’t pay it any mind because ime it evens out with all the times I end up jumping a whole bunch of people in line because the CM needs to fill 1 seat and goes down the line asking for a solo. At the end of the day everybody will end up being on the good or bad end of this sort of thing, it’s just the nature of the place.

 

[kylenne]

Yeah - and this happens sometimes and that would be abuse of the system. If a family is willing to be split up, then Single Rider is perfectly fine to use. I usually go with adult friends, and we absolutely use it as we don't much care if we ride together every time.

OP, it is really no big deal! SR works great, especially at Test Track. I've had mixed luck with MFSR and RNRC, but EE is also pretty good. I like Disneyland even more as they have even more SR lines!

Single rider sucks on MFSR because 99% of the time you will end up as Engineer, which is by far the lamest role. Sometimes if you’re lucky the CM will let you request pilot though.

 

[BrianL]

Single rider sucks on MFSR because 99% of the time you will end up as Engineer, which is by far the lamest role. Sometimes if you’re lucky the CM will let you request pilot though.

Now, that is the truth! Really, anything other than Pilot is lame (I kinda like Engineer better than gunner - but neither is too good).

 

[kylenne]

Now, that is the truth! Really, anything other than Pilot is lame (I kinda like Engineer better than gunner - but neither is too good).

The first time I rode it was single rider, and I regretted it lol. I finally got to be pilot on the trip I just came back from, when I had the whole ship to myself!

 

[BrianL]

The first time I rode it was single rider, and I regretted it lol. I finally got to be pilot on the trip I just came back from, when I had the whole ship to myself!

On my trip in November 2019 we were never pilots. We did SR once, but then realized we would always be Engineer that way. We only got to be pilots last month when they weren't mixing parties. The issue is that not only is pilot the most fun position, but also if you get stuck with bad pilots, it really affects the ride. We had some that basically ran the ship into the ground the entire time! Honestly, I think they should just take the game aspect out of it - make it like Mission: SPACE - do this at a certain moment, but if you don't it's still okay.

 

[gharter]

For those of you that don’t see the difference between single rider and group single rider, it is pretty simple…
when A group of people enter the line designed for a true single it pushes the wait of those singles back.

not saying I have not done it but that also doesn’t mean it is “right” and the true singles are getting a longer wait time.
pretty much common sense really

Couldn't disagree more.
The single rider line is for people that are willing to fill in otherwise empty seats. Nowhere does it state that a group of people cannot go in the single rider line. It does state multiple times in line that as a single rider, your "group" will be split up.
The only time that I would see a group using the single line as abuse is when they are trying to sit together and the CMs are telling them they must be separated (which I have seen happen).

 

[georgina]

So as a family with young kids, we never took advantage of single rider before, but now that they are getting older, we gave it a try, and what a glorious advantage it is.

Each time we rode as a family first, then did single rider, so we experienced both.

At HS for MFSR two days this week we waited <5 min in single rider each time (posted wait was about 45 and we waited about 30 each time just prior to riding single rider)

For EP, even better advantage. We were at the front of RD at international gateway at 10:15, but the crowd from the front beat us and we didn’t get on the ride till 11:35 (held at Canada for some time so it might have been about a 60 min wait from when we were release). Posted 110 wait at some point while in line. We waited 5 min in single rider a bit later (posted wait was 60 min then I think).

So if you don’t mind your party split up, then it saves a ton of time to do single rider.

Btw. Each time on every ride, my son and DH ended up in the same car (ship). There are 4 of us, so if they called one single rider me or my daughter would go. But if they called for 2, then DH would take our youngest. But we fully prepared him to be riding alone if they called one rider each time. And my kids were so happy with the short waits that they didn’t mind splitting up. But I still like riding together as a family the first time, and using single rider for re-rides.

Single rider is awesome!

To me it's just OK at Disney, since they barely have it on any rides, but it's great at Universal. As a frequent solo traveler, I love the SR lines, and no, I don't care if groups get in as long as they are riding single.

 

[Katie Dawn]

For those getting bent out of shape about families using Single Rider.... It's called Single RIDER, not Single Traveler.

 

[Heather07438]

As a single rider I actually get really annoyed when there are large parties using it as a way to have a short wait.

What I have a hard time understanding is why people assume single rider is meant as a perk for solo travelers or solo riders.

It is not intended as a perk for that specific group. That’s not its purpose, the intended function is efficiency.

Where has Disney ever said or even implied such a thing about about single rider? They do say:
"Single Rider is a service that allows groups to split up and embark on select attractions individually!"

Everybody has an equal right to single rider, the only prerequisite is they must agree to ride individually. That is it. Doesn’t matter if it makes the line longer for other people; they all have equal right to access the single rider queue.

 

[DisLiss]

I honestly had no idea that people had a problem with this.

Welcome to the internet where you will find people who have a problem with literally any possible topic you could ever dream to talk about.