single rider test track question

[ShelliRenee]

When we were there last October, there was a mother daughter group in front of us, and they told the daughter to go to one car and the mother to another (what is to be expected) But Mom then said "You can't expect my daughter to ride alone." And she went and got in the same line as her daughter. The CM went to her and said nicely it was a single rider line and if she wanted to ride with her daughter that she would have to go into the regular line. The lady began to pitch a fit and security had to be called to remove the mother and daughter from the area. It was a big scene. And to be honest I was glad the CM didn't let her get away with it. Single rider line is fast, but you sacrifice the enjoyment of riding with your party for the efficiency.

 

[ktlm]

What a fantastic suggestion! I think my DD7 will be too young to go this route on this trip, but I will remember it in the future - thanks for the help!

My DD was 7 our last trip and we did single rider once. We put her in the middle of us so that one of us would be waiting when she got off the ride, and the other would still be with her in line until she was in the car. One of us actually wound up in the same car with her, but in a different row, so it worked out well. I would not have done it if it had been her first time on Test Track, but she had ridden the ride before and knew what to expect. If it is your DD's 1st trip, I wouldn't do it except maybe to get a 2nd ride in on it if she really liked it the first time.

 

[siskaren]

I get into the single rider line with my aunt all the time. We know we're going to be separated so I don't quite understand how we're making the wait longer for those waiting in line alone.

It's not people like you who know that they're going to be separated that could make the wait longer; it's people like this:

When we were there last October, there was a mother daughter group in front of us, and they told the daughter to go to one car and the mother to another (what is to be expected) But Mom then said "You can't expect my daughter to ride alone." And she went and got in the same line as her daughter. The CM went to her and said nicely it was a single rider line and if she wanted to ride with her daughter that she would have to go into the regular line. The lady began to pitch a fit and security had to be called to remove the mother and daughter from the area. It was a big scene. And to be honest I was glad the CM didn't let her get away with it. Single rider line is fast, but you sacrifice the enjoyment of riding with your party for the efficiency.

Imagine a scenario like that being played out multiple times and how much time that would add to the wait in the single rider line.

 

[disney1990]

We always do this with our granddaughters. DH goes first, then granddaughters and then me. Somebody behind them and somebody in front of them. Works great. If there is only 1 adult, I would let adult go first and then wait for child to get off at the end.

 

[delmar411]

They actively split up parties in the TT single rider line. They do it on purpose because of all the problems with families and group who refuse to split up.

So plan to ride alone or get in the standby line.

 

[amberpi]

What a fantastic suggestion! I think my DD7 will be too young to go this route on this trip, but I will remember it in the future - thanks for the help!

I think with a parent sandwich, you'd be golden, even at 7, the only time she would be without you was during the actual ride. I'm pretty sure she isn't going to be thinking about who is next to her once the ride starts

 

[DOOM1001]

if my DW and DD and i all three get in the single rider line, can we do either of these?

1.) wait off to the side until there is a car with two seats next to one another? (i know, unlikely)
2.) be guaranteed (by waiting if necessary) to have my DD in the same car as one of us? (behind her or in front of her)

Single rider line is there to fill the empty seats,if a single person or a family of 12 gets in the singles line they are going to be put wherever the empty seats are.I have no problem when groups use the singles line as long as they understand that point.It may be possible two may end up in the same car but there are no guarantees and you should not ask the CM to be placed together.They're busy grouping the lines and whenever I've seen somebody ask them to be placed together from singles it just throws off the flow of their grouping as it distracts them from their job by having to explain that that's not the way the line works.

 

[china mom]

On my recent trip, a couple in the single rider line tried to tell the CM that they could not be split up. The CM yelled over to another cast member something to the effect of "they can't ride separately so show them where the exit is". The couple decided that they could, after all, ride apart.

 

[SmallWorld71]

My DD was 7 our last trip and we did single rider once. We put her in the middle of us so that one of us would be waiting when she got off the ride, and the other would still be with her in line until she was in the car. One of us actually wound up in the same car with her, but in a different row, so it worked out well. I would not have done it if it had been her first time on Test Track, but she had ridden the ride before and knew what to expect. If it is your DD's 1st trip, I wouldn't do it except maybe to get a 2nd ride in on it if she really liked it the first time.

I think this is important. I would never have a younger child (say in the 7-8 year old range) use a single rider line if they had never been on the ride before.

Also, just wanted to describe the loading a bit. Since single rider line is used to fill in gaps, you just don't know where you will end up. You are sent to all different sections of the loading area. So, the child/ single rider needs to go wait on the platform by themselves (usually with a family that all know one another), get themselves into the ride vehicle alone and manage the buckle. It's not like you can get your child situated and then tell them you will see them at the end. They would be alone for a bit before the ride even started.

I love single rider on Test Track. But, I can honestly say that I personally wasn't comfortable having my kids use it until they were at least 9.

 

[ucfknight]

They actively split up parties in the TT single rider line. They do it on purpose because of all the problems with families and group who refuse to split up.

The nature of the single rider line is what splits up parties. I've never seen a cast member distributing people in the Test Track load area give it any more thought than yelling, "single rider row 5, Single rider row 8", etc. in order to fill in the empty seats. My family of 4 always gets 2 consecutive single riders placed with us to fill the 6 seats in the car.

 

[scoker]

Last year at DLR they allowed my then 6 year old to do the single rider line for Cars and it was fine. Each time it was my intention for myself to ride first and be waiting for her on the other side. I was more comfortable her being on the side with the cast members loading cars than I was having her able to wander out farther than I wanted her too on the other side. One time somehow she got loaded several cars ahead of me but we had a pre-planned meeting area. The kid sandwich would be perfect with one parent going before and one after but I would say this also depends on your child. My kid is very independent and would just assume she could handle anything on her own. She became separated from us on the way out of the Tiki room when were with a bunch of family members. We had that moment when everyone thought she was with someone else until we realized no one had her. It was probably only 30 seconds but that could be enough to terrify some kids. My kid stood in one spot and turned in a circle knowing that we would soon realize she wasn't with us and turn around to look for her. A child who is shy or overwhelmed in a crowd might freak out.

 

[bumbershoot]

Last year at DLR they allowed my then 6 year old to do the single rider line for Cars and it was fine.

For clarity, though, 7 is the minimum age to ride alone and use the SR line. scoker, you got lucky there. (7 is the age for the Anaheim parks and Orlando parks)

And you bring up good points, that remind me to say...don't plan for the perfect thing to happen. If it's perfect, a parent sandwich will work. But plan for imperfection. Plan for someone to have a ride stop after the other is already on the way. Will the child be able to handle sitting in the ride vehicle? Will they be able to handle being walked out of the ride with the CMs and other guests? Will they be able to wait at the waiting spot while YOU are walking out from a breakdown and reaching the child?

The perfect scenario is simple, but it's thinking about the problems that can really make a decision of whether that child should be in the SR line.

 

[delmar411]

The nature of the single rider line is what splits up parties. I've never seen a cast member distributing people in the Test Track load area give it any more thought than yelling, "single rider row 5, Single rider row 8", etc. in order to fill in the empty seats. My family of 4 always gets 2 consecutive single riders placed with us to fill the 6 seats in the car.

The last time DH and I used single rider the CM was separating groups and did not send consecutive singles to the same car. Like they sent me to line 1, DH to 6, then the person behind him to 2,etc.
That's what I meant by actively separating groups. If they think you are together then they may send you to different cars even though the same car could be available.

 

[aubriee]

On my recent trip, a couple in the single rider line tried to tell the CM that they could not be split up. The CM yelled over to another cast member something to the effect of "they can't ride separately so show them where the exit is". The couple decided that they could, after all, ride apart.

I think that might be the common statement now. This past Dec we had the exact same thing happen. There was a dad and a little boy (about 7 or 8 y/o) in the single rider line right in front of us. The dad got really irate, saying of course his little boy couldn't ride alone and he expected them to be seated together. It was only common sense and they refused to ride seperately. The CM yelled out the exact same phrase "these guests can't ride separately, show them where the exit is".

The last time DH and I used single rider the CM was separating groups and did not send consecutive singles to the same car. Like they sent me to line 1, DH to 6, then the person behind him to 2,etc.
That's what I meant by actively separating groups. If they think you are together then they may send you to different cars even though the same car could be available.

This is the same thing we see frequently. Even if there are two seats available in the same car, the CMs will still not seat singles together. Instead they call out separate cars. I know there were two back seats available in the car I was assigned to. They assigned me a seat in one car, sent my husband to another, then assigned another single rider to sit beside of me. So we had a family of four (three in the front and one in the back), then two singles riders in the back who did not know each other. Saying that though, there have been a few times that I've been a single rider in the front seat and my husband was in the back seat of the same car. Those times have been few and far between though. We go in expecting to be separated and know not to ask to be seated together. Every single time I've seen people ask to be seated together, they are told no in no uncertain terms.

 

[wilma-bride]

You might get lucky if I have a FP at the same time as you. For my family of 4, we tell them we want 3 in the front and one in the back. That way my 5 and 7 year olds can both sit up front with my wife. I don't mind sitting alone behind them. They stick 2 single riders in the back seat next to me.

I certainly wouldn't count on that happening to you, though.

That is what I find frustrating though. If there are two spare seats in a car together, what they should do is call for a couple from the standby line. So many times on our last trip we saw exactly that - two single riders being selected from the SR line (a lot of the time people who appeared to be together) when my husband and I were just a couple of families back in the standby line and could have been called forward. To me, single rider is just that - should be used to fill a single space in a car.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

That is what I find frustrating though. If there are two spare seats in a car together, what they should do is call for a couple from the standby line. So many times on our last trip we saw exactly that - two single riders being selected from the SR line (a lot of the time people who appeared to be together) when my husband and I were just a couple of families back in the standby line and could have been called forward. To me, single rider is just that - should be used to fill a single space in a car.

I'm single so I always use the single rider line, most of the time it's a time saver but it's not that uncommon for the single rider line to be nearly as long as the stand by line. As a solo I hate when they start pulling groups of 2 out of line because it grinds the single rider line to a halt and almost always makes the SR wait as long or longer than stand by. I'm not saying the SR wait should always be ridiculously faster, just that if it takes as long as stand by there is no incentive to let them seat you in whatever seat is left over, I've ridden TT 3 times and RSR about a dozen times and only once had a front row seat because I'm always a SR, I've also never had a front row seat on RnRC, EE, or Cal Screamin because I'm always SR. For me it's a trade off, if I save enough time it's worth giving up seat choice but if not I skip SR altogether. I've stopped using SR on Soarin at DCA because the few times I used it I never got the top row and most of the time I was in the last seat on the outside, for Soarin I'd rather wait longer for the ability to ask for a top row center seat than save time.

Single rider lines can be amazing time savers but the big downside is you are put where they need you and you can't request a prime seat.

 

[LaurenT]

That is what I find frustrating though. If there are two spare seats in a car together, what they should do is call for a couple from the standby line. So many times on our last trip we saw exactly that - two single riders being selected from the SR line (a lot of the time people who appeared to be together) when my husband and I were just a couple of families back in the standby line and could have been called forward. To me, single rider is just that - should be used to fill a single space in a car.

They do that with most rides, but with TT they would have to say "party of two who don't need to be next to each other". A party of four is usually asked to sit two in the front and two in the back - so that they are seated next to someone they know ... After all, they waited in the regular line - one of them shouldn't have to sit alone. If you guys would want to be called out of the regular line to take seats in a car that are not next to each other, you'd be much better off doing the single rider line yourselves...

 

[wilma-bride]

They do that with most rides, but with TT they would have to say "party of two who don't need to be next to each other". A party of four is usually asked to sit two in the front and two in the back - so that they are seated next to someone they know ... After all, they waited in the regular line - one of them shouldn't have to sit alone. If you guys would want to be called out of the regular line to take seats in a car that are not next to each other, you'd be much better off doing the single rider line yourselves...

You mised my point. I was talking about the example where a family of 4 has taken the 3 front seats and 1 back seat and there are 2 seats left in the car together. For me, that is when they should take 2 people from the standby line rather than 2 single riders.

 

[wilma-bride]

I'm single so I always use the single rider line, most of the time it's a time saver but it's not that uncommon for the single rider line to be nearly as long as the stand by line. As a solo I hate when they start pulling groups of 2 out of line because it grinds the single rider line to a halt and almost always makes the SR wait as long or longer than stand by. I'm not saying the SR wait should always be ridiculously faster, just that if it takes as long as stand by there is no incentive to let them seat you in whatever seat is left over, I've ridden TT 3 times and RSR about a dozen times and only once had a front row seat because I'm always a SR, I've also never had a front row seat on RnRC, EE, or Cal Screamin because I'm always SR. For me it's a trade off, if I save enough time it's worth giving up seat choice but if not I skip SR altogether. I've stopped using SR on Soarin at DCA because the few times I used it I never got the top row and most of the time I was in the last seat on the outside, for Soarin I'd rather wait longer for the ability to ask for a top row center seat than save time.

Single rider lines can be amazing time savers but the big downside is you are put where they need you and you can't request a prime seat.

I do appreciate that but it can be the case sometimes that the single rider line would be a longer wait than the standby, given that most rides have an even number of seats and most parties are in even numbers. The whole point of the single rider line is that it is that the people in it are used to fill a single empty seat in a car or two seats that are not together, hence the reason why you are warned that single riders WILL be separated. My DH and I used the single rider line once for Forbidden Journey at IOA and ended up waiting longer than we would have in standby since the numbers of people from standby were fitting pretty evenly - that's the way the cookie crumbles.

 

[Schmeck]

We've been called as a party of two to fill in two seats in a vehicle one in front, one in back - I guess it depends on the CMs working on a particular shift?