This is something that has always bugged me to an extent. Whenever I'm waiting in a long line for a coaster at a park, it bothers me when I see several empty seats on a train leaving the station, especially when there's an empty seat in the front row. So far, the only single rider line I've seen that's not at a Disney, Universal, or SeaWorld park is on Goliath at Six Flags Great America, and that line is operated in a strange way (you must wait in the overflow queue before you can go up the ramp to the station). I'm surpised that more parks have not implemented them because when used correctly, they shorten the wait for everyone (both single riders and regular queue waiters), leading to happier guests. Also, the parks probably don't care about this, but from an enthusiast perspective, more seats filled = heavier trains = slightly better rides. Do you agree with me, or is there a reason why most parks don't have them that I don't understand?
Seaworld does it only on busy days they remove it sometimes even if the line is big enough but I love single rider lines because I'm always a single rider but I think cedar fair needs them for there rides
Yep, and I third what GerstlCrazy said. That Goliath BS is popping up more often from what I've seen. That's the same deal with Green Lantern at GAdv and I'm sure I've been on at least one other ride like that... maybe it was only temporary in that case. You wait through 85% of the queue and then you have the option to get in the poorly-run single rider line that's never even open anymore because who rides Green Lantern? Anyway, my point is that in a case like that, there's still a big incentive for guests to buy a FastPass/Q-whatever and the park can still say they have a single rider line.
That being said, I am often a single rider and I often wait for the front for my favorite rides. I'm actually more likely to wait in the front when I've already waited a long time to get to the station-- in for a penny, in for a pound-- and this often means the front line is quite long. After waiting literally hours to get the ride I want, alone in the front seat which basically amounts to feeling alone on the ride, I will unapologetically do everything in my power to remain alone in a 2-seat situation. Usually this just means pulling down the other restraint before anyone notices I'm alone. I've paid good money just like everyone else AND waited through the often-excessive wait for the front. The only way I'm gonna let some scavenger from the back swoop in and ruin my hard-earned ride is by force... aka operators searching for a seat filler.
Obviously that's all impossible on a 4-seater. I also don't care in any other row, if I haven't waited long for the front, or if another single rider has nicely asked to ride with me in order to skip a few trainloads while we're still in line. I just can't stand the people who swoop in feeling like they're getting a great deal getting to bypass the line for the front yet still getting to sit there, all while significantly detracting from the experience I was expecting and paid for in money and time. And no, I can honestly say I've never done that to someone else on a 2-seat attraction unless the operator was explicitly looking for single riders.
^ I got my first taste of a single rider line when Zumanjaro opened, and it's great. It cuts my line down usually from an hour to 15 minutes, definitely proving it effective. The problem is for a park like GA, the rides weren't built with those single rider lines in mind, so it's hard to implement on rides that already exist. I am sure though that every new ride will have one though.