Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
proceeding through the ride. But when Dumbo the Flying Elephant touches down, the
whole ride is at a standstill until the next flight is launched.
In discussing a cycle ride, the amount of time the ride is in motion is called ride
time. The amount of time that the ride is idle while loading and unloading is called
load time. Load time plus ride time equals cycle time, or the time expended from the
startofonerunoftherideuntilthestartofthesucceedingrun.Cycleridesaretheleast
efficient of all the Disneyland rides in terms of traffic engineering. Disneyland Park
has 6 cycle rides, while Disney California Adventure has 10, an astonishing number
for a modern park.
3. HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN RIDE AT ONE TIME?
This figure is defined in terms of per-
ride capacity or system capacity. Either way, the figures refer to the number of people
whocanrideatthesametime.Ourdiscussionaboveillustrates thatthegreateraride's
carrying capacity (all other things being equal), the more visitors it can accommodate
in an hour.
4. HOW MANY UNITS ARE IN SERVICE AT A GIVEN TIME?
A unit is simply a term for
the vehicle you sit in during your ride. At the Mad Tea Party the unit is a teacup, and
at Alice in Wonderland it's a caterpillar. On some rides (mostly cycle rides), the num-
ber of units in operation at a given time is fixed. Thus, there are always 16 elephant
units operating on the Dumbo ride, 72 horses on King Arthur Carrousel, and so on.
What this fixed number of units means to you is that there is no way to increase the
carrying capacity of the ride by adding more units. On a busy day, therefore, the only
way to carry more people each hour on a fixed-unit cycle ride is to shorten the load-
ing time (which, as we will see in number 5 below, is sometimes impossible) or by
decreasing the riding time, the actual time the ride is in motion. The bottom line on a
busy day for a cycle ride is that you will wait longer and be rewarded for your wait
