When you look up a ride, such as a roller coaster at KI, it gives you the total number of riders that have been on it. How do they figure this? Do they keep a an actual running count each cycle, or do they just multiply cycles times some type of average?

To steal from Interpreter,

Yes!

LOL at Cory.

I'm bad, so I can't remember if Ki does this, but I know that at CP, the turnstiles they have at the ride entrances count the number of people that pass through on each day.

As Cory said, yes. To be more specific, they either count the empty seats in each train via the operation console, or simply click in each rider with a handheld "clicker." A tally is taken at the end of each and every hour. Currently, I don't believe any rides at Kings Island utilize turnstiles for this purpose, though the Eiffel Tower used to do so.

^^The issue I have with that is that sometimes people enter a line and then leave it before they ride the ride. This could happen if the ride breaks down, or if it starts raining, etc. So I wonder if they've developed an algorithm to estimate the real number. I kind of doubt it, because honestly... is it really that important?

How interesting!

At Kings Island, they use clickers on flat rides, and on roller coasters, the consoles have a button to count empty seats. These are all recorded hourly on a sheet and submitted at the end of the night. I'm sure there is error every day, but it's a pretty good estimate.

As Cory said, yes. To be more specific, they either count the empty seats in each train via the operation console, or simply click in each rider with a handheld "clicker." A tally is taken at the end of each and every hour. Currently, I don't believe any rides at Kings Island utilize turnstiles for this purpose, though the Eiffel Tower used to do so.

I think Monster and Scrambler still use turnstiles but those are the old 2 I can think of.

Would they use these statistics for determining which rides stay and which ones get the axe?

As Cory said, yes. To be more specific, they either count the empty seats in each train via the operation console, or simply click in each rider with a handheld "clicker." A tally is taken at the end of each and every hour. Currently, I don't believe any rides at Kings Island utilize turnstiles for this purpose, though the Eiffel Tower used to do so.

I think Monster and Scrambler still use turnstiles but those are the old 2 I can think of.

Hey, come on now. Just because they are old doesn't mean they aren't AWESOME!

I am sure most stations probaly only hold about 100 people or so. And once most people are in the station they will wait threw a delay.

Would they use these statistics for determining which rides stay and which ones get the axe?

Yes, but there are normally many other factors too. Normally being maintenance costs, location, and age.

Thanks for the replies.

Now, anybody know why they keep count?

Yes. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother. Some of the potential reasons include:

* To guage popularity.

* Because they always have.

* To note trends in ridership from year to year.

* To use in PR efforts, such as on the website.

* Insurance reasons (I doubt it, but I've seen stranger things...)

* To measure crew efficiency.

* To see the effects of changes to the ride on capacity (such as seat belts, lap bar changes, etc.)

next time you ride a ride look at the operating booth theres a clicker they use to count the riders on the train as it passes by.