VIP vs. General Admission Line Management

[brucejuice39]

So as a haunt lover every season i look forward to going to different haunted houses within my general area and just enjoying myself. I have always found it interesting how different haunts manage their line flow with VIP and general Admission and I must say at a haunt I visited last weekend I was very disappointed. You had to pay an additional fee for VIP as I'm sure all of you know already but here's the kicker........even though you paid extra for VIP somehow or another I was still waiting in line behind general admission right at the entrance of the individual attractions. It was not a very busy night but the group that I was with all agreed it was worth paying for VIP because of some of the extra perks you would obtain with the VIP ticket. I will be honest and admit that overall you did drasticly move fastener than general admission but at the actual attraction they would stop our small little group and allow general admission in first. For example at one point in time we were the only four people in the VIP line right at the front ready to enter the attraction and they held us and allowed general admission in first. I even heard a younger girl say "what the hell is the point of paying VIP if we're still getting in before them, it must suck for them" referencing us. I was just curious on anyone's thought's or opinion of this type of thing and if anyone else has experienced this before. To all the haunt owners out there maybe you could post your ways of managing line flow or some best practices for others. Thanks for reading and I hope this thread will turn into a great discussion.

[SCfearfarm]

this may not be what happened wherever you were.....but the way we do ours is one group from the general admission line, then one from VIP, then one from general admission, then one from VIP, etc. etc. because you can't just stop the general admission line all together or it would never move. For us so far this year the VIP hasnt been an issue because we are getting our groups through so fast, but last year the VIP cut the wait times by 2 hours on these busy weekends coming up, even when alternating. We also give a set of VIP dogtags to everyone who buys VIP tickets, so they feel like they are getting more for their money than just skipping lines.

[sean]

Being that we are a guided tour, our vip is a bit different. Unlike most haunts, we cannot put people in every few seconds. We try to maintain an every 2-3 minutes between groups. First tour gets in at 7, our VIP starts at 8. We run a VIP group every 20 minutes and when you purchase a VIP upgrade, you basically "pick the time" you want to go in, based on availability (i.e. 8:00, 8:20, 8:40, 9:00). VIP's are told to be at the entrabce at their allotted time. GA will continue to be put in while VIP are at the same entrance, however, when the time you picked arrives...in you go. We also increased our Internet ticket price. Last year is was simply a GA purchase but guests thought different. Internet ticket holders shares the same VIP ticket Booth, separate from GA. Internet ticket holders have preassigned group numbers (5, 10, 15, 20, etc) so there wait time is lowered as well. Even though all guests share the same entrance, VIP goes in when the time they chose happens

[zombietoxin]

Two separate lines, taking 2-3 speed pass groups (depending on line length) for every one regular works fantastically for us.

But here's a related side question- Does time spent in line add perceived value to the over all guest experience?

I say it does- up to a certain point, and that point is variable depending on what's going on around them of course. I'm still searching for that "sweet spot". I regularly visit with guests in line and direct them into conversation about their wait. It's seems that waits up to 45, and maybe longer, minutes are not an issue at all, and that the guest mood, especially for those that travel 20 or more minutes, is that it is a "night out" for them and apparently they expect it to consume most if not all of their evening.

I'm also pondering the overall value of the post haunt experience as well. We have a few photo op's that get lots of use. What else could there be that wouldn't lead to troublesome loitering.

Success is about your experience- I'm just trying to understand the dynamics.

Anyone have a different experience?

[monsterwax]

What are the VIP dogtags? Just laminated plastic passes with VIP on them or something else?