Method and system for managing attraction admission
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising:
- a first validator for establishing an entitlement of a customer to access the attraction;
a controller for generating a singular assigned time at which said customer may access the attraction, said assigned time comprising a next available time as determined and selected by an algorithm performed by said system; and
a second validator for permitting said customer to access said attraction at said assigned time.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is a method and system for managing admission to an attraction. In one or more embodiments, the system comprises a first queue by which customers may access the attraction by waiting in line and a second queue by which customers may access the attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue. The system includes a first validator for validating an entitlement of a customer to receive an assigned time in the future for accessing the attraction via the second queue, a media distributor for distributing a media to an entitled customer, the media including the assigned time at which the entitled customer is entitled to access the attraction in the future, and a second validator for validating the entitled customer access to the attraction at the time provided on the media. In accordance with a method of the invention, a customer may access an attraction in a manner which avoids standing in a first waiting line by verifying entitlement to utilize a second queue, obtaining a pass entitling the customer to access the attraction at a future time, and returning to the attraction at the future time and gaining access with the pass. In this method, the customer may leave the vicinity of the attraction between when the pass is issued and the future time at which the customer is entitled to access to the attraction.
209 Citations
171 Claims
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1. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising:
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a first validator for establishing an entitlement of a customer to access the attraction;
a controller for generating a singular assigned time at which said customer may access the attraction, said assigned time comprising a next available time as determined and selected by an algorithm performed by said system; and
a second validator for permitting said customer to access said attraction at said assigned time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 77)
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10. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising;
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a first queue by which customers may access the attraction by waiting in line;
a second queue by which customers may access the attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue;
a first validator for validating an entitlement of a customer to access the second queue and providing a singular assigned time in the future at which an entitled customer may access the attraction via the second queue, wherein the assigned time is determined and selected by the system; and
a second validator for validating the entitled customer access to the attraction at the assigned time. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 78)
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20. A method for managing admission to an attraction having a variable capacity comprising the steps of:
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forming a first queue by which customers may access the attraction by waiting in line;
forming a second queue by which customers may access the attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue comprising the steps of verifying the entitlement of a customer to access the second queue, determining and selecting a singular assigned time, issuing an entitled customer said assigned time in the future at which the customer may access the attraction, permitting the customer to leave the area of the attraction, verifying the entitlement of the customer to access the attraction at the assigned time in the future, and if verified, permitting said customer to access the attraction at said assigned time. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 79)
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28. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising:
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at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
at least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at least one first queue;
an access control system associated with said at least one second queue for validating an entitlement of at least one customer to access said attraction, determining and selecting a singular assigned time, and issuing to an entitled customer said assigned time in the future for accessing said attraction via said at least one second queue and for validating the right of said at least one customer to access said attraction via said at least one second queue at said assigned time in the future. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 80)
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48. A method for managing access of one or more customers to an attraction comprising:
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establishing at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
establishing at least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at least one first queue;
establishing entitlement of at least one customer and determining and selecting a singular assigned time in the future for each entitled customer for accessing said attraction via said at least one second queue; and
establishing entitlement of at least one customer to access said attraction via said at least one second queue at said assigned time in the future. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 81)
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61. A method for managing access to an attraction located at a venue, said attraction having a first queue by which a customer may access said attraction and a second queue by which a customer may access said attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue comprising:
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issuing a customer a ticket for accessing a venue;
verifying said ticket to determine entitlement of said customer to access said venue;
verifying said ticket to determine entitlement of said customer to a future time assignment for accessing said attraction via said second queue;
determining and selecting a singular assigned time for said customer to access said attraction in the future; and
permitting said customer to access said attraction via said second queue at said future time. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 82)
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68. A method of managing access to an attraction comprising:
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establishing at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
establishing at least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at least one first queue;
issuing media to said customers, said media having an assigned time in the future associated therewith at which time said customer may access said attraction via said at least one second queue, said media having assigned times which are issued in a chronological order; and
permitting a customer having a media to access said attraction via said second queue at said assigned time in the future. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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83. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising:
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a first validator for establishing the entitlement of a customer to access the attraction;
a controller for unilaterally determining and issuing an assigned time at which said customer may access the attraction, said assigned time comprising a next available time as determined and selected by an algorithm performed by said system; and
a second validator for permitting said customer to access said attraction at said assigned time. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)
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93. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising:
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a first queue by which customers may access the attraction by waiting in line;
a second queue by which customers may access the attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue;
a first validator for validating an entitlement of a customer to access the attraction at an assigned time in the fixture via the second queue, wherein the assigned time is determined and selected by the system; and
a second validator for validating the entitled customer access to the attraction at the assigned time. - View Dependent Claims (94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103)
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104. A method for managing admission to an attraction having a variable capacity comprising the steps of:
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forming a first queue by which customers may access the attraction by waiting in line;
forming a second queue by which customers may access the attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue comprising the steps of verifying the entitlement of a customer to access the second queue, determining an assigned access time wherein a subsystem operatively coupled to the attraction determines and selects the assigned time, issuing an entitled customer the assigned access time at which the customer may access the attraction, permitting the customer to leave the area of the attraction, verifying the entitlement of the customer to access the attraction at the assigned time in the future, and if verified, permitting said customer to access the attraction. - View Dependent Claims (105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111)
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112. A system for managing admission to an attraction comprising:
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at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
at least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at least one first queue;
an access control system associated with said at least one second queue for validating an entitlement of at least one customer to access said attraction and determining selecting and issuing to an entitled customer an assigned time in the future for accessing said attraction via said at least one second queue and for validating the right of said at least one customer to access said attraction via said at least one second queue at said time in the future. - View Dependent Claims (113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132)
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133. A method for managing access of one or more customers to an attraction comprising:
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establishing at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
establishing at least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at least one first queue;
establishing entitlement of at least one customer to an assigned time in the future for accessing said attraction via said at least one second queue, wherein the assigned time is determined and selected by a subsystem operatively coupled with the attraction; and
establishing entitlement of at least one customer to access said attraction via said at least one second queue at said assigned time in the future. - View Dependent Claims (134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146)
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147. A method of managing access to an attraction comprising:
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establishing at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
establishing at least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at least one first queue;
displaying information regarding an estimated wait time associated with said at least one first queue;
displaying information regarding a next future time to be assigned to a customer for accessing said attraction via said at least one second queue, wherein the time to be assigned is determined and selected by a subsystem operatively coupled with said attraction; and
permitting a customer to elect to access said attraction via said at least one first queue or said at least one second queue. - View Dependent Claims (148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153)
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154. A method for managing access to an attraction located at a venue, said attraction having a first queue by which a customer may access said attraction and a second queue by which a customer may access said attraction in a manner which avoids the first queue comprising:
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issuing a customer a ticket for accessing a venue;
verifying said ticket to determine entitlement of said customer to access said venue;
verifying said ticket to determine entitlement of said customer to a future time assignment for accessing said attraction via said second queue, wherein said future time assignment is determined and selected by a subsystem operatively coupled with said attraction; and
permitting said customer to access said attraction via said second queue at said future time. - View Dependent Claims (155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161)
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162. A method of managing access to an attraction comprising:
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establishing at least one first queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction generally in an order in which customers access said at least one first queue;
establishing a least one second queue by which one or more customers may access said attraction in a manner which avoids said at said at least one first queue;
issuing media to said customers, said media having an assigned time in the future associated therewith at which time said customer may access said attraction via said at least one second queue, said media having assigned times which are determined and selected by a subsystem operatively coupled with the attraction and are issued in a chronological order; and
permitting a customer having a media to access said attraction via said second queue at said assigned time in the future. - View Dependent Claims (163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171)
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Specification