Edmonton’s Capital Ex is well underway, and the fair is trying out new Midway Access passes for the first time.
Those interested in taking part in the rides at the fair can buy All Day Ride passes for $45. For the first time in Edmonton, Midway Entertainment is now also selling Midway Express Access passes for an additional $20.
“So far we have premiered this in Miami this year and brought it up to the Midwest and four other fairs in Canada and it has been a great success,” says Scooter Korek, National Spokesperson for North America Midway Entertainment.
The regular passes allow people to ride an unlimited number of rides all day, but the new front of the line pass offers something extra. Those with a Midway Express Access pass can jump to the front of the line at any ride, ahead of those with regular All Day passes.
Offering VIP or front-of-the-line passes is a common practice for larger theme parks across North America.
“The Midway Express Access pass grants our customers front of the line access to all of our rides for an additional fee. We are limiting the amount of express access passes that we sell in an entire day which is 20 percent of our total sales that we have,” says Korek.
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“Each one of the rides are 20 percent of the total capacity of the ride. That way, it gives front of the line people the chance to get up there fast and get on the ride and also it doesn’t affect our normal regular paying customers.”
If a ride seats 25 people, five will be loaded first from the express lane before the rest are filled with other customers. Those will Express passes can get off the ride and immediately move to the front of the line again if they choose.
Korek compares the new passes to a concert experience.
“If you want to sit closer to the front you’re going to pay a little bit more money for that,” Korek says.
Global has received a few complaints about the new passes. One family said they saw a family of four use the passes four times in a row, while they waited in line for an hour and a half. Another person pointed out that even if you have the Midway Access pass, you could still have to wait in another line. However, most of the people at the Capital Ex today seemed to approve of the Access passes.
Josiah Beauchesne likes the new passes and didn’t mind paying extra to get one, because he thinks they’re worth it.
“The lines are really long and I thought, to get the most out of the experience, that we should just skip the lines,” says Beauchesne.
Mike Jazwinski didn’t get a front of the line pass this time, but has had one in the past at other fairs.
“It works out great with the long lineups if you have kids here, so it’s good to get up front,” Jazwinski says.
Wes Phneisl didn’t get an express pass. Still, he feels that if people want to pay the extra amount to get ahead of the lines, it’s fine with him, and he doesn’t mind waiting.
All passes are only good for the day they are purchased on. There is a limited number of Express Access passes available each day on a first come, first served basis.
Capital Ex runs July 20-29th.
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