I hate queues!

I've been visiting theme parks for decades and decades. 

In fact riding roller coasters is something of an obsession for me. There's something very magical about arriving at park and clasping your eyes on the steel and wooden behemoths that are about to raise your heart rate and blood pressure to incredible levels.

But how do you make the most of your time at the park?

Theme parks aren't cheap. Even if you get a BOGOF voucher, it can still end up costing a small fortune for a family of four to ride, eat and drink. Throw in a few souvenirs and you're talking over £200... FOR A DAY!

Here are some simple tips that can try and help you maximise your enjoyment so that you spend less time queuing and more time riding

1. Obvious tip #1 - go on a quiet day! There's no point turning up on a holiday weekend and expecting the queue / lines to be short. It's not going to happen. A weekday in October whilst the schools are still open is going to be a much better experience. OK, the weather may not be great but that means even less queues!
2. Arrive early - try and get there before the park opens and head for the more popular rides straight away. They will only get busier as more and more people arrive.
3. Go left! Most people tend to go right when joining lines or walking round paths. Break with tradition and try to go left. The queue line is more likely to be shorter.
4. Use single rider queues. Theme parks like to run their trains with full capacity and often have a line for single riders to fill the gaps. As long as you don't mind riding on your own and not choosing your seat, you can get on rides much quicker.
5. Keep your eyes on the queue time boards. Some rides are more popular in the morning or afternoon. Try and time your runs.
6. Eat outside the normal meal times. Most people tend to have lunch between 12:00pm and 2:00pm. The restaurants will get busier which means less people in line for the rides. Grab your food outside these hours, so you can ride when everyone else is eating.
7. Use virtual queues. Some parks now offer (at a cost) the facility to queue up virtually for a ride. You pay a fee, take a ticket and you're given a time slot at which you can return to the ride and jump on without much of a queue. Whilst you're virtually queuing on this one ride, you can queue for others thus maximising your time. It can work out expensive but if you're desperate to ride the big stuff, you may need to consider this option.
8. Listen to the ride-ops. If you're in a two or three, you may get promoted to the front of the queue if there's a larger group wanting to ride together.
9. Don't queue for the front or back seats. These always mean longer queues on busy days - sometimes an extra hour!

I've been using these tips for some years and they certainly seem to help on busy days. Remember you're there to enjoy yourself but if you can get a bit of an advantage over the regular punter, then it'll make it even better!

Would be interested to hear anyone else's tips below!