Q-bot

[Enrique Vasquez]

FromMIMI THOMAS

Posted June 6, 2007 at 11:17 AMIs anyone familiar with the Q-bot and how it works? I'm used to fast passes at Disney World. Anything like this? Just would like some more info before we go in early August! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle []).push();From Betty Rohrer

Posted June 6, 2007 at 7:35 PMyou pay for and i do not know the rates, so much for each member of your party. as far as i know is only for shows. i have found no problems getting into shows unless wall to wall people. From steve lee

Posted June 6, 2007 at 8:32 PMThis year rides are on the system as well. In the past, I've been told that the Dollywood crowd tends to be more show-happy than ride-happy, but I've never been there in season so I can't say one way or the other. From Erik Yates

Posted June 7, 2007 at 5:54 AMThe Q bot prices are 10 dollars for one person and 5 dollars for each additional person. Its a really good system from what we could see. It was like disney's fastpass, except a little better. You just put in your ride, how many people you have, and they page you when its your time to ride. You just walk up to the back entrance, and boom...you're on. From Kevin Magurany

Posted June 7, 2007 at 6:59 AMThe Q-Bot at Dollywood is a pretty good deal when you consider how much it cost at Six Flags parks. My wife and I got one for (I think) $16 total. The park was REALLY busy, but the lines for rides were not that bad at all.

I agree with Steve, the lines for the shows were HUGE, but not really so much for the rids. But, the Q-Bot works for shows at Dollywood too. We weren't interested in the shows, but after paying well over double the amount for a Q at Six Flags, we were happy to pay for the Q at Dollywood.

The only unfortunate part was they don't have their system set up to log multiple rides so you can only plan for one at a time. The Q's at Six Flags STL will let you log multiple rides so you can plan your whole day at once.From Adrienne McDonald

Posted June 8, 2007 at 9:54 PMThe prices were higher than that when we rented them last year. They were supposed to be cheaper on Sundays but they charged me full price anyway. The prices are usually posted on the q-bot website. You can usually find the website link on SFOG or SFOT, SFSL, one of these will have it (at least they did last year). They are worth getting though.Tweet

It's not just about the best seat, it's about a seat. Dollywood shows are quite popular and ensuring you get a seat means standing around in line for a long time. The point of this is that you're guaranteed a seat without standing around an hour before the show waiting to ensure a seat. Your seat is held for you. Go do other stuff while these people wait in the heat for an hour to see the show. You can show up a few minutes before showtime and claim a seat. It's about time management. (if fact, that's the entire point of the q-bots at all the parks)coasterimage - lordgonchar

I guess I'd just have to be there in order to understand. At Disney Parks, I would show up at a show 5 or 10 minutes before it was scheduled and still get to see it from the beginning. What's different with Dollywood's shows? You're just dicking with me, aren't you?I guarantee you didn't show up a few minutes before show time and see something like Fantasmic! at MGM - and that show seats 6500.The Disney page for the show mentions the ampitheatre opens 90 minutes before show time. That's not just a fun fact, it a big hint - if you want to see this show be here 90 minutes early if you want a seat.Fodors.com suggests showing up an hour early if you expect a seat and also recommends the dinner package that includes reserved seating to guarantee a seat.This site says:

"...we sat up against the rail at the Rivers of America for almost 2 hours to have a front row center seat."The point is the same as the Dollywood shows - they're extremely popular. People start lining up for the show in advance. WAY in advance in some cases. Show up a few minutes before show time and all the seats are accounted for by people who chose to stand there to guarantee a seat for the show.Q-bot holds that seat for you so you don't have to stand around to get a seat - much like the Disney dinner package ensures you a seat without having to wait two hours to guarantee one.Follow?Essentially these shows are very popular and the crowds line up well in advance of the showtime to get a seat.coasterimage - lordgonchar

No, Gonch. I'm not dicking around with you (lol).I didn't arrive any more than 10 or 15 minutes before the Lion King show at DAK, Indiana Jones and Beauty and The Beast at MGM, Magic Shows at CP during Halloweekends, or any dolphin show at any of the various parks that have them. That's what I was comparing these shows to. I have never been to DW, by the way. That's not to say the shows are comparable to Fantasmic!, just that the demand to see them is. :)coasterimage - lordgonchar

My only visit was for Christmas Celebration a couple years ago. By showing up early, They let us in for a early show in the grand hall that was booked for a group of seniors. When I came out the next two shows had already been SOLD OUT and they were giving tickets for the 6pm showing.Now thats a big hall, I bet it seats ever bit of 9000Chuck, who found most rides were walk on all day on that thursday Christmas Celebration visit.

An easier solution would seem to be spray foam applied by robot, such as the q-bot solution. Has anyone any thoughts on using a sprayed foam underfloor insulation? My main concern is how it would affect existing underfloor plumbing/wiring and also how difficult it would make future plumbing modifications for, say, the installation of an ASHP?

I have encountered Qbot myself and even contacted them about my house. They declined that job as there was some insulation already in place and they only spray to the wood and masonry.

I liked that all gaps are sealed, making the ground floor airtight.

Regarding underfloor services, they effectively become fossilised. No change is possible without destroying the insulation. Any unused services such a gas pipes after electrification would have to remain in place and become useless thermal bridges. If you are rewiring/plumbing the old wires/pipes will have to be cut off and any new ones would need to be above floor level as with a solid floor. Block the ends of any pipes with spray foam. In the case of gas pipes allow free flow for several days before blocking.

Sofie Pelsmaker did a couple of papers from her thesis on filling the sub-floor void with polystyrene beads. It would be good to know if this idea was ever implemented and how it has performed since. This is potentially a quick and cheap solution given the low material composition and high content of trapped air. Well worth looking into with the floor dimensions mentioned.

A 65mm build up, from the sub-floor to finished surface, is recommended for this. Underfloor heating is valuable for utilizing low temperature heat to achieve high COPs, and for general comfort levels. There may also be a problem reaching peak heating power output without underfloor heating - especially if the rest of the envelope is not fully retrofitted as part of a longer term phased development.

Furthermore, where are your ducts going? Uncontrolled air exchange across the enclosure dominates thermal losses and comfort complaints. Tightening up the building for high indoor air quality and general efficiency requires mechanical ventilation, often from a central MHRV.

Without an intermediate floor system, attic or crawlspace duct runs are often the only way to get horizontal distribution. Which one will you choose to condition? Because it is just a bad idea to have ducts passing through unconditioned spaces.

The roof requires much more insulation to reach the same levels of performance as the crawl space, because of the larger surface area of the pitched roof and due to radiative cooling at night. However, conditioning the roof is easier to access and has the additional benefit of not needing to air seal the attic ceiling - which is a significant challenge by itself.

These are not easy decisions to make at the moment. However, once building surveyors and mortgage providers start taking this seriously, and if very low interest, if not subsidized, loans are made available, this will be the norm. I honestly think we need way more publicly backed financial options to support doing these things properly.

I have some old cast iron gas pipes under my floor and 2 copper ones, one of which is in use. When I had underfloor insulation fitted in 2005 I asked the builder to remove the iron ones to improve the laying of the insulation. He refused as the house is still on the gas grid. I now know that the insulation is poorly fitted and too thin so I have the job of redoing it.

I would replace the existing floor structure with a tanking layer, insulation, screed and wet underfloor heating. All other plumbing would be removed and wiring rerouted to accessible conduit around the perimeter.

I have room for 300mm of insulation, so the UFH should only heat upwards and the floor would contribute to an EnerPHit like standard.

Compared with the cost of moving everything on the ground floor into storage and rebuilding the floor the cost of extra insulation is negligible. There would be a slight saving in other materials.

There are a few lucky people who can insulate from above and it is relatively common with solid floors. Your doors will obviously need cutting back to avoid snagging in the new floor. If done as a more than short term solution the doors might need to be raised and even the stairs.

Spraying under the floor and sealing any chimneys should get rid of most of your airtightness issues. Some additional work would be needed if you were going for ultra efficiency/certification. In any case I would get two quotes from Qbot, one for a normal job and the other for a double application. Hopefully there is enough difference between floor level and DPC to fit two spray applications.

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