Assigning and managing patron reservations for distributed services using wireless personal communication devices

Abstract

A system and method for assigning and managing patron reservations to one or more of a plurality of attractions receive reservation requests at personal communication devices (PCDs). Reservation requests are transmitted to a computer associated with the selected attraction, which determines a proposed reservation time based on information describing the attraction, the patron, previously-made reservations maintained in a virtual queue, and the current state of a physical queue associated with the attraction. Proposed reservation time is transmitted to the PCD for confirmation or rejection by the patron. Confirmed reservations are entered in the virtual queue. Patrons are alerted by the PCD when their reservation time is approaching.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for assigning and managing patron reservations to one or more of a plurality of physical resources of a facility, the physical resource allowing admittance through a physical queue and through patron reservations, the system comprising:
 an input interface, arranged to receive a reservation request transmitted wirelessly by a wireless data device, the reservation request specifying a particular physical resource;   a processor, configured to determine a reservation time or a position in a queue based at least in part on status information for the specified physical resource of the facility and based on the presence of patrons in the physical queue for the one or more physical resources of the facility; and   an output interface, arranged to communicate information indicative of the determined reservation time or queue position to the wireless data device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a monitoring interface for monitoring admittance to the one or more physical resources through one or both of the physical queue and patron reservations; and   wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in the queue based on the monitored admittance.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in the queue based on an interleave ratio, the interleave ratio identifying a ratio of patrons to be admitted to the physical resource from patron reservations and patrons to be admitted to the physical resource from the physical queue. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in the queue by calculating a function of the ratio between a number of patrons having made a previous reservation and a predicted throughput for the physical resource. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless data device communicates with a wireless communication network that uses one or more of: infrared; point-to-point radio transmission; and cellular or paging networks. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the reservation request further specifies one or more criteria for the requested reservation. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more criteria for the requested reservation comprises one or more of: the number of people for the reservation; an age for each person in the reservation; a height for each person in the reservation; a weight for each person in the reservation; a request for a reservation at a specific time; a request for a reservation at a next available time; and a preference for each person in the reservation. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time based on the one or more criteria for the requested reservation. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the status information comprises an indication as to whether the physical resources of a facility is operative. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the reservation time or the position in a queue based at least in part on a state of the physical queue. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the physical queue comprises a waiting area without a set line. 
     
     
         12 . A method for assigning and managing patron reservations to one or more of a plurality of physical resources of a facility, the physical resource allowing admittance through a physical queue and through patron reservations, the method comprising:
 receiving a wirelessly transmitted reservation request from a wireless data device, the reservation request specifying a particular physical resource;   responsive to receiving the reservation request from the wireless data device, determining a reservation time or queue position based at least in part on status information for the specified physical resource of the facility and based on the presence of patrons in the physical queue for the one or more physical resources of the facility; and   communicating information indicative of the determined reservation time or queue position to the wireless data device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 monitoring admittance to the one or more physical resources through one or both of the physical queue and patron reservations; and   wherein the determination of the reservation time or the position in the queue is based on the monitored admittance.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the determination of the reservation time or the position in the queue is based on an interleave ratio, the interleave ratio identifying a ratio of patrons to be admitted to the physical resource from patron reservations and patrons to be admitted to the physical resource from the physical queue. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the determination of the reservation time is by calculating a function of the ratio between a number of patrons having made a previous reservation and a predicted throughput for the physical resource. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the wireless data device communicates with a wireless communication network that uses one or more of: infrared; point-to-point radio transmission; and cellular or paging networks. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the reservation request further specifies one or more criteria for the requested reservation. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more criteria for the requested reservation comprises one or more of: the number of people for the reservation; an age for each person in the reservation; a height for each person in the reservation, a weight for each person in the reservation; and a preference for each person in the reservation. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the determination of the reservation time is based on the one or more criteria for the requested reservation. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the status information comprises an indication as to whether the physical resources of a facility is operative. 
     
     
         21 . A system for assigning and managing patron reservations to one or more of a plurality of physical resources of a facility, the system comprising:
 an input interface arranged to receive a reservation request from a patron using a personal communications device, the reservation request specifying a particular physical resource;   a patron location module, configured to determine a geographical location for the personal communications device;   a processor, configured, in response at least in part to receipt of the reservation request at the input interface, to determine a reservation time or a position in a queue for the specified physical resource based on the geographical location for the personal communications device; and   an output interface, configured to communicate information indicative of the determined reservation time or queue position.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the geographical location for the personal communications device is determined using a Global Positioning System (GPS). 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the system is separate from the personal communications device and the input interface is arranged to receive the reservation request transmitted wirelessly from the personal communications device. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the physical resource allows admittance through a physical queue and through patron reservations and wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in a queue based on the presence of patrons in the physical queue for the one or more physical resources of the facility. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in a queue at least in part on status information for the specified physical resource. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a monitoring interface for monitoring admittance to the one or more physical resources through one or both of the physical queue and patron reservations; and   wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in the queue based on the monitored admittance.   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time or the position in the queue based on an interleave ratio, the interleave ratio identifying a ratio of patrons to be admitted to the physical resource from patron reservations and patrons to be admitted to the physical resource from the physical queue. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time by calculating a function of the ratio between a number of patrons having made a previous reservation and a predicted throughput for the physical resource. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the personal communications device communicates with a wireless communication network that uses one or more of: infrared; point-to-point radio transmission; and cellular or paging networks. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the reservation request further specifies one or more criteria for the requested reservation. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the one or more criteria for the requested reservation comprises one or more of: the number of people for the reservation; an age for each person in the reservation; a height for each person in the reservation, a weight for each person in the reservation; and a preference for each person in the reservation. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reservation time based on the one or more criteria for the requested reservation. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the status information comprises an indication as to whether the physical resources of a facility is operative.