Optimize amusement park pricing, capacity, and testing

Quick Overview

This question evaluates capacity planning, queuing theory (Little's Law), revenue and cannibalization modeling, A/B experiment design (randomization, sample-size and pre-analysis planning), and quick arithmetic sanity checks for a Data Scientist role in Analytics & Experimentation.

Optimize amusement park pricing, capacity, and testing

Company: Capital One

Role: Data Scientist

Category: Analytics & Experimentation

Difficulty: hard

Interview Round: Technical Screen

An amusement park operates 10:00–20:00 (10 hours). Three flagship rides have the following operations: RollerCoaster: 24 seats/dispatch, dispatch every 3 minutes; DropTower: 16 seats/dispatch, every 2 minutes; Carousel: 40 seats/dispatch, every 5 minutes. Daily attendance averages 6,000 guests with uniform arrival. Willingness to ride at least once: 60% RollerCoaster, 50% DropTower, 80% Carousel; average rides per willing guest is 1.2 for each ride. Admission is $60. You may introduce an optional FastPass at $30 that reserves a time slot and uses 15% of each ride’s capacity. Tasks: 1) Compute hourly and daily theoretical capacity per ride. Using Little’s Law (L = λW), approximate peak-hour expected wait time per ride assuming uniform arrivals and that ride utilization cannot exceed 95% of capacity without inducing nonlinear queuing. State all assumptions. 2) Recommend whether to launch FastPass and at what price/cap. Quantify the expected change in revenue and average wait times, accounting for capacity reallocation to FastPass users and potential cannibalization of regular rides. 3) Design a 2-week experiment to validate your recommendation. Specify the unit of randomization, sample-size drivers, primary/guardrail metrics (e.g., revenue per guest, wait time, NPS, churn/refund rate), and how you’ll control for day-of-week and weather. Include a pre-analysis plan (MDE, CUPED or stratification) and a stopping rule. 4) During the interview you erroneously multiplied a throughput number. Propose two independent, fast sanity checks you would build into your workbook/notebook to catch such arithmetic errors in real time (e.g., dimensional analysis and redundant aggregation cross-checks).

Quick Answer: This question evaluates capacity planning, queuing theory (Little's Law), revenue and cannibalization modeling, A/B experiment design (randomization, sample-size and pre-analysis planning), and quick arithmetic sanity checks for a Data Scientist role in Analytics & Experimentation.

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Oct 13, 2025, 9:49 PM
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Context

You are interviewing for a Data Scientist role focused on analytics and experimentation. An amusement park is considering launching a paid FastPass. You will estimate capacities, wait times, and revenue impact; then propose an experiment and guardrails.

Given

  • Park hours: 10:00–20:00 (10 hours).
  • Rides (batch service):
    • RollerCoaster: 24 seats/dispatch, dispatch every 3 min.
    • DropTower: 16 seats/dispatch, dispatch every 2 min.
    • Carousel: 40 seats/dispatch, dispatch every 5 min.
  • Attendance: 6,000 guests/day; arrivals uniform over the day.
  • Willingness to ride at least once: 60% RollerCoaster, 50% DropTower, 80% Carousel.
  • For any guest who is willing, average rides on that ride = 1.2 (i.e., expected rides per guest = willingness × 1.2).
  • Admission price: $60.
  • Optional FastPass: $30, reserves time slots and uses 15% of each ride’s capacity.

Tasks

  1. Capacity and wait times
    • Compute hourly and daily theoretical capacity per ride.
    • Using Little’s Law (L = λW), approximate peak-hour expected wait time per ride assuming uniform arrivals and that ride utilization should not exceed 95% of capacity to avoid nonlinear queuing. State assumptions.
  2. FastPass recommendation
    • Recommend whether to launch FastPass and at what price/cap.
    • Quantify expected change in revenue and average wait times, accounting for capacity reallocation to FastPass users and potential cannibalization of regular rides.
  3. Experiment design (2 weeks)
    • Specify unit of randomization, sample-size drivers, primary and guardrail metrics (e.g., revenue/guest, wait time, NPS, churn/refund), and controls for day-of-week and weather.
    • Include a pre-analysis plan (MDE, CUPED or stratification) and a stopping rule.
  4. Error-catching
    • You once multiplied a throughput number by mistake. Propose two independent, fast sanity checks to catch such arithmetic errors in real time (e.g., dimensional analysis and redundant aggregation cross-checks).
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