When a 5-Hour Line Was the Best Thing Ever
Queuing for Wimbledon
As I was going through a drawer with the goal of streamlining everything I’d hoarded, I found the above ‘ticket’, and sat down to reminisce.
My souvenir from 2005 is not exactly a ticket, but it is a reminder of a wonderfully efficient process that happens every single year at a Grand Slam event. The timestamp of the year, date, and queue number brought back many memories that I wanted to share with you.
As a student and a new, young professional in the late 90s and early ’00s, I could never dream of going to big-ticket events like Wimbledon on a full-price ticket. Or to pricey salons or restaurants for that matter.
Also, as a newly minted graduate who’d entered the real working world, I was always budgeting to make my London rent and monthly bills. It didn’t mean that I wasn’t having fun at all. I was just on the hunt for more wallet-friendly experiences, like most people my age at the time.
That’s when I heard about the famous queue for Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis.
I made a plan with my brother who was also in London at the time, attending university. Luckily, he and I (together) with our folks, shared a love for Wimbledon and watched it on TV religiously every summer.
Before I proceed, I should explain the word ‘queue’ to those who might not be familiar with it.
The term “queue” basically means a line in the US. Instead of saying ‘I’m in the line”, you would say “I’m in the queue” in the UK. Even though I’ve lived in the US for a while, I always say ‘queue’ first out of habit before changing it to ‘line’, as soon as I see a bunch of confused faces!
My brother stayed with me the night before and slept on my pull-out couch, so we could make an early dash the next morning.
How does the Wimbledon queue work?
The queue starts the afternoon before, when many ultra-adventurous and well-prepared peeps pitch their tents for an even better chance of scoring tickets for the main courts. But you don’t have to do that.
See, the way it works is this — queue early enough ON the day, and you’ll have a chance to buy tickets to the main courts or a ground pass. Otherwise, as long as you join the queue before 9 a.m., a grounds pass alone will let you enter all the courts except Center Court and Courts 1 and 2.
The grounds pass was a cheaper and good option for us. In 2005, that cost £16 before 5 pm, which made it a very affordable way of experiencing Wimbledon!
The great thing about the queueing card is the idea of precision and flexibility at the same time. By having a queue number, you can go to the portable restrooms, safe in the knowledge that you can rejoin at the correct point. If you wanted to take a nap on the wide, open field adjacent to the queue, you could do that and rejoin the queue at the correct point. If you wanted to visit the food stalls you can go do just that and could simply ask others their number and walk to your correct position based on your number.
This system results in no disagreements or stress regarding cutting the line or losing your place!
On the back of the queue card, there was information on prices (2005) so that everyone could make their choices of tickets before reaching the ticket counter.
The experience itself
As I looked at the queue ticket, I still remember getting up early and having a coffee and croissant with my brother. I can’t remember exactly, but we must have taken the first underground train out towards Southfields station on the District Line.
At Southfields, there was so much happy commotion. It was the perfect sunny day (rare during June in England!) and there were transfer buses to take fans to the entrance of Wimbledon, about a mile away from public transport. We opted to walk with the hundreds of other revelers around us. There was a joyful buzz and I remember drinking it all in.
Once we neared Wimbledon, I saw many uniformed stewards guiding us to lines and handing us our individual queue cards (as shown above) in addition to a booklet called ‘A Guide to Queueing”! I know I have that somewhere, but that’s a story for another day.
A steward directed us to the end of a long queue on a large field. It was snaking with people, all of whom had a wide smile despite the early hour and the impending wait. The morning light added a sense of optimism.
There was another queue for the hardcore tent-pitchers. I met a family of 4 from Pennsylvania who’d pitched a tent (two children above 10+ as far as I can remember) and said they’d been coming every year for the past 6 years — they all played tennis and loved London. In addition, I heard many different languages around me like Japanese and Spanish, indicating visitors from all over the world wanting to savor this special experience.
The stewards were of all ages and had a great sense of humor as well as energy. They made sure to check in with everyone in the queue and share jokes or anecdotes about Wimbledon.
A little while after, salespeople from sponsoring companies like ‘Tropicana’ started stopping by with travel-sized and free juice samples, to keep everyone satiated. There was live entertainment from some fans who decided to play a harmonica. Some even sang popular songs and we joined in. All this and the queue hadn’t even started moving!
I believe the first movement started happening around 10:30 am. We’d already been in the queue for at least 3 hours but I can assure you that it did not feel like it at all!
As we moved, the stewards gently reminded us to take all our belongings and what to expect once inside. People started to visit the portable toilets one last time, safe in the knowledge that they would be able to rejoin the queue in their rightful place.
We reached the front of the gate at around 11:30 or noon. The buzz and excitement were unreal and I remember being stunned at the site of the large ‘Order of Play’ green and purple board as I neared the gates. We had finally arrived!
Getting our ground passes after a 5-hour wait and entering Wimbledon for the first time in our lives is a treasured and forever memory— mainly due to the souvenir I still possess from over 18 years ago.
Isn’t it funny how hard data such as dates and years stamped on a piece of paper can serve not only as a souvenir, but as a trigger for so many forgotten memories?
If you’re interested in visiting and queuing at Wimbledon, visit their website to learn more about ‘Queuing’.
As I wrap this piece up, I want to draw your attention to two excellent travel pieces I read this week.
Sindoora Rai reminisces about a souvenir that sums up her trip to Amsterdam perfectly:
In this piece, Audrey Stimson reflects on her feelings about being served a very unexpected lunch in Jamaica:
