The challenge
Build the Thrill pulled in huge, unpredictable walk-up crowds of families with young kids, and a single line was never going to hold them. Across five very different venues, LEGO and XD Agency needed a queue that could flex to each stop while keeping the experience fun from the second guests arrived.
- Crowds that outgrew the line. At stops like Chicago, roughly 1,000 guests arrived each day, some after driving two or three hours to get there. Funneling that demand through one physical line for eight Play Zones risked overwhelming staff and souring first impressions before families ever reached the bricks.
- A young, restless audience. The experience was built for six to twelve year olds, the age group least likely to tolerate a long, static wait. Keeping kids and parents patient, and on-site, meant the wait itself had to feel like part of the fun.
- One system, five very different stops. The tour spanned ticketed race-weekend cities and free off-track pop-ups, each with its own footprint and flow. LEGO needed one repeatable way to manage demand that worked the same whether it was race day in Las Vegas or a holiday weekend in Charlotte.
The solution
NextMe designed a hybrid queue for Build the Thrill: a mobile waitlist running alongside the on-site check-in, so guests held their place from their phones while staff kept the physical activation moving. For a deeper look at how this model works, see NextMe’s guide to virtual queue software for events.
- A hybrid queue families could join in seconds. Guests scanned a QR code to join the waitlist through self check-in and got a confirmation text with their spot in line. Rather than holding everyone in one long physical line, NextMe paired a mobile waitlist with the activation’s check-in point, so families could roam the experience, browse the LEGO Store, and head back to check in with staff only when their turn came up. Waitlist management gave staff a live read on demand at every stop.
- A branded waiting room worth spending time in. Every guest landed in a custom LEGO “Build the Thrill” virtual waiting room that showed their real-time position in line alongside event info and check-in instructions. The wait became branded screen time instead of dead time.
- One playbook for the whole tour. Because NextMe travels with the team rather than the venue, the same hybrid setup carried across all five cities. LEGO and XD Agency ran the same dependable queue on race weekends and at free off-track stops alike, with no custom rebuild for each location.
The results
Across roughly three months and five cities, NextMe made waiting one of the most engaged parts of the experience.
- Attention that stayed on the brand. Guests spent an average of 4 minutes and 29 seconds inside the branded “Build the Thrill” waiting room, time spent on LEGO’s content by choice while they waited, not idle minutes in a line. For a walk-up audience moving fast through a packed activation, holding that much focused attention per guest is the kind of engagement most experiences struggle to capture at all.
- Crowds kept moving across every stop. Across the tour, NextMe managed the flow of more than 4,000 guests, including stops where roughly 1,000 arrived in a single day. Instead of stacking up in one long line, families held their place from their phones and explored the activation and the LEGO Store until staff called them back to check in, which eased congestion and kept the energy high through eight Play Zones.
