London's National Gallery presented 'Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers' from 14 September 2024 to 19 January 2025. A detailed visitor account warns that even ticket holders joined the Getty Entrance queue and could wait 'a very long time,' showing that a timed booking did not translate directly into entry at the printed hour. The exhibition ultimately received 334,589 visits, making it the Gallery's most successful ticketed exhibition; during the final weekend the institution added timed slots and opened through the night. What distinguishes this queue is that booking did not replace waiting. It created a second order that gathered already-authorised visitors at a particular entrance. At a heavily attended museum, the timed ticket became not an escape from the line but a condition for joining it.
Quality check: An on-site account dated 23 October 2024 was cross-checked with National Gallery records, aligning the timed-ticket entrance queue with the exhibition name, dates, and venue.