Any chance of riding the frozen ride without a huge standby wait?

[mickeyluv'r]

I guess I just don't expect anyone to book a trip (or not) based on one ride. I was looking at it in terms of whether they would ride once they are there.

I don't suppose you've been to Universal recently?

Gringotts not only brought in thousands of new guests, it drew many of them from a whole ocean away.

If guests could truly experience the Star Wars empire (small e), Disney would almost be able to open a fifth gate.

 

[aprincessatlast]

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is fairly new, and is already regularly a walk-on.
Mission Space had insane waits when it first opened.
Ditto Expedition Everest.

I have seen sad piles of unsold Anna and Elsa costumes post-Halloween, when the rest of the costumes were long gone from Target! Frozen is yesterday's annoying cliché. The repetition of Let it go, let it go, let it go, doesn't thrill kids. It makes them cringe.

I'm sure there are Disney fans- especially adults (and parents who don't know Frozen is now OUT)- who will flock to experience the NEWEST WDW attraction for 4-6months. After that, not so much. It wont be popular again until today's newborn's discover it. (See, "Potter, Harry".)

We should not assume the new loading will be the same as the old. I trust WDW's fine engineers studied improvements. Unlike Dumbo, BOAT rides have a tremendous ability to modify capacity as demand warrants! Just add/remove boats. I'm not dismissing the possibility that CM's will MANAGE Frozen so that it appears full.

For a whole year, the Disney store didn't carry Frozen merchandise! That fed the craze, but also a sour taste. Kids moved on, but they haven't forgotten the frustration they felt.

On the other hand....families plan vacations together will actually discover DORI is the HOT new WDW character this summer!

I expect waits for all the NEMO attractions to go up this summer!

If you want to avoid a long wait, I'd put Nemo on your Epcot FP list.

Soarin' will probably get some demand, but personally, I've also moved on already. It was fun when it was new, but IMO, Disney should have revised it AGES ago to keep it fresh.

Meanwhile poor, sad, Energy has so much potential to be new and amazing. If only it had a decent sponsor!

Well I will say you definately have some interesting theories!

Frankly though you sound like someone who is really into Disney and goes frequently. I do not think that is who Disney aims for their targets. We are by no means (including my 6yr dd) huge fans of the Frozen movie and by no means did we watch it over and over or sing let it go daily however we are very excited about the new ride and new Norway/Arrendale pavilion. We enjoy it just enough like Snow White, Cinderella, etc. As far as Nemo being the new "it" ride because of a sequal....meh not buying that one.

I booked this one first as I believe it will be the "it" ride this summer with Soaren trailing close behind. Just my "theories" though.

 

[JimmyV]

We should not assume the new loading will be the same as the old. I trust WDW's fine engineers studied improvements.

Same track. Same boats. Same number of boats. The engineers can work "magic", but I don't know how they can boost an attraction's load capacity beyond what it once was under these conditions. In order to increase capacity at TSMM, they added another track. In order to increase capacity at Soarin', they had to add another theater. Without an addition along these lines, there really is no reason to assume that the load capacity could have increased in any material sense.

 

[VillainFavs]

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is fairly new, and is already regularly a walk-on.
Mission Space had insane waits when it first opened.
Ditto Expedition Everest.

Have you tried to get on 7DMT recently?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I agree with the comments about 7DMT not being an e-ticket ride but still staying mobbed. Don't get me wrong, I think it's really cool, but it's not as "exciting" as some other roller coasters. Yet it remains one of the most popular rides on the entire property. I'll bet this one joins that list.

Except 7D, is still the newest ride in all of WDW. It is also located in MK which has over twice as many attractions as any of the other parks1 That is why it has remained so popular.

MK has 42 attractions to Epcot's 17 (If I generously call Circle of Life and I of France "attractions"!)
Hollywood Studio's 15
and Animals Kingdom's 17.

MK also doesn't have tiered FP. I won't wait an hour for any attraction, and I don't always pay to hop.

Extra MK is a no brainer. I happily went to HS, AK, and Epcot when adding days only cost less than $5 per person per day. At $14+, were skipping the lesser parks.

Here's the breakdown:Going from one MK to two park days: costs $107 extra, two to three park days: still a whopping $94!, three to four: $37, four to seven, per day: $16 per additional day.

In 2006 and 2007, it only cost $14 to go 3 to 4th day, and just a $1 to go 4 to 5th day on park hoppers ($234-$233 = $1 for adults, $199-$198 for kids).

In 2008, it was a mere $3 extra for the 5th day. In 2012, going 4 to 5th day was $8.

Mind, those are rack prices....most of those years we didn't pay full price. I either bought discounted tickets or substantially discounted vacation packages.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Have you tried to get on 7DMT recently?

Yes, see above.

 

[DebbieB]

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is fairly new, and is already regularly a walk-on.
Mission Space had insane waits when it first opened.
Ditto Expedition Everest.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is a fast loader. I don't know about a regular walk-on. Right now at 12:30pm it's a 45 minute wait.

Mission Space & Expedition Everest really aren't family rides. The thing about Frozen is it's a ride the whole family regardless of age can ride plus there's not a fear factor. I rode Mission Space once, never again.

 

[VillainFavs]

Maybe I need more coffee, but I'm lost as to what the historic price of adding extra ticket days has to do with the anticipated length of the Frozen ride... There's a connection?

 

[JimmyV]

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is a fast loader.

It is more than double of what Maelstrom was.

 

[jade1]

Maelstrom was never too bad and it didn't open at 9AM. Will see by the crowd levels if this is a popular idea or not.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Well I will say you definately have some interesting theories!

Frankly though you sound like someone who is really into Disney and goes frequently.

Thanks!

Yes, I'm sure I've spent way too much time on the DIS, and given way too much thought to park touring over the years.

To me, the fun of WDW (and even US) has morphed a bit. Outsmarting the throng is almost more fun than the rides themselves. WDW is a giant, living, morphing puzzle!

I am mildly interested in seeing the new Frozen, because it is NEW, but I just don't know see myself waiting an hour for it. I suspect I'm not alone.

 

[jade1]

On the other hand....families plan vacations together will actually discover DORI is the HOT new WDW character this summer!

I expect waits for all the NEMO attractions to go up this summer!

If you want to avoid a long wait, I'd put Nemo on your Epcot FP list.

Wondering about B&B at DHS as well now. For a while it sounded like it might go away or be replaced, but now?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Same track. Same boats. Same number of boats. The engineers can work "magic", but I don't know how they can boost an attraction's load capacity beyond what it once was under these conditions. In order to increase capacity at TSMM, they added another track. In order to increase capacity at Soarin', they had to add another theater. Without an addition along these lines, there really is no reason to assume that the load capacity could have increased in any material sense.

Um, the number of boats is not fixed. Adding boats to the boat rides is as easy as adding/removing cars to the motorcar raceway.

Um, not the old boats. I can't imagine CM's isn't replacing (or at LEAST refurbishing) the old Maelstrom boats!

How about running the boats a tiny bit faster?

Even if the engineers' ONLY change was to modify the walls that blocked off the old loading area, they could easily improve/decrease loading time. Maelstrom boats waited empty while guests loaded in each loading chute individually by number. It was horribly inefficient. The unloading was equally bad. After every boat was completely empty, it sat in the loading are for additional (approx.) 24 seconds before it moved. Actual footage shows 45 seconds between boats.

Meanwhile, very old footage of IaSw shows two boats per 45 seconds.

Loading and unloading are the bottleneck. Decrease loading time, and you increase the ride capacity.

why did WDW re-engineer the IaSW queue?

 

[tobikaye]

Um, not the old boats. I can't imagine CM's isn't replacing (or at LEAST refurbishing) the old Maelstrom boats!

They may have refurbished them, or possibly rebuilt them, but the promo pictures make it look like the same style with 5 rows. (Picture below from WDW's site.)

 

[Love Tink]

Um, the number of boats is not fixed. Adding boats to the boat rides is as easy as adding/removing cars to the motorcar raceway.

Um, not the old boats. I can't imagine CM's isn't replacing (or at LEAST refurbishing) the old Maelstrom boats!

How about running the boats a tiny bit faster?

Even if the engineers' ONLY change was to modify the walls that blocked off the old loading area, they could easily improve/decrease loading time. Maelstrom boats waited empty while guests loaded in each loading chute individually by number. It was horribly inefficient. The unloading was equally bad. After every boat was completely empty, it sat in the loading are for additional (approx.) 24 seconds before it moved. Actual footage shows 45 seconds between boats.

Meanwhile, very old footage of IaSw shows two boats per 45 seconds.

Loading and unloading are the bottleneck. Decrease loading time, and you increase the ride capacity.

why did WDW re-engineer the IaSW queue?

Unlike "it's a small world," this ride has walls inside the attraction that open at timed intervals, includes conveyor belts and tracks that accelerate and pivot the boat at times, and has a flume/drop that must be cleared.

It doesn't matter how quickly you can jam people on the boats, because the boats still have to have space between them. They can't just float along and collect next to each other.

 

[mikeyg1479]

I don't think the standby will ever NOT be horrible, unless you rope drop and bolt for it first thing. Otherwise I'd make Fastpass a priority. Basically that and Soaring are the two big things to Fastpass in Epcot as most of the other standby waits in that park are bearable. You might also consider a FP for Test Track is third, though single rider line gets you on quick in a quick pinch if your party doesn't necessarily need to ride in the same car together.

 

[Masonmj84]

I personally think the standby lines for this will be longer than either Soarin (especially with the addition of the new theater) and Test Track for the foreseeable future. I also think that, for a while, this may end up being a tough FP to get for guests not staying on property.

It will be interesting to me to see how this (and the A&E meet and greet) affects the standby lines for Test Track and Soarin within the first 30 minutes after rope drop.

One would think it would have a fairly substantial effect because I'd guess a sizeable majority of RD guests who could not obtain (or did not choose to obtain) a FP for this will head to Norway first (which is a huge departure from the past where, other than Akershus, Norway didn't open until 11 am). This group may represent at least 50% of the RD crowd, who before were mostly headed to either Soarin or Test Track.

It will also be interesting to see how this (and the addition of the new theater at Soarin) will affect the relative waits between Soarin ant Test Track. Presumably, most rope drop guests with a FEA FP will head to either Soarin or Test Track first. But will more head to Soarin first and the Test Track second, relying on the Test Track single rider line, or will more head to Test Track first and then Soarin second, relying on the addition of the extra theater?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Maybe I need more coffee, but I'm lost as to what the historic price of adding extra ticket days has to do with the anticipated length of the Frozen ride... There's a connection?

Demand and attendance for Epcot. Less attractions and higher prices = less desire to visit Epcot.

MK has always had the highest attendance. Epcot's is considerably lower (AK and HS are even lower, though they all ranked in the top 10 for 2014.)

According to the Orlando Sentinel, in 2014: MK ranked #1 with 19.33 Million visitors, while Epcot ranked #6 with 11.45million visitors.

I'm betting for the first half of 2016, those numbers were more skewed, and that's why 7d waits have been so long. 7D opened in May 2014, and Soarin' closed in January. That leaves Epcot with just one E-ride.

Paired with higher prices?

We skipped Epcot.

 

[JimmyV]

Um, the number of boats is not fixed. Adding boats to the boat rides is as easy as adding/removing cars to the motorcar raceway.

Um, not the old boats. I can't imagine CM's isn't replacing (or at LEAST refurbishing) the old Maelstrom boats!

How about running the boats a tiny bit faster?

Even if the engineers' ONLY change was to modify the walls that blocked off the old loading area, they could easily improve/decrease loading time. Maelstrom boats waited empty while guests loaded in each loading chute individually by number. It was horribly inefficient. The unloading was equally bad. After every boat was completely empty, it sat in the loading are for additional (approx.) 24 seconds before it moved. Actual footage shows 45 seconds between boats.

Meanwhile, very old footage of IaSw shows two boats per 45 seconds.

Loading and unloading are the bottleneck. Decrease loading time, and you increase the ride capacity.

why did WDW re-engineer the IaSW queue?

You really don't understand the way the ride operates, do you? Love Tink explained it well. They can't add more boats and have them banging into each other unless the ride is as low tech as Small World. Do you think they are designing such a ride? And there have been multiple postings describing how the old boats were re-loaded into the attraction. And they aren't going to speed up the ride. The turns of the track and stability of the boats won't allow this to run like a fast flume ride.

 

[VillainFavs]

Demand and attendance for Epcot. Less attractions and higher prices = less desire to visit Epcot.

MK has always had the highest attendance. Epcot's is considerably lower (AK and HS are even lower, though they all ranked in the top 10 for 2014.)

According to the Orlando Sentinel, in 2014: MK ranked #1 with 19.33 Million visitors, while Epcot ranked #6 with 11.45million visitors.

I'm betting for the first half of 2016, those numbers were more skewed, and that's why 7d waits have been so long. 7D opened in May 2014, and Soarin' closed in January. That leaves Epcot with just one E-ride.

Paired with higher prices?

We skipped Epcot.

Yes, less visitors at Epcot. But by your own account, 42 attractions versus 17.

So Epcot has 40% the number of attractions as MK, but still has 60% the number of visitors.

They're all doing something while they're in the park. And my guess it's not Circle of Life and Figment.

You may have skipped Epcot, but lots of others didn't. And many more won't when the Frozen ride opens.