Concerned about new Frozen ride wait times (low capacity)

[momof2n2]

Hey I was sort of nice this time! And I'm trying not to say anything negative about that any more - give me some credit.

You're always so genteel.

 

[mom2rtk]

On Christmas Day one year, I saw the line for Peter Pan at 6 hours. I walked by them all and wanted to just say, "you know you don't actually fly in there, right?" Lol!!

Maybe they were tired of fighting crowds out in the park and though it would be better to just hide in an attraction line?

 

[tlmadden73]

4 hours for MIB!! I will never understand the mindset of someone willing to wait in a line like that....I wont wait 20 mins for a flu shot....More power to them. Frees up other things.

Agree. Standing in line that long is NOT entertaining. Though, there is some "thrill of anticipation" lost when you can just walk on some rides. But, I don't understand how lines get over .. say like 90-120 minutes. For a line to get longer than that .. that means a LOT of people decided to get into the line AFTER seeing they would have to wait 2 hours. With the parks being open maybe 12 hours on average, I can't imagine spending almost 20% of my day at the park waiting for ONE ride.

I had two previous visits to DHS and avoided TSMM because the waits were 90+ minutes. The line was simply too long to give it a try, so I skipped it and did MANY other things at DHS those days. My first opportunity to go on it was this past August (thank you FP+!) .. (and it was a darn fun ride).

That being said .. I can recall spending long periods of time waiting for coaster rides at Six Flags in my youth (when I had nothing better to do with my time), but even then we were smart enough to realize if we got there at rope drop we could hit all the coasters in the first few hours and avoid the REALLY long lines.

 

[nilla]

Has the theater been removed? It makes sense that they would no longer show "Life in Norway during the 1980s" after the Maelstrom becomes Frozenized, but will the theater exist at all after that?

 

[momof2n2]

I've actually thought all along that might have been what they were testing for last year. Only time will tell.

Noooooo! Then my 8:05 AM ADR is for naught!!

"Life in Norway during the 1980s"

That's awesome.

 

[nilla]

That's awesome.

Thanks! I also would watch that film and think, "ok, so it's freezing cold, and going out on into that violent water is certain death...what exactly are you selling again?"

Maybe they were trying to deter people from going there

 

[hakepb]

Why would Disney build an inadequate ride? They know the demands are going to be so high and they still build a ride with a low capacity, why not do it correctly and take longer to build the ride but build it right?

Nobody goes to parks for rides. Queues is where it's at!
I'm sure the Frozen queue will have 32% more surface area for sticky little fingers to touch!

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I'm curious which line will be longer:

1) A&E M&G
2)Frozen Ever After
3) Guest Relations for people complaining about 1 & 2

 

[dlavender]

I'm curious which line will be longer:

1) A&E M&G
2)Frozen Ever After
3) Guest Relations for people complaining about 1 & 2

Or which of these issues will have the longest thread.......

 

[wisblue]

I've actually thought all along that might have been what they were testing for last year. Only time will tell.

I really don't see them going to FP only for a ride because that would lead to times in which it would be operating at less than full capacity, especially when the park first opens.

For example, if the park opens at 9 AM, and the earliest FP return time is 9AM-10AM, for a certain amount of time after the park opens there will not be anywhere near enough people returning with FPs to fill the ride. Today, even for the most popular attractions like 7DMT and TSMM, the riders are almost all coming from the standby lines for the first 10-15 minutes or more before the percentage starts to shift toward FP holders.

Even if 100% of capacity were devoted to FP, there would likely be some ebbs and flows in people arriving with FPs that would result in ride vehicles being less than full. The standby line is necessary to fill those gaps. And while the standby line could theoretically be turned into a true standby line in which nobody would be allowed to ride unless there were a gap in the arrival of FP holders, it would be hard to get people into that line if they would have no assurance of ever getting to ride.

I'm only guessing now, but I think the FP only test at TSMM last year may have been designed to allow Disney to perform a live test to see how the ebbs and flows of FP holders occur and how much wasted capacity would arise if there was no standby line to fill gaps. BTW, I note that a year has passed since that test, and there is still no sign of the "reservation only" ride system that several posters (including some participating in this thread) predicted.

IMHO, the logical solution to minimizing the amount of time spent by guests (taken as a group) waiting in line for a very popular attraction is to devote a high percentage of capacity to FPs and provide a standby line with a long wait time for people who really want to ride and are willing to wait that long. While a standby line might be 60 minutes or more, the number of people waiting in those lines will be a lot lower than there would be in a standby only line of the same length. I think that is pretty much what we are seeing now with FP+.

 

[mom2rtk]

I really don't see them going to FP only for a ride because that would lead to times in which it would be operating at less than full capacity, especially when the park first opens.

For example, if the park opens at 9 AM, and the earliest FP return time is 9AM-10AM, for a certain amount of time after the park opens there will not be anywhere near enough people returning with FPs to fill the ride. Today, even for the most popular attractions like 7DMT and TSMM, the riders are almost all coming from the standby lines for the first 10-15 minutes or more before the percentage starts to shift toward FP holders.

Even if 100% of capacity were devoted to FP, there would likely be some ebbs and flows in people arriving with FPs that would result in ride vehicles being less than full. The standby line is necessary to fill those gaps. And while the standby line could theoretically be turned into a true standby line in which nobody would be allowed to ride unless there were a gap in the arrival of FP holders, it would be hard to get people into that line if they would have no assurance of ever getting to ride.

I'm only guessing now, but I think the FP only test at TSMM last year may have been designed to allow Disney to perform a live test to see how the ebbs and flows of FP holders occur and how much wasted capacity would arise if there was no standby line to fill gaps. BTW, I note that a year has passed since that test, and there is still no sign of the "reservation only" ride system that several posters (including some participating in this thread) predicted.

IMHO, the logical solution to minimizing the amount of time spent by guests (taken as a group) waiting in line for a very popular attraction is to devote a high percentage of capacity to FPs and provide a standby line with a long wait time for people who really want to ride and are willing to wait that long. While a standby line might be 60 minutes or more, the number of people waiting in those lines will be a lot lower than there would be in a standby only line of the same length. I think that is pretty much what we are seeing now with FP+.

They way they did it on their test, and how they did it at DL when A/E were FP only, is that they allowed the standby line to fill up to about a 20 or 30 minute wait, then had FP people fill in behind them.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Or which of these issues will have the longest thread.......

Those will be epic.

Post 1: there were no FP available
Post 2: you did something wrong we had our choice of times
Post 3: it had a 2 hour wait
Post 4: in our experience it was walk-on
Post 5: FP return was 30 min wait
Post 6: it was so fast for us we got off the ride before the second scan point

 

[mom2rtk]

Those will be epic.

Post 1: there were no FP available
Post 2: you did something wrong we had our choice of times
Post 3: it had a 2 hour wait
Post 4: in our experience it was walk-on
Post 5: FP return was 30 min wait
Post 6: it was so fast for us we got off the ride before the second scan point

I better stock up on this........

 

[wisblue]

They way they did it on their test, and how they did it at DL when A/E were FP only, is that they allowed the standby line to fill up to about a 20 or 30 minute wait, then had FP people fill in behind them.

How is that FP only if they let a standby line build up first? And how does that help fill capacity if there are gaps later in the day?

It might be easier to avoid gaps for a character greeting with limited capacity and the possibility of multiple meeting rooms. But, for a ride with relatively continuous loading, there is going to be wasted capacity if you don't have enough people in line with various party sizes to fill vehicles. If someone is willing to wait an hour or more to fill those gaps, why not let them do it?

For the TSMM FP only test, I thought people who rode those days reported that some cars were going out empty. I wouldn't think they would want that to happen on a regular basis.

 

[mom2rtk]

How is that FP only if they let a standby line build up first? And how does that help fill capacity if there are gaps later in the day?

It might be easier to avoid gaps for a character greeting with limited capacity and the possibility of multiple meeting rooms. But, for a ride with relatively continuous loading, there is going to be wasted capacity if you don't have enough people in line with various party sizes to fill vehicles. If someone is willing to wait an hour or more to fill those gaps, why not let them do it?

For the TSMM FP only test, I thought people who rode those days reported that some cars were going out empty. I wouldn't think they would want that to happen on a regular basis.

It's not my system, so I'm not going to defend it. I thought it was an awful system when they tested it. I'm just saying I think it's a possibility that they might consider when they are trying to keep crowds from overwhelming that small pavilion.

 

[wisblue]

It's not my system, so I'm not going to defend it. I thought it was an awful system when they tested it. I'm just saying I think it's a possibility that they might consider when they are trying to keep crowds from overwhelming that small pavilion.

That may work for an unannounced test, but it would cause chaos if done that way on a regular basis. It wouldnt take long for people to find out that the first few hundred people to get to a line can get in and everyone else is shut out entirely. What they do now would make a lot more sense. Several thousand guests get reservations, and some smaller percentage can experience the attraction as long as they are willing to wait. And keeping the posted wait time longer than the actually expected wait time will ensure that there aren't too many people in that line.

So, I say the same thing I said last year. I don't think any of the new rides will be totally FP only. They may be de facto FP only for people who are unwilling to wait in a 60-90 minute line or participate in a rope drop dash. And, the more popular they are, the more difficult it will be to get FPs.

As for the small pavilion, we don't know what the area will be like when all construction is complete. The entrance to the ride may come from behind or to the side of the building and not from the front where the Maelstrom entrance was. And there may be a lot more queue space inside the building than there was for Maelstrom.

 

[rteetz]

Has the theater been removed? It makes sense that they would no longer show "Life in Norway during the 1980s" after the Maelstrom becomes Frozenized, but will the theater exist at all after that?

As far as I know that is being reworked into queue area.

 

[mom2rtk]

That may work for an unannounced test, but it would cause chaos if done that way on a regular basis. It wouldnt take long for people to find out that the first few hundred people to get to a line can get in and everyone else is shut out entirely. What they do now would make a lot more sense. Several thousand guests get reservations, and some smaller percentage can experience the attraction as long as they are willing to wait. And keeping the posted wait time longer than the actually expected wait time will ensure that there aren't too many people in that line.

So, I say the same thing I said last year. I don't think any of the new rides will be totally FP only. They may be de facto FP only for people who are unwilling to wait in a 60-90 minute line or participate in a rope drop dash. And, the more popular they are, the more difficult it will be to get FPs.

As for the small pavilion, we don't know what the area will be like when all construction is complete. The entrance to the ride may come from behind or to the side of the building and not from the front where the Maelstrom entrance was. And there may be a lot more queue space inside the building than there was for Maelstrom.

Please find someone else to argue with. I just threw that out there as a possibility.

I didn't like the system when it was tested. I didn't like it for the A/E meet at DL. I won't defend it.

 

[hakepb]

DL Fantasyland is so packed full of rides, they don't have the space for multiple FP and standby queues.

 

[mom2rtk]

DL Fantasyland is so packed full of rides, they don't have the space for multiple FP and standby queues.

I agree. But the fact remains that the system was tested on some pretty high profile rides in WDW last year.