Delayed openenings on certain rides?

[SL6827]

Any rides in the parks that are having a pattern of delayed openings at the early entry time for resort guest? I seen that Test Track did the other day on a You Tube video so I thought I would ask.

 

[Orsino]

I’ve soured on early entry. Somehow I forgot how bad it can be and last week both rise of the resistance and mickeys runaway railway were down for early entry. Left us with little else to do so we did rockin rollercoaster.
Both our plan and backup plan were down so I would suggest you have a backup and a backup for your backup.

At MK I think both space mountain and 7 dwarves were down. Our plan was Peter Pan so that was fine except the line was enormous!

Our best early entry was when we weren’t planning to early entry at all. We happened to get a bus right away and ended up arriving just a few minutes before early entry ended so we went to space mountain thinking we could get ahead of the standard rope drop and had a 5 minute wait. We were pleased with that.

 

[SL6827]

I’ve soured on early entry. Somehow I forgot how bad it can be and last week both rise of the resistance and mickeys runaway railway were down for early entry. Left us with little else to do so we did rockin rollercoaster.
Both our plan and backup plan were down so I would suggest you have a backup and a backup for your backup.

At MK I think both space mountain and 7 dwarves were down. Our plan was Peter Pan so that was fine except the line was enormous!

Our best early entry was when we weren’t planning to early entry at all. We happened to get a bus right away and ended up arriving just a few minutes before early entry ended so we went to space mountain thinking we could get ahead of the standard rope drop and had a 5 minute wait. We were pleased with that.

Sad. But not surprising. I was thinking I would need a back up ride, but two backups. Disney touts it as a perk of staying onsite, but doesn't want to staff the rides people want to get on.

 

[BoardWalkBelle]

Delayed openings aren’t because of staffing . It’s technical issues.

 

[SL6827]

Delayed openings aren’t because of staffing . It’s technical issues.

I was told that it was staffing in 2024 by a cast member. But, I am sure there are some instances where it can be tech.

 

[Dave006]

I was told that it was staffing in 2024 by a cast member. But, I am sure there are some instances where it can be tech.

I wonder if the CM was also a Disney Bus Driver? 9 times out of 10 it is that the Attraction did not get the All Clear for Operations on a given morning.

Dave

 

[Gurkensalat]

I think the key is being flexible. On our first day in HS, I wanted to go to Rise, of course, but it was delayed (which happens a lot, it seems, and I am sure due to technical reasons). I don´t know, what the hundreds of other people there did, but we immediately went to the next attraction, Smugglers Run, and it was empty. I mean totally empty, so we did that 2 times in a row as pilots (crew of 2). And then we went to Mickeys Railway 2 minutes before official opening of the park and had no wait at all. And went on Rise in the evening.

All the other early entries went as planned, but IF seven dwarves would have been down, I would just taken another ride closeby with low waiting time. Probably not Peter Pan, since most people would go there. Just think what most people would do (i.e. what would be YOUR first impulse), and do the opposite.

What I want to say is, there is always a way to profit from early entry IMO.

 

[aleria24]

I wonder if the CM was also a Disney Bus Driver? 9 times out of 10 it is that the Attraction did not get the All Clear for Operations on a given morning.

Dave

I think this 100% used to be the case. Not sure I believe that anymore.

 

[SL6827]

I wonder if the CM was also a Disney Bus Driver? 9 times out of 10 it is that the Attraction did not get the All Clear for Operations on a given morning.

Dave

Nope. Not a bus driver, but a CM on Smugglers Run talking about Rise being down.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Nope. Not a bus driver, but a CM on Smugglers Run talking about Rise being down.

Rise had technical challenges often when it first opened. I wasn't sure if it was better but no, it appears people are possibly just more used to it being down and it's no longer as much of a hot topic.

 

[SPINster]

Space Mountain frequently is delayed.

Everest has issues in the cold, if it's below about 45 degrees it's almost guaranteed not to open on time.

HS overall seems to have the most problems, I've been there when more than 1/2 the rides have a delayed start. I would never RD Rise, the tech issues have gotten better overall, but it definitely still has a lot of bad mornings.

 

[Mle8308]

Nope. Not a bus driver, but a CM on Smugglers Run talking about Rise being down.

As a former Operations manager in a few different Disney theme parks, trust me when I say having a delayed opening for an EMH attraction is one of the LAST things anyone (management or CM) wants. Do you think the CM's enjoy standing in front of an attraction with literally hundreds of guests asking why it's not open? And me/ops area or duty manager having to go back up my managers while they are being barraged with questions or being yelled at? Nope. They will do absolutely everything in their power to get that attraction opened safely and on time. I had never experienced a down time in the morning due to lack of Cast. There are enough opening CM's who are trained on other attractions that you can move them around to get it open. If worse came to worse, a F&B or merchandise CM can stand out front and be a greeter to free up a trained attractions CM until your next group of CM's come in, it takes less than 5 minutes to tell them what to do. Technical issues, absolutely, but not staffing.

 

[SL6827]

As a former Operations manager in a few different Disney theme parks, trust me when I say having a delayed opening for an EMH attraction is one of the LAST things anyone (management or CM) wants. Do you think the CM's enjoy standing in front of an attraction with literally hundreds of guests asking why it's not open? And me/ops area or duty manager having to go back up my managers while they are being barraged with questions or being yelled at? Nope. They will do absolutely everything in their power to get that attraction opened safely and on time. I had never experienced a down time in the morning due to lack of Cast. There are enough opening CM's who are trained on other attractions that you can move them around to get it open. If worse came to worse, a F&B or merchandise CM can stand out front and be a greeter to free up a trained attractions CM until your next group of CM's come in, it takes less than 5 minutes to tell them what to do. Technical issues, absolutely, but not staffing.

I do believe it can be both. My husband is an EE and was explaining to me the reasons why some of the outdoor coasters can have a rough start first thing during cold mornings.

 

[SL6827]

Can you tell which attractions may be down in the app before trotting over to thier location?

 

[Mle8308]

Can you tell which attractions may be down in the app before trotting over to thier location?

Normally yes, there will be no wait time displayed in the "bubble" above the attraction when looking at map view. Can't confirm that works for EE, I am still sleeping! I haven't done rope drop in many years!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Can you tell which attractions may be down in the app before trotting over to thier location?

You can once the park opens but before that, no, not on the app.

 

[lentesta]

Any rides in the parks that are having a pattern of delayed openings at the early entry time for resort guest? I seen that Test Track did the other day on a You Tube video so I thought I would ask.

Observations from from 2021-2024. I'm confident Disney's data is the same:



ETA: If your next question is "How would I use this information to optimize my rope-drop strategy?", I asked a group of Wake Forest students to answer that at Hollywood Studios. We assumed that ROTR was unreliable enough that people should buy LLSP for it, so ROTR isn't included in the options.

So of the remaining attractions, if you look at expected wait time and downtime, what's the first two attractions you should visit and in what order? Here's their presentation with recommendations.

I actually sent this to Disney with the suggestion that they should place a CM on Hollywood Boulevard telling guests which rides would not be running at rope-drop. They already do it for ROTR, so it wouldn't require any additional labor.