Do You Think They Will/Should Close Frozen Until They Can Get it Working Properly?

[Alicenwonderment]

It seems like every time I have a fastpass for Test Track, it's down.

I was going to say that encountering issues with new rides isn't a new thing. If I remember correctly it seemed like for 2 years after Test Track came there were always problems with that ride.

 

[bluezy]

I believe you and @Amanda999
"Guest Recovery" for those waiting in the long lines is that "Vikings" are roaming the lines while grunting at guests. Seriously! My response to that info was, "What??"

We had one of those vikings come through while we were in line. It was quite odd, though the 4 yo girl in front of us enjoyed conversing with him -- but she pretty much talked to anyone who would listen to her.

I have already mentioned that something is going on. Our last trip in May, so many rides and attractions were/went down. I figured it was due to cutbacks. One day at least 5 attractions were down at one time or another in 1 day. We had another break down while we were on it (Epcot). I check he Lines app daily and notice quite a few that are down at various times during the day, each day. It's iind if bad. I am going in September but I would much rather wait until it is operating at 100% before I ride it.

I always check it as well and I now realize it's not always accurate as far as rides being down. We've had 2 experiences this week where the lines app showed something as being closed when it was running. One was Test Track (we weren't riding it at the time but we could clearly see people on it and people were allowed to get in line. The other one was FEA. We were standing in the FP line and could see that the ride was definitely running -- we were in the loading area, yet the Lines App showed it as closed. I will say that they had closed the standby line by that time so perhaps that's why it was showing as "down", but the ride was definitely operating. I think sometimes the people who are reporting for those apps either notice that the ride has stopped for some period of time (possibly to load or unload someone with mobility issues) and just reports it as "down". Or some people just report it as "down" because they just have nothing better to do.

So if you have a fastpass to the ride and it breaks down, what happens? Do it just clog up the ride later? This seems like a disaster.

If the ride breaks down during your FP return time but before you scan your band, you will get an "anytime that day" FP that can be used for that ride or most other rides in that park. This happened to us with FEA on Wednesday. Our return time was 12-1 and we got notified through MDE & e-mail that the ride was down and then it listed our options (return to FEA at a later time that day or use the FP for a different experience.) We had no intention of using it for anything else. We decided to hang out in the general vicinity of FEA starting at 12:00 and keep an eye on things so that when it opened we could get right in line as we knew the FP line would build quickly. At about 12:40, we noticed via the app that it was up and running again so we hustled over and got in line. We had about a 30 minute wait. By the time we got off the ride, they had closed the standby line and the FP return line stretched through the African Outpost and almost all the way to Germany. I'm guessing those people had about a 2-hour wait.

 

[DisDeac]

Had a noon FP+ today. Checked numerous times this morning and didn't notice Frozen being closed at any time. There were only 4 guests ahead of us in FP line when got to second tap. I think standby wait time was 120 min and that line was barely outside the building. Water still available outside for anybody in line. Tapped the first FP tap at 12:01 and walked off ride 12:14. As far as I could tell everything was working, no characters just standing there or arms not moving or whatever that noticed on some of early videos.

 

[Ellajoan]

We also rode on Wednesday, and had about a 40 min wait w/ a FP+. Queue was beautiful, everything looked (and smelled) new, ride was impressive, albeit similar to old Maelstrom in navigation. The last scene (Anna and Elsa singing together w/ Olaf) was completely "frozen," although you could hear the music. Rest of the ride seemed to be working. They had closed standby by the time we got off, and it had shut down 2 or 3 times during the day when we were there. Free water and "vikings" roaming while we were in line (no ice cream like the first day of opening), and many obviously "higher ups" (dressed out of costume, dressed for business offices) were out working the ride, greeting those in line, etc. All hands on deck, trying to avoid a PR issue, I believe.

 

[matheke]

If it's to be expected, then shouldn't Disney have........ expected it?

For them to distribute every day's full allocation of FPs from opening day onward seems like a poor choice if outages are just to be expected.

There is a difference between expecting problems and planning for problems. I would say Test Track was the ultimate example of this.

Did the tech folks plan for problems and were ignored by management or did the tech folks paint a rosy picture that they could not live up to?

 

[mom2rtk]

There is a difference between expecting problems and planning for problems. I would say Test Track was the ultimate example of this.

Did the tech folks plan for problems and were ignored by management or did the tech folks paint a rosy picture that they could not live up to?

Makes no difference to me, the customer. It's all "Disney" to me.

Someone dropped the ball if this sort of thing is typical yet they moved forward anyway with distributing a huge portion of each day's ride capacity as fastpass from opening day forward.

 

[Mitzicat]

I wonder why they had to have CMs ride in the boats all night testing it if the problem is the animatronics. I would think they could test that without running boats using the cameras etc.

Just a guess...but it might be to see how the animatronics look to guest if it stops working? Could you imagine some of the freakish look Elsa or Anna could give if they are stopped in mid movement! Might scare the crap out of people! Or there might be a sensor thing. If boat A passes this sensor it makes Olaf say a phrase A. or just thought of this...could be a timing thing. If boat A leaves the dock and 15 seconds later boat b leaves, will boat b have the same experience as boat A? Again these are all guesses on my part.

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe they are waiting for the shipment of strobe lights?

Seriously, I can't imagine waiting for a couple of hours only to be told that the ride is down and to come back and wait again later.

 

[nilla]

We rode it last week. I'm happy they neither delayed the opening nor closed it down until it could be fully worked on.

 

[Mitzicat]

Maybe they are waiting for the shipment of strobe lights?

Say it ain't so...Disco Betti the Yeti might have company? LOL - JOKING FOLKS!!!!

 

[nilla]

"Guest Recovery" for those waiting in the long lines is that "Vikings" are roaming the lines while grunting at guests. Seriously! My response to that info was, "What??"

The Vikings were a highlight of our trip! They were hilarious, both times we saw them.

After reading this and the ripping of Les Parfaits Inocuous, I'm starting to wonder if I'm simply too easily amused to be on the DISboards.

 

[nilla]

So if you have a fastpass to the ride and it breaks down, what happens? Do it just clog up the ride later? This seems like a disaster.

We probably waited 45 minutes with FPs. Not good, but for a brand new attraction, I'm not complaining.

 

[nilla]

This happened to us with FEA on Wednesday. Our return time was 12-1 and we got notified through MDE & e-mail that the ride was down and then it listed our options (return to FEA at a later time that day or use the FP for a different experience.) We had no intention of using it for anything else. We decided to hang out in the general vicinity of FEA starting at 12:00 and keep an eye on things so that when it opened we could get right in line as we knew the FP line would build quickly. At about 12:40, we noticed via the app that it was up and running again so we hustled over and got in line. We had about a 30 minute wait. By the time we got off the ride, they had closed the standby line and the FP return line stretched through the African Outpost and almost all the way to Germany. I'm guessing those people had about a 2-hour wait.

Not sure how we missed this, since we were in WS all Wednesday! We had FPs for 3:40, and arrived right around that time. There was no standby line, but the FP line wasn't any farther than I've seen the line for Akershus. Certainly not all the way past China when we were there.

 

[bluezy]

Not sure how we missed this, since we were in WS all Wednesday! We had FPs for 3:40, and arrived right around that time. There was no standby line, but the FP line wasn't any farther than I've seen the line for Akershus. Certainly not all the way past China when we were there.

Maybe they re-routed the line once the standby queue was emptied so that not so many people were outside???? Or maybe you were on the other side of World Showcase at the time the line was so long. We walked to Germany after we got off the ride around 1:20 and the line was almost to Germany at that point. There were numerous cast members with signs keeping the line of people intact and out of the way of general foot traffic in the area (they made sure there were breaks in the line where people could cut through to get into China, The Outpost, etc.

 

[nilla]

Maybe they re-routed the line once the standby queue was emptied so that not so many people were outside???? Or maybe you were on the other side of World Showcase at the time the line was so long. We walked to Germany after we got off the ride around 1:20 and the line was almost to Germany at that point. There were numerous cast members with signs keeping the line of people intact and out of the way of general foot traffic in the area (they made sure there were breaks in the line where people could cut through to get into China, The Outpost, etc.

That's nuts! We lucked out.