Flights of Passage and Disney Officially Suck

[TheMaxRebo]

I'll add a gripe about FoP.

Last night during EMH, the line stretched behind the normal entrance to the cue. So the CM directed us "go around and turn right at the bend" where we were supposed to meet a CM marking the end of the line. The directions were a little confusing (it was dark!) so I asked for clarification and the CM got annoyed and gave me the same direction with a hand wave.

So off we went "around then bend" me and a whole group of other people, and we were nearly back to the bridge out of Pandora before we realized something had to be wrong. We never found a CM marking the end of the line.

So we come back to the cue and tell the CM the problem and she acted like we were stupid! Rather than just letting us into the normal cue, she told us to go around the bend again!

I said NO and repeatedly explained that her directions were bad, none of us saw a CM, and it was time for us to enter the regular cue. Had to escalate the issue to a manager and the manager finally just said "whatever, let them in." No apology, nothing. That was incredibly rude.

Was this for getting in the line for waiting for them to re-open the line for the extra EMH time? We had a bit of a similar situation in that they had just cut the line for normal hours and we had to ask "where should we go to wait for the EMH hours to start for the ride?" and they basically just lined us up right infront of the standby line entrance ... but it was like a few CMs had to discuss exactly what to do and they were a bit disorganized / feels like they are figuring it out each night. I'd say the CMs we dealt with were very pleasant and not rude though - sorry you had to deal with that

 

[BigredNole]

This is why I never visit new attractions when they first open... wait a few months until they work out the bugs. lol

I guess you have never been on It's Tough to Be a Bug

 

[DaisyJ]

Let's be clear. You don't "have to" plan almost every minute of a trip to Disney. You may chose to, and that's your decision. But there is no requirement

But that's where I would completely disagree. I can't speak for dining, because we don't do that, but as far as rides go, you absolutely won't miss out on a lot of things if you don't plan to the hilt. There are lots of people on this board...myself included...who are "wing it" type people. We don't miss out on a lot of things...in fact we miss out on very little, if anything. Again, not saying planning is wrong, it's not. But I feel bad when I hear people think they MUST plan, get stressed over it, etc... It's just not necessary.

Yes, OPs situation stinks. I wasn't there, so I can't say exactly what happens, but I would think they should have given at least some people compensation FP+. Probably would be hard to give them all FoP FP+, but I would have thought they would do something.

You also go frequently. Not everyone has that luxury.

 

[Klayfish]

You also go frequently. Not everyone has that luxury.

Yes, since 2015 I'm very lucky that we get to go pretty often. I agree that's a huge advantage, no doubt. However, even for a complete newbie, I don't think intense planning is necessary. Reading/researching at least somewhat so you get a basic familiarity with WDW is essential, I would tell that to anyone. But if you do that, I just don't think even a first timer has to do a thoroughly detailed plan. They can if they want, but a great time can be had without it. Again...a lot depends on personality types.

 

[EdmondD]

My uncle worked at the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland in the 1990s. It was brand new ambitious technology at the time, and even after months of testing 24 hours a day, and they were finally ready to open, they were still learning. The ride would go down constantly.

I've read once they figured out precisely how heavy a bag of sand to put down when they removed the Golden Idol, the ride started operating pretty smoothly.

 

[MrInfinity]

While a plethora of managers were milling about, one cast member, in particular, did nothing but scream at the people who had formed their own queue, "This is not a line! You need to move! Now!" I was pretty shocked because she was screaming it at those people. That left a sour taste in my mouth.

I wonder if the CM first asked nicely, saw that nobody moved, and then had to speak more loudly? They are dealing with a large frustrated crowd. There are countless times I see CMs trying to NICELY ask people to clear walkways, look at people, ask them politely with a smile to clear, see the people cram over the line, then when the CM turns his/her back they step over the lines again. Totally rude, and people don't listen when they might lose a spot / line or whatever they're cramming in for.

as far as rides go, you absolutely won't miss out on a lot of things if you don't plan to the hilt. There are lots of people on this board...myself included...who are "wing it" type people. We don't miss out on a lot of things...in fact we miss out on very little, if anything. Again, not saying planning is wrong, it's not. But I feel bad when I hear people think they MUST plan, get stressed over it, etc... It's just not necessary.

Couldn't agree more! People over stress the planning requirement out here. But it's a planning board, it attracts the planners so nothing wrong w that. Most Disney guests plan way less than what is done out here. We plan out our mornings to just after lunch, then wing it. We even skipped our FOP FP+ that we booked months in advance because we wanted to play the pool games. We didn't use 2 out of 3 FP+'s this day. We're not typical dis'ers I guess.

Yes, OPs situation stinks. I wasn't there, so I can't say exactly what happens, but I would think they should have given at least some people compensation FP+. Probably would be hard to give them all FoP FP+, but I would have thought they would do something.

From my experience, the procedure has been consistent here. If you're in line and a ride goes down, you're out of luck. Same thing elsewhere. If you got boarded onto the ride and it goes down, you get a FP+ ticket. They couldn't give out a FP+ to the folks in line when a ride closed. They would be giving out thousands of Fast Passes. It just wouldn't work.

 

[Polybound]

Highly unlikely.

The person might have heard a cm say it. But it's no better info than some of the info the bus drivers have

Yes, CM at AK and yes, is a personal friend.

 

[Polybound]

In addition to my original post, once we got into the lab room portion of the queue, announcements came on about every 30 minutes saying "Because of the extremely large number of guest that have booked flights before you, your wait time is going to be longer then expected". Now wait just a minute, our longer then expected wait time is going the be longer then expected, because it's our fault? That's how the message struct me, and that's essentially what they said.

 

[ArwenMarie]

When you have to book headliners 60 days ahead to avoid long waits, it's a planning-intensive vacation to say the least

 

[LSUfan4444]

I wonder if the CM first asked nicely, saw that nobody moved, and then had to speak more loudly?

While it may be possible my experience has me to believe that CMs are actually trained how to be passive aggressive and to yell things robotically and just add words like "please" at the beginning and "thank you" at the end.

 

[Klayfish]

In addition to my original post, once we got into the lab room portion of the queue, announcements came on about every 30 minutes saying "Because of the extremely large number of guest that have booked flights before you, your wait time is going to be longer then expected". Now wait just a minute, our longer then expected wait time is going the be longer then expected, because it's our fault? That's how the message struct me, and that's essentially what they said.

Huh??? If that's how the message struck you, not sure what to say. But you're mad because you chose to wait in a very, very long line...which you were given all kinds of visual and audio warnings were long, and then say that Disney blamed you?

I get it that you're frustrated, but drawing the conclusion that WDW is blaming you because they had an audio announcement to let guests know that the wait is going to be really long is an incredibly, amazingly far stretch, IMO.

 

[Farro]

In addition to my original post, once we got into the lab room portion of the queue, announcements came on about every 30 minutes saying "Because of the extremely large number of guest that have booked flights before you, your wait time is going to be longer then expected". Now wait just a minute, our longer then expected wait time is going the be longer then expected, because it's our fault? That's how the message struct me, and that's essentially what they said.

Or...they are just keeping in theme with the ride.

 

[TheBigErn]

Note to Disney: Here's a thought. Don't open a ride until the bugs are all worked out.

 

[Planogirl]

Not everyone can get FP+ for this ride. Locals, people who stay offsite, those who can't plan far in advance and so on will likely have trouble. There seems to be an inference coming from a few that if you don't get fastpasses then you are somehow to blame for any problems. It's not a matter of placing blame but often just people doing what they can.

I also don't blame Disney. The crowds are crazy and these new rides always have issues. It's just the nature of the beast.

 

[Polybound]

Huh??? If that's how the message struck you, not sure what to say. But you're mad because you chose to wait in a very, very long line...which you were given all kinds of visual and audio warnings were long, and then say that Disney blamed you?

I get it that you're frustrated, but drawing the conclusion that WDW is blaming you because they had an audio announcement to let guests know that the wait is going to be really long is an incredibly, amazingly far stretch, IMO.

Disney knows exactly how many people are in the queue at all times. That's why they post expected wait times to begin with. There's no need for a statement saying "Because of the extremely large number of guest that booked flights before you, your expected wait time will be longer than expected," because the large crowd has already been builtin to the posted wait time. The statement should have been, "Because OUR equipment is starting to breakdown, and WE'RE falling behind on getting guest through the attraction, your wait time will be longer then expected."

 

[rteetz]

Note to Disney: Here's a thought. Don't open a ride until the bugs are all worked out.

Um, that doesn't really work. You aren't aware of every single issue until you start running at full capacity sometimes. Also on opening day the rides were nearly flawless in operation.

 

[yulilin3]

Disney knows exactly how many people are in the queue, all of the time. That's why they post expected wait times. The guest see the wait times as well. A statement saying "Because of the extremely large number of guest that booked flights before you" has already been built into the wait time shown. There would be no need for that statement. The statement should have been, "Because our equipment is starting to breakdown, and where falling behind on getting guest through the attraction, your wait time will be longer then expected."

the message is following the theme
For example in Haunted Mansion when the ride stops for whatever reason they say something like "some spirits have interrupted our tour" or in Splash Mountain "brer fox and brer bear are causing a rucus"

 

[rteetz]

the message is following the theme
For example in Haunted Mansion when the ride stops for whatever reason they say something like "some spirits have interrupted our tour" or in Splash Mountain "brer fox and brer bear are causing a rucus"

Yep. I had the Splash one in January because the ride was broken down earlier in the day and they had a boat load of FP people to get through.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In addition to my original post, once we got into the lab room portion of the queue, announcements came on about every 30 minutes saying "Because of the extremely large number of guest that have booked flights before you, your wait time is going to be longer then expected". Now wait just a minute, our longer then expected wait time is going the be longer then expected, because it's our fault? That's how the message struct me, and that's essentially what they said.

With all due respect I think you were upset and seem to still be upset but I doubt that Disney created the message to blame their guests.

 

[ucfknight]

Note to Disney: Here's a thought. Don't open a ride until the bugs are all worked out.

They only had a very tight 6 year time schedule from announcement to opening day. You can't expect everything to be perfect in such a short amount of time.