Luigi's Flying Tires is it a failure??

[DisneytheKid]

Interesting... Guess the loading time isn't going down too much any time soon...

On the side with the wheelchair ramp, it seems to be about 6 minutes when it is used, otherwise I would say about 4 minutes. I don't think that there is much that can be done to speed the process up. Essentially this is the same loading process as bumper cars would have, except the wheel chair ramp adds a little time for them to push the vehicle in and out of the loading area.

When we were there it was taking even longer to load the ride. We got the speel from the cast member on how to "drive" (lean together, same direction, etc...) the tire--and it still was a big thumbs down for us. Yes, our tire moved as it was suppose to, but it just isn't that fun! I am the type that likes most any ride Disney throws at me, but even with my glass half-full, Pollyanna attitude--this ride was a big fat dud!

We waited SO long to board this ride. We rode the Racers ride 4 times, and would have ridden it more. Mater ride was a hoot, but good for one ride. I wouldn't be sad to never see or ride Luigi again! Other people in our line were saying the same thing as they left.

So if there is no wait, go for it and decide for yourself. If there is a long wait (we walked right in to the line and thought we would be out of there fairly quickly, but alas....) then skip it.

 

[Shananana]

I loved it. We waited an hour for it; I'd wait up to 2 hours for a 2 minute ride.
It was awesome! My advise for people is to ride it by themselves... without other adults. I rode with my daughter, but she was only 45 lbs, so I definately was "driving."

 

[dumbodame]

I was also there the 14th. I waited about 30 minutes. We LOVED this ride. We got the hang of moving our tires quite easily and were cracking up the entire time. We also loved the beach ball wars. We got into a war of sorts with another group....chasing around to get beach balls to throw at one another. We got off the ride and promptly got back online to continue our little war . We are not little kids...we are 2 best friends in our 50's. Maybe you have to be old and semi senile to find this fun but we thought it was a blast.

 

[kayleigh83]

Would it be considered a better strategy to try a single ride line for this ride? Is there one? I ask because I'm only about 115 lbs, my boyfriend is over 200 lbs... so even if we were in a saucer together, he'd be driving anyways! So maybe we'd get on the ride faster and be able to control our own saucers if we did single rider?

 

[Hoku]

Would it be considered a better strategy to try a single ride line for this ride? Is there one? I ask because I'm only about 115 lbs, my boyfriend is over 200 lbs... so even if we were in a saucer together, he'd be driving anyways! So maybe we'd get on the ride faster and be able to control our own saucers if we did single rider?

The point of a single rider line is to fill empty seats. If they did that, you'd still be required to sit with someone, only it would be someone you don't know.

 

[kayleigh83]

Really? So there's no way to ride in your own saucer?

 

[ValpoCory]

Really? So there's no way to ride in your own saucer?

Lots of adults ride solo.

 

[Disney Anna]

I will be going solo.

Is it possible for a single female to maneuver?

 

[kayleigh83]

So much conflicting info about whether or not you can ride THIS ride solo! ValpoCory - you've seen people riding solo in this ride for sure?

 

[DLR29]

So much conflicting info about whether or not you can ride THIS ride solo! ValpoCory - you've seen people riding solo in this ride for sure?

Yes you can ride solo. It slows down the line, but lots of people do it. But what Hoku was trying to say is that the purpose and idea behind any single rider line is to fill empty seats that go unused (which is why it works great on RSR). There are not going to be any unused tires in any given ride cycle, thus they wouldn't put in a SR line. You're not going to be getting on the ride faster by going solo...in fact it's the opposite (if others ride solo, you'll have a longer line).

 

[Chim Chiminy]

While I think the ride looks like it could be fun, I do wonder why they decided to bring back a ride that they knew was a slow loader and that people had issues operating.

We will be going next month and I am on the fence whether or not to wait for this ride, an hour wait for a 2 minute ride is not something we would normally do.

 

[ValpoCory]

So much conflicting info about whether or not you can ride THIS ride solo! ValpoCory - you've seen people riding solo in this ride for sure?

Larry the Cable Guy rode it solo on the "infomercial" on ABC Saturday night. But not just that. I've read other posts saying that one parent rode solo while the other parent rode with a child.

 

[cyclenut]

The good:
When you can get out into the open space and perfect the balance, you can really get some decent speed and have some fun "driving" around the arena. It is a definately different ride experience than anything else and the line queue is full of fun details.

The bad:
Because you are floating on air, you are subject to re-direction by even a slight resistance and you lose momentum very quickly. Getting started isn't a problem but getting up speed takes time and if you are in a traffic jam with any other "tires" you can feel like you are sitting there on idle for far too long. The beach balls are an interesting addition and yes, people throw them at each other. Not everyone is going to be happy about that.

The ugly:
We experienced a rather lengthy wait and observed what I would call a serious design flaw in the loading process. The wheelchair loading area has one key problem and it is NOT about getting in and out of the ride vehicle. After the ride is stopped, all riders must exit the ride. Then, the ride operator must start the ride back up and someone has to push the guests needing the wheelchair access back into the special area designed to make loading and unloading easier. This takes AT LEAST three CM. One to open the gate, one to clear away the beach balls and other "tires" and one to push the "tire" with the guests. The ride operator must then shut down the ride and wait for all air to stop. Only then can the gates be opened for other riders to enter. This slows down loading time CONSIDERABLY. Even if you limit this process to every other time only, it really makes the line move slow. We also experienced an incident where a guest unbuckled their belt just before the ride started to adjust it. The ride started with the belt unbuckled and immediately shut down. This required a rather lengthy process to exit all riders, recheck all belts, restart the ride without riders to test it and then release the original riders back into the arena to start their ride once again. There should be some way to prevent this. Maybe a lockout to prevent people from unbuckling once the ride operator has checked the vehicle. With everyone running around grabbing beach balls, I see this kind of thing happening more often than a typical ride.

The final verdict:
I think this is a fun ride and something you should consider, but I would not put it on my MUST DO list. If you happen across a short line (30 minutes), go for it. Just remember, the queue time posted does not anticipate frequent use (some use ... but not frequent use) of the wheelchair loading area. That could cause wait times to be greater than posted.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I've seen people asking and answering this question, which always makes me laugh because of the some individual concerns in an appropriate answer. *My* family will definitely have to carve out time on some day to ride it because:
1) It's most likely our once/lifetime trip to DLR, so it's now or never;
2) Cars Land is the #1 reason my three sons are going to DLR rather than WDW and why we waited an extra year to go;
3) My youngest is only two (and as big a raging "Cars" fanatic as his brothers--if you don't have three boys 7 and under, you might not understand the pop-cultural touchstone "Cars" is for their generation! It's like what Ariel's princess meal, BBB, and PFF all rolled up together is for some of your daughters), so he definitely won't make it on RSR (not sure about Mater's ride and its height requirements), BUT he can ride Luigi. We got to tell him so during ABC's Saturday broadcast of "Cars" with the Larry the Cable Guy previews of CL, where Larry jokes about meeting Luigi's height requirement of 32". So we're doing it so he can ride a ride at CL.

I think the people who are casual about the idea of skipping it don't share those same qualities with my family. I think even the people who ask about possibly skipping it must have very different demographics. I'm now concerned about convincing the kids to spend an entire day at DL without wandering over to CL to see the lights or meet Lightning and Mater again.

I like hearing tips from those of you who managed to make it fun.

Well, I wouldn't ever tell someone to skip it, no matter their demographics--but I also would advise them that if the line is over an hour, it isn't the best ride to wait for. I don't know if the line will always be like this, but when we got in line it didn't look long at all to us. We got in line inside the building, and skipped through a lot of the line, because there were not that many people in front of us. Even with the shorter line (AP preview lines) we waited almost an hour to ride. It is such a short, poorly orchestrated ride--and the payoff for an hour wait just wasn't there for us. If there was no to very little line (like under 10 minutes), then I would for sure go on again, just to do it.

After we got off, we spoke to a CM who said that this ride has had a lot of problems from the start. They did test runs with Disney Imagineers who felt it was lacking. That is when they added in the beach balls, to try to jazz it up a bit. The balls don't seem to be helping, in my opinion.

So of course, go on the ride with your kids. There is so much to see in Cars Land and Buena Vista Street that is amazing that even if you don't end up enjoying the ride--you really won't miss that much. We are really not that big of fans of Cars (My girls are 15 and 12, so we sort of missed that boat)--but even still we LOVED the entire area and it's themeing.

I hope you have a great time!

 

[toocherie]

I was with a group of seven rather "good-sized" adults so I ended up riding this alone. I had a blast! I had no problems figuring out how to move the thing and it was fun sailing across the arena area.

However, I am rather short 5'1" and it was difficult getting into the tire but even worse getting out.

 

[Hoku]

Really? So there's no way to ride in your own saucer?

If they had a single rider line, you would ride in empty seats with others. As it is, they don't have a single rider line, which means individuals can ride.....um.....individually.

Any ride that has a single rider line means they are filling empty seats, which usually means you ride with others you don't know.

EDIT: DLR29, I see that you already clarified what I was saying. Sorry! And thanks.

 

[ldymcbth]

We waited 90 mins on Sat morning and I would never wait more than 15m again. It was just not that great. I enjoyed Mater's MUCH more than Luigi's. It was fun enough, but easy to get stuck during your ride between people who are clueless as to how to get around, and then you've wasted precious time sitting there. The line moves SO painfully slow. We entered when the sign said 75 min and it was easily 90 min if not maybe 100 before we got to ride. It is soooooo slow loading.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

We waited 90 mins on Sat morning and I would never wait more than 15m again. It was just not that great. I enjoyed Mater's MUCH more than Luigi's. It was fun enough, but easy to get stuck during your ride between people who are clueless as to how to get around, and then you've wasted precious time sitting there. The line moves SO painfully slow. We entered when the sign said 75 min and it was easily 90 min if not maybe 100 before we got to ride. It is soooooo slow loading.

Okay, so I am not crazy? I agree with all points. I am the ultimate Disneyland cheerleader, but even I know when to skip Roger Rabit!

 

[ldymcbth]

After we got off, we spoke to a CM who said that this ride has had a lot of problems from the start. They did test runs with Disney Imagineers who felt it was lacking. That is when they added in the beach balls, to try to jazz it up a bit. The balls don't seem to be helping, in my opinion.

BTW, totally agree with this. The balls are a hindrance, IMO. We watched many many many cycles of loading and unloading and the balls just make the process longer. People trying to grab a ball prior to getting on their tires. People trying to play with the balls after getting off their tires. The balls did not add much. They could perhaps shave some time off if they nixed the balls.

That was way too many times typing "balls" in one post.

For those worried about the negative reviews - listen....Carsland itself is amazing. It is just like walking into the movie. It is such a trip to walk down the street. If you aren't able (or choose not to due to the wait) to ride Luigi's, it will not ruin your experience. The place is simply awesome!

 

[ludari]

I enjoyed Lugi's Flying Tires but there is a learning curve for this ride. Much better if you ride single.