Opening date for Nemo's Submarine Voyage confirmed

[HydroGuy]

Over on MiceChat they are saying that the June 11 date for Nemo Subs opening is now confirmed. Apologies for linking to another board, but I did not want to take credit for this and I thought folks here would be interested.

www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60028

Since I am already linking to MiceChat, here is another thread of interest with input from several DLR regulars.

"How long will sub line be when it opens let the guessing begin"
www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59758

Here is an excerpt from Darkbeer, post #10. DB is a knowledgable local AP holder.

We have three main types of park visitors

Regular Visitors (now mostly AP holders)

The person who only visits rarely (mainly out of town tourists)

Cast Members.

Now, let's take care of the CM's first, hopefully most CM's will get a chance to ride while Disney tests the attraction, works on loading issues, etc., since DOSH regulations allow CM's to ride even if DOSH hasn't signed off on the ride. So hopefully we won't have many off-duty CM's standing in the lines. CM's are blocked out on July 4th, and then July 13th thru August 19th.

There is a big difference between Regular Visitors (AP holders) and the out of town guests, and that is the AP holder has for the most part pretty much experienced the entire park and all of its attractions (at least the ones they are interested in), while a visitor hasn't seen most of the park or hasn't seen it in years, so there is a desire to make sure and get to see a lot of things.

On the other hand, regular visitors will see the Sub Lagoon commercials (since most live in the SoCal area) and will make a special trip just to ride the Subs (and of course, check out other favorites).

So you have two groups of people, with two very different values in regards to the wait time.

The visitors will have a much shorter wait time maximum. If they see 2 hours, there is a much higher possibility that they will decide to go see and ride other things instead of waiting.

On the other hand, the folks who go to the park JUST to ride the subs (AP holders and CM's who didn't get to ride during the CM previews) will wait a much longer time, as that was the reason they showed up. At some point, even most AP holders won't be willing to wait, but I would say that 4 hours will be agreeable to many AP holders just to get a chance to see the ride.

Now, most AP holders are either SoCal or SoCal select AP holders, and they have limited dates to see Finding Nemo prior to being blocked out for the summer.

The regular SoCal AP is blocked out for about half of June, all of July and most of August.

So here are the dates that SoCal AP holders have a chance to ride, based on the ride opening June 11th.

Monday, June 11th
Tuesday, June 12th

Sunday, June 17th
Monday June 18th
Tuesday, June 19th

Sunday June 24th thru Friday, June 29th.

The next day that the SoCal AP's can enter without buying a blockout pass is Sunday August 19th.

And based on the long lines for the first few days that Pirates was open last June, the lines dropped in size on the first day the SoCal AP's were blocked out.

So, my educated guess, Wednesday June 13th lines will be shorter than the 11th or 12th, but I still see a long line on the 13th, but still noticeably shorter than a day that the SoCal's can attend. I think the 17th and the 24th will be the two days with the longest wait, due to the combination of a weekend and SoCal AP's can enter.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Well Trey, that is great news! I'll see you in line the end of June I suppose! Now if the Nuggets can just win against Dallas, this will be a very good night indeed !

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My guess on the lines would be peak waits of 6-8 hours the first day or two. There are always die hards that are willing to do this to get the first shot at it. I suspect there will be those that get to the gates as early as they'll let em. I'm sure some will camp out over night if they let em. I suspect it will taper to 3-4 hours until the passes that hit blackout days hit them. Then it will taper to 2-3 hours the rest of the summer. I really don't see it below an hour on busy days ever due to capacity.

 

[Mortimer Mouse]

Do you think they'll have a soft opening prior to June 11th for AP holders?

 

[HydroGuy]

Do you think they'll have a soft opening prior to June 11th for AP holders?

According to this link www.miceage.com/allutz/al022007a.htm, soft openings will be much more limited than usual due to the tight schedule.

Even if the opening date slips a week or two, the ride will still be opening sometime this summer and TDA planners are focusing their energy like a laser beam to ensure the opening and subsequent daily operation go as smoothly as possible once the voyages begin. Unlike recent new attractions at Disneyland, there will be very little time for extensive "soft openings" in the weeks before the grand opening. As it stands now, there may only be one or two days of soft opens before the press descend for the grand opening ceremonies currently scheduled for June 10th and 11th.

The current plan calls for a sign off by the state DOSH inspectors in late May and early June, and no one who isn't on the Disney payroll or a specifically invited guest will be able to ride on the completed attraction until that DOSH inspection is completed. Once DOSH gives its blessing to the attraction, two days of Cast Member previews will be held on June 3rd and 4th. TDA realizes it needs to offer the huge pool of Annual Passholders at least a shot at a preview ride, so it's planning on offering two days of dedicated AP Previews June 6th and 7th. Slot in a day or two of fine tuning and tweaking supervised by John Lasseter himself, and a big WDI wrap party on June 9th, and there's not a lot of elbow room left for soft openings.

 

[jaxsonmommy]

We arrive on June 10th. I am kinda bummed that it will be super busy now because of this. I have no desire to ride this (not into being submerged in water lol ) so if I steer clear of this area will the park seem not too bad overall? I guess we could always do DCA on the 11th and avoid it altogether. I'm scared it's just going to be crazy busy and they will limit th amount of guests let into the park etc. Do you think people will be lining up over night for this?

 

[beckanoah]

My trip is June 9th through the 17th, alone with a 6 year old. I am totally fearing the crowd levels.

And I really want a chance on Nemo, but I doubt dd will be patient enough.

However, the other ride lines won't be near as long...

 

[HydroGuy]

We arrive on June 10th. I am kinda bummed that it will be super busy now because of this. I have no desire to ride this (not into being submerged in water lol ) so if I steer clear of this area will the park seem not too bad overall? I guess we could always do DCA on the 11th and avoid it altogether. I'm scared it's just going to be crazy busy and they will limit th amount of guests let into the park etc. Do you think people will be lining up over night for this?

As pointed out by Darkbeer, the local AP holders who go to DL do not need to experience any other portion of the parks. They can easily dedicate hours and hours to just this ride. But with so many thousands of them, I would expect it to make the parks crowded as well. Just be aware that June 11 is a Monday and many AP holders will not be able to get to the parks early. They also will not have EE. If they open Nemo for EE, that will be much more manageable for multi-day visitors (AP holders do not have EE - unless they stay overnight at a DLR hotel). Follow good summer advice "Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319 and you should be able to handle it all.

 

[mystic_path]

The sub ride is opening the day I leave, although I will be spending some time in the morning in the park before I catch my flight home. I doubt im gonna wait 4 hours in a line up when I can see other things for the last time. It kinda sucks I dont get to see it, but it will give me a reason to come back soon.

 

[jaxsonmommy]

Thanks for that link Hydroguy. It had a lot of good ideas and info.

 

[Amy&Dan]

You know now that I have had time to contemplate this, I realize that this may be good and bad for our trip in June. Of course I am excited to ride it, but know this could really make our time frame (which I think is also right before So. Cal AP's black out) crazy busy. Oh well, as long as I get to ride it once I am happy. I'll just be waiting anxiously to see what it does to the whole attendance, flow of the crowds thing when it does open! I guess you have take the bad with the good.

 

[dohgusgus]

I wonder if they will make it a FP ride off the bat. Sure the FPs would run out by 12pm, but hey if you're lucky enough to get a FP then it'd be worth waiting until 8pm to ride.

 

[Leofoenget]

question: is this ride going to have FAST PASS? and if it does, do you think that the CM's will be VERY STRICT about the return times on them? I would think they would be.

my 2c

 

[HydroGuy]

question: is this ride going to have FAST PASS? and if it does, do you think that the CM's will be VERY STRICT about the return times on them? I would think they would be.

my 2c

There are no signs that Nemo Subs will have FP. There is an infrastructure required for FP, and no one has reported seeing any of this infrastructure installed.

 

[jacobsmommy]

If that's the first ride you go to at park opening on June 24th, how long do you think the line will be?

 

[DLR29]

^Considering that's a Sunday, I'd say maybe an hour or so.

In regards to the FP, they are not putting machines in because it would make the stand by even longer. They don't want to have another Winnie-the-Pooh, where they only used the FP machines for a few months. Also since the subs have such as small capacity, there would not be as many FPs distributed as other rides (Indy, Space) and FPs would run out in a couple hours.

 

[HydroGuy]

If that's the first ride you go to at park opening on June 24th, how long do you think the line will be?

I agree that it being Sunday, Nemo will be in big demand. The key will be getting in line at the gates. I suspect the line at the front gate will be much larger than a normal Sunday. If it were me, well, I would try not to do Nemo on the 24th , but if I had no choice I would try to get to the DLR gates 45-60 minutes early.

Remember, DLR is a place where people camp out the night before in order to get in early for special things.

 

[Amy&Dan]

f I had no choice I would try to get to the DLR gates 45-60 minutes early.

Remember, DLR is a place where people camp out the night before in order to get in early for special things.

That is so not what I want to hear!

 

[beckanoah]

I agree that it being Sunday, Nemo will be in big demand. The key will be getting in line at the gates. I suspect the line at the front gate will be much larger than a normal Sunday. If it were me, well, I would try not to do Nemo on the 24th , but if I had no choice I would try to get to the DLR gates 45-60 minutes early.

Remember, DLR is a place where people camp out the night before in order to get in early for special things.

I too, don't want to hear this. I'm spending a fortune on this trip for myself and my daughter. I would NOT be happy to be turned away at the gates...

 

[HydroGuy]

I too, don't want to hear this. I'm spending a fortune on this trip for myself and my daughter. I would NOT be happy to be turned away at the gates...

I seriously doubt it will be that busy that they turn you away at the gate. If possible, stick with weekdays and with the blackout days in June. After June 29, the SoCal AP holders will be blacked out and things should not be so bad.

Check out the blackout schedule here for June: www.mouseplanet.com/misc.php?pg=blackout