Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[Angel Ariel]

hello disboarders

a quick note to y'all, and hopefully a longer post eventually, but I want you to know I took one for the team.

Instead of napping or swimming this afternoon, I hoofed it over to epcot to check out soarin. We did the morning at the MK (emh morning, something I avoid like the plague, but it was DD's bday, and she wanted to do the MK. When I tried to balk at this, she pointed out the time I INSISTED we be in the MK on Christmas Day, to see the parade - another very bad choice....anyhow...)

I arrived at the land at about 1:30 pm. I was thinking that the standby passes would be for later tonight, but that was not so. The printed return time was between 3 and 4 pm. Hmmm, not horrible.

I should mention that they had ropes up so there was only one way to enter the land, and one way to exit, so there was crowd/flow control going on.

Overall, there was NO negativity from the crowd that I could see, except a bit of grumbling. Due to the heat and humidity, I thought there could be some out and out screaming and brawling, much like a pool hoping/6 in a hotel room,/line jumpers thread here on our beloved dis boards.

They were using the old fast pass area of soaring to stage the hand out of these little cards. YOu were directed to go to a cm who was handing them out. I was by myself, and was asked how many did I want. This system could/would be massively abused if kept like this, as every member of the family could go up individually and ask for a group of tickets.

More soon, a few observations...be right back

Thank you for the report! I am happy to see your report that the return time wasn't far out. Are they announcing this test anywhere outside of the land building itself? Or do guests not find out til they go to soarin directly?

 

[jade1]

As it stands now, the only thing a day guest will get is frustrated. Consider the family who is staying onsite at 'the other park', and spontaneously decides to spend one of their precious vacation days at Disney. After dropping a considerable sum of money for one day tickets, they will not be happy campers when they discover that they will be locked out of the headliner attractions that they paid to experience. Makes me wonder what kind of economic backlash this will have for Disney with regards to day guests alone. If you are a day guest it is highly unlikely that you will have an ADR for any meal, so you will be grabbing a bite at a CS. It makes no sense to pay for park admission to just shop for Disney souvenirs, eat at a CS, and spend the day on attractions that you could care less about. Admittedly, I was someone who would be happy to be at Disney with my family under any circumstances; but after reading this thread, and thinking about the bigger picture, I am looking at it from a different perspective. I do believe that Disney put all their eggs in one big basket of 'control'; they were counting on the serious Disney fans, many of whom are planners, to make FP+ a success. I do not think they gave much thought about the level of planning required on the part of their guests. If want my family to relax on vacation, I will essentially need to choose between ride reservations or ADR's because I know it would be a challenge for us to juggle both of them....bottom line is; somethings gotta give, so the rides would win. If we do not make as many ADR's, and eat at CS, then I will not be spending as many of my vacation dollars at Disney. This is just a Disboards discussion right now, but word of mouth is powerful, and if Disney can't get their act together and find a fix, I can see this as having a big impact on day guest attendance. It makes me sad to say this, but right now, Disney is a hot mess!

When do suspect they would arrive at WDW for that one expensive day?

If in the AM (I would hope early am) they can kisok FP+'s for the day, and SB+ could/will be no wait in the line. Currently though those SB lines are long and you cant leave.

Contrary if we go over to US for Gringotts and the train-its $200 each and 400 minute wait if it doesn't break down. Now if I could kiosk Gringotts for say 2PM that would be great. Heck even get a paper card for a later return would help.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

This is a RIDICULOUS idea. I don't understand why ANYONE would think this is fair to any guest. You didn't book a FP+-- GET IN LINE. What is so hard about this? FP+ was to PREVENT people running to snatch up all the Fastpasses. Now it's essentially the same only if you don't get one you can't ride at all??!!

I can't be the only one here who has a slight fear that within the next 10 years, to go to Walt Disney World, you will have to have your trips planned out in intricate detail, can I? I'm talking about knowing that on 10/12 you will go to Magic Kingdom and arrive at rope drop. Sometime between 9:05 and 9:25, you will ride Splash Mountain. From 9:30 to 9:50, you have a reservation to ride Thunder Mountain. You will then watch the 10:00 showing of Country Bears. When that is over, you can visit Pirates from 10:30 until 10:50. Then, you have from 11:00 to 11:20 to do Jungle Cruise. You have another 20 minute window to do Aladdin's Magic Carpet. You will be expected to have lunch at a counter service restaurant from 11:50 until 12:50. Then, starting at 1:00, you have twenty minute windows for each of the Fantasyland rides. You get the idea. It really seems Disney wants us to plan plan plan and, while I love planning my vacations, I also don't want to plan each detail. And I don't want to be told that I don't even have the option of riding a ride unless that reason is it is broken or down for refurb.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Disney: "We're capping the line, come back in eight hours for a short wait. Have a magical day!"

Guest: "But I have park hoppers. I wanted to ride this and go to another park later."

Disney: "We're saving you from long lines. Have a magical day!"

Guest: "But I'm willing to wait in the long line now so I can visit another park later."

Disney: "We're helping you. Trust us. Have a magical day!"

Guest: "This is ridiculous. Why can't I visit the parks the way I want?"

Disney: "Go @#$%! yourself. Have a magical day!"

 

[Angel Ariel]

When do suspect they would arrive at WDW for that one expensive day?

If in the AM (I would hope early am) they can kisok FP+'s for the day, and SB+ could/will be no wait in the line. Currently though those SB lines are long and you cant leave.

Contrary if we go over to US for Gringotts and the train-its $200 each and 400 minute wait if it doesn't break down. Now if I could kiosk Gringotts for say 2PM that would be great.

This isn't about comparing Disney and.universal. it is about comparing Disney to itself.

Are they going to have a board at the TTC showing when a ride is fully booked, so that day guests arriving at 11 or 12 are informed as to the ride availability that day *before* they buy their tickets? I doubt it. And if I entered as a day guest at 11am, with the park closing at 10, and got to the land to find there was no possibility for me to ride soarin at all in that 11 hr stretch, I would be pissed. Yes, fp usually ran out by then...but SB was always an option if you were willing to wait. Now Disney is saying, we don't care if you are willing to wait. If you don't get here early enough to book a slot, you dont get to ride at all. Those are very very different things.

 

[jade1]

Disney: "We're capping the line, come back in eight hours for a short wait. Have a magical day!"

Guest: "But I have park hoppers. I wanted to ride this and go to another park later."

Disney: "We're saving you from long lines. Have a magical day!"

Guest: "But I'm willing to wait in the long line now so I can visit another park later."

Disney: "We're helping you. Trust us. Have a magical day!"

Guest: "This is ridiculous. Why can't I visit the parks the way I want?"

Disney: "Go @#$%! yourself. Have a magical day!"

Guest: is this the line for Gringotts?

UNI: Yes

Guest: 400 minutes?

UNI: yes

Guest: but that's 7 hours and I had to buy a hopper so I could ride the train?

UNI: and your point is?

Guest: well can a get a return time if even on a piece of paper?

UNI: no just stand here

 

[Rileygirl]

What was interesting about this, was that many of the people who had the little cards did not immediately vacate the area. It was super crowded, and more then a few I think were just hanging around until their time came up. I think this is why the ropes were up, cm's were trying to direct people 'out' of the area.

Another observation, the fast pass line appeared to be packed. There was a line forming right out the entrance area, and very few people I noticed were walking through the 'standby' line. I am not sure why that was. There was some confusion, and it was hard for me to see.

I was sitting there hypothosizing that perhaps Disney cut way back on the fast pass plus tickets for soaring for the test days, (because the standby return time was so good in my opinion) but I cant think they did. #1 reason- would they have planned this test 60 days in advance? I don't think so, therefore people would have had fast pass plus on thier accounts. Seems like a knee jerk reaction, much the same as the whole anna / elsa stuff going on. #2 reason- the fast pass line was packed.

I am trying to wrap my head around this standby plus system. Under the old system, by 1 pm on a regular crowd day, I would expect the standby line at soaring to be 90 to 100 minutes. The standby plus ticket I got reflected that exactly. 90 minutes.

The big concern is if this system 'shuts out' the visitor from a headline attraction part way through the day. I wont be back later this afternoon to see if that happens today or not.

One other note: on the here and now 'ap', soaring did not show any wait times. When I enquired to the soarin staff how long of a wait it was, once I got in line with the standby plus, they said half an hour.

I should have asked people as they were exiting what their wait times were like, both fast pass people and the standby people, but I did not think of this until I was half way back to the hotel.

I am sure Josh will blog about this, if he has not already.

Alison

 

[monkeybug]

When do suspect they would arrive at WDW for that one expensive day?

If in the AM (I would hope early am) they can kisok FP+'s for the day, and SB+ could/will be no wait in the line. Currently though those SB lines are long and you cant leave.

Contrary if we go over to US for Gringotts and the train-its $200 each and 400 minute wait if it doesn't break down. Now if I could kiosk Gringotts for say 2PM that would be great. Heck even get a paper card for a later return would help.

I think that if they implement FP+ and SB+ across the board than the only people who really lose are those who arrive in the afternoon, just like with the old system really. But, I think they need a third line if they are doing that! How mad would you be if you paid $400 to go to US and then didn't even have the option of waiting 400 minutes to ride gringotts?

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Guest: is this the line for Gringotts?

UNI: Yes

Guest: 400 minutes?

UNI: yes

Guest: but that's 7 hours and I had to buy a hopper so I could ride the train?

UNI: and your point is?

Guest: well can a get a return time if even on a piece of paper?

UNI: no just stand here

 

[Angel Ariel]

Guest: is this the line for Gringotts?

UNI: Yes

Guest: 400 minutes?

UNI: yes

Guest: but that's 7 hours and I had to buy a hopper so I could ride the train?

UNI: and your point is?

Guest: well can a get a return time if even on a piece of paper?

UNI: no just stand here

As far as I can tell, you are the only one bringing universal into this discussion. Disney doesn't have any rides with 400 min waits on a consistent basis. No one is saying something like a sb+ system wouldn't be better for the gringotts situation. Disney's current SB waits, even for headliners, aren't comparable with the current demand for gringotts.

 

[mesaboy2]

What was interesting about this, was that many of the people who had the little cards did not immediately vacate the area. It was super crowded, and more then a few I think were just hanging around until their time came up. I think this is why the ropes were up, cm's were trying to direct people 'out' of the area.

Another observation, the fast pass line appeared to be packed. There was a line forming right out the entrance area, and very few people I noticed were walking through the 'standby' line. I am not sure why that was. There was some confusion, and it was hard for me to see.

I was sitting there hypothosizing that perhaps Disney cut way back on the fast pass plus tickets for soaring for the test days, (because the standby return time was so good in my opinion) but I cant think they did. #1 reason- would they have planned this test 60 days in advance? I don't think so, therefore people would have had fast pass plus on thier accounts. Seems like a knee jerk reaction, much the same as the whole anna / elsa stuff going on. #2 reason- the fast pass line was packed.

I am trying to wrap my head around this standby plus system. Under the old system, by 1 pm on a regular crowd day, I would expect the standby line at soaring to be 90 to 100 minutes. The standby plus ticket I got reflected that exactly. 90 minutes.

The big concern is if this system 'shuts out' the visitor from a headline attraction part way through the day. I wont be back later this afternoon to see if that happens today or not.

One other note: on the here and now 'ap', soaring did not show any wait times. When I enquired to the soarin staff how long of a wait it was, once I got in line with the standby plus, they said half an hour.

I should have asked people as they were exiting what their wait times were like, both fast pass people and the standby people, but I did not think of this until I was half way back to the hotel.

I am sure Josh will blog about this, if he has not already.

Alison

Absolutely.

Thank you so much for your observations and willingness to report what you see.

 

[jade1]

This isn't about comparing Disney and.universal. it is about comparing Disney to itself.

Are they going to have a board at the TTC showing when a ride is fully booked, so that day guests arriving at 11 or 12 are informed as to the ride availability that day *before* they buy their tickets? I doubt it. And if I entered as a day guest at 11am, with the park closing at 10, and got to the land to find there was no possibility for me to ride soarin at all in that 11 hr stretch, I would be pissed. Yes, fp usually ran out by then...but SB was always an option if you were willing to wait. Now Disney is saying, we don't care if you are willing to wait. If you don't get here early enough to book a slot, you dont get to ride at all. Those are very very different things.

I can see what you are saying-but I don't think they stop looking at the process because of something that might happen. At least pursue the possibilities IMO.

Would you be willing to throw out some ideas, other than abandoning the entire discussion? Or is it impossible to work or help at all.

 

[Rileygirl]

Somebody asked if there was any information outside of the land on this test. I believe the answer is no. Nobody appeared to know about it, it was not until you went do the stairs, into the zoo, that you realized something was up.

Strangly, living with the land only had a 10 minute wait, with at least 1000 people hanging about, holding on to their little cards....sometimes you just cant figure people out....

side note on gringotts: the phenomenon will die down eventually, and in a few months, it will be relatively easy to see, in my opinion. HOwever, this system of standby plus will really change things at disney, and at all the headliners.

When I get back home, I want to report on some very funny 'staging' of lines I saw Disney doing, at TOT, a line manipulation to keep people from entering the standby line....at 7pm, when the park closed at 10....perhaps its the norm, not sure.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I can see what you are saying-but I don't think they stop looking the process because of something that might happen. At least pursue the possibilities IMO.

Would you be willing to throw out some ideas, other than abandoning the entire discussion? Or is it impossible to work or help at all.

I'm happy to talk ideas. I think everyone here is, and has for months. Disney has shown, imo, that their guests' experience is no longer a priority, so they lose the "have faith" response from me. I get that they are a business and should priorotize making money...I'm not saying they shouldn't. I just do not believe it is necessary to torpedo the guest experience to accomplish that. Disney seems intent on doing that of late...that's their perogative, of course, but once bitten, twice shy.

 

[skater]

I wouldn't want to be there on my once in a life time trip to be spent dealing with this. Or even a once a year trip.

 

[jade1]

I'm happy to talk ideas.

Well actually I meant present some ideas, but don't mean to pry.

 

[jade1]

I think that if they implement FP+ and SB+ across the board than the only people who really lose are those who arrive in the afternoon, just like with the old system really. But, I think they need a third line if they are doing that! How mad would you be if you paid $400 to go to US and then didn't even have the option of waiting 400 minutes to ride gringotts?

Pretty sure your kidding that I would stand there for 7 hours ever. But I will say I would be a lot happier getting a return time card, than unhappy I can't wait 400 minutes.

 

[lovethattink]

Somebody asked if there was any information outside of the land on this test. I believe the answer is no. Nobody appeared to know about it, it was not until you went do the stairs, into the zoo, that you realized something was up.

Strangly, living with the land only had a 10 minute wait, with at least 1000 people hanging about, holding on to their little cards....sometimes you just cant figure people out....

side note on gringotts: the phenomenon will die down eventually, and in a few months, it will be relatively easy to see, in my opinion. HOwever, this system of standby plus will really change things at disney, and at all the headliners.

When I get back home, I want to report on some very funny 'staging' of lines I saw Disney doing, at TOT, a line manipulation to keep people from entering the standby line....at 7pm, when the park closed at 10....perhaps its the norm, not sure.

There wasn't any information about the A&E testing either. When we arrived to the distribution area they didn't explain what the area was. In fact, they asked us how they could help us.

I look forward to hearing your observations. If you do a TR, please send me a link.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

Guest: is this the line for Gringotts?

UNI: Yes

Guest: 400 minutes?

UNI: yes

Guest: but that's 7 hours and I had to buy a hopper so I could ride the train?

UNI: and your point is?

Guest: well can a get a return time if even on a piece of paper?

UNI: no just stand here

Right on the money .

 

[Angel Ariel]

Well actually I meant present some ideas, but don't mean to pry.

I have. Many times in threads like these. And am continuously shut down, as many of those who don't like fp+ are. I'm sorry, but it didnt really come across as a sincere request for ideas at this point.

As many,.including myself, have said, the only.thing that will ultimately really help this capacity issue is adding more attractions. And yet there aren't even far off rumors.of.epcot getting anything new any time in.the next decade. Pandora will help AK, and there are SW rumors for DHS. But for epcot, only a rumor of.a retheme for.maelstrom....rethemes don't address capacity issues.