Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[robpa]

Again, I asked you a very basic and simple question. You said it was WAY over budget. I just asked you how much over budget it was. Its OK, you dont know. Just say so.

AND there YOU go again. You do not know the exact reason Franklin left the company now do you? You can speculate he was canned all you want but he resigned.

Facts??? really?? where are they? I see speculation coming from multiple sources.

This is a discussion board....most of what is discussed is speculation. Where are your figures to show its not over budget? Are you speculating that everything is on budget? Until you put the numbers up I'll just assume you are.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Thanks to everyone who told me I wasn't crazy, that the FP screens used to say "Standby Available"!

 

[surferdave]

Thanks to everyone who told me I wasn't crazy, that the FP screens used to say "Standby Available"!

Hey, careful, they can only confirm the part about the FP screens.

 

[GoBears 1980]

Long time WDW fan here (like many of you), just finished reading this thread and the changes that are taking place continue to amaze me. As FP+/MDE started up we sat there reading the information and posts and were very glad we did not have any trips currently scheduled. We rented out this year's DVC points. I figured things would calm down and we would look for a big tip in 2016 or 17.

IMHO what is being missed here is WDW is supposed to be a vacation. I am supposed to go and feel no stress. I can remember going to WDW Sept of 2012. The only stressful part of the trip was getting to the airport. After that we were sucked into the Disney Magic. We made ADRs in the morning or afternoon based on where we wanted to eat that night. We rode attractions based on what we wanted to do at that point. Vacation is not supposed to be stressful......Our friends went to WDW recently and spent weeks before hand changing FP+ trying to figure out what days they would do what parks. Why can't I go on vacation, wake up and say let's go to MK today and have a pleasant experience. Why is it we can no longer wait in lines? Why take the choice away from the consumer?

I cannot imagine what my response would have been if I had walked up to Soarin knowing there would be a wait and told I am not allowed to wait in line. Really? I just paid 100.00 to get in and I do not have a choice on how to spend my time?

The focus on virtual queue, ADR, FP+, SB+(really!!??), MDE and any other acronym I have forgotten is taking the focus away from the MAGIC which is what always made WDW different and special.

I will go back to my normal once every 2 years posting now.

I am in the same place you are. I am fine waiting in line for a ride I really want to go on, whether that is 30 minutes or two hours, or what ever. But if you told me at 5:30PM that a ride like Soarin' was now closed to people waiting in line I would go absolutely ballistic.

Disneyland used to close lines according to how long it was so the ride would close in accord with the park closing time. So like on Matterhorn, if the park closed at midnight and we had a 10 minute line at 11:40PM, we'd close the line at 11:50PM. Yes some guests would complain, but it was hard to argue that they hadn't had a chance to ride the ride with hours from 8AM-12AM.

But closing a line at 5:30PM when the park closes at 9PM? Not even close to being acceptable.

Communicating with Disney seems pointless sometimes. I recently sent a letter asking about the Norway situation and I got the form letter back and then a letter that stated that no plans had been announced yet which to me simply means that they don't wish to discuss it. Oh well, at least I felt better once I said my piece.

I think writing a letter is the least effective because there is no pain. A lot of phone calls to the TWDC switchboard in Burbank, a number of emails from the The Walt Disney Company Corporate Communications site and emails direct to the parks will raise eyebrows and get attention.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Hey, careful, they can only confirm the part about the FP screens.

True! The FP screens are more important anyway

 

[FlipHipster]

Maybe that would be the SOL line?

IMO, FP+ and the interactive queues haven't been as successful as Disney wanted and they're just adding band-aides and hoping something works. It reminds me of the government who never repeals a law or a tax, instead they just amend their current screw-up.

I just wonder how much more money and time Disney is going to waste on FP+ and SB+ before they realize they're SOL.

They should hire this guy. I hear his dad has an ultimate set of tools. He can fix it.

 

[Disneychick75]

Long time WDW fan here (like many of you), just finished reading this thread and the changes that are taking place continue to amaze me. As FP+/MDE started up we sat there reading the information and posts and were very glad we did not have any trips currently scheduled. We rented out this year's DVC points. I figured things would calm down and we would look for a big tip in 2016 or 17.

IMHO what is being missed here is WDW is supposed to be a vacation. I am supposed to go and feel no stress. I can remember going to WDW Sept of 2012. The only stressful part of the trip was getting to the airport. After that we were sucked into the Disney Magic. We made ADRs in the morning or afternoon based on where we wanted to eat that night. We rode attractions based on what we wanted to do at that point. Vacation is not supposed to be stressful......Our friends went to WDW recently and spent weeks before hand changing FP+ trying to figure out what days they would do what parks. Why can't I go on vacation, wake up and say let's go to MK today and have a pleasant experience. Why is it we can no longer wait in lines? Why take the choice away from the consumer?

I cannot imagine what my response would have been if I had walked up to Soarin knowing there would be a wait and told I am not allowed to wait in line. Really? I just paid 100.00 to get in and I do not have a choice on how to spend my time?

The focus on virtual queue, ADR, FP+, SB+(really!!??), MDE and any other acronym I have forgotten is taking the focus away from the MAGIC which is what always made WDW different and special.

I will go back to my normal once every 2 years posting now.

Exactly, I want to throw up my hands in frustration and say to heck with WDW.

I agree. Just like with a teenager, don't engage.

Last night, I was thinking it was like trying to talk to my kids when they were teenagers.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

I've read through most but not all of the posts on these threads, so if this was already mentioned I apologize. What were the Disney suits thinking when they made all of the SB lines to make them interactive and fun? Most recently, Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid, even 7DMT?? It seems that Disney execs are just all over the place with their thinking, and they have no idea what direction they're going in. If they truly are going to the SB+ system, then what a waste of time and money on all these awesome SB lines.

Exec 1: "Since you'll be waiting in line, enjoy this distraction!"
Exec 2: "The line is long? How about we just shut it down for awhile?"
Exec 3:

 

[FlipHipster]

Exec 1: "Since you'll be waiting in line, enjoy this distraction!"
Exec 2: "The line is long? How about we just shut it down for awhile?"
Exec 3:

Maybe they should return to the era of making rides exit through a gift shop.
Then they would be encouraged to get you through the line faster and possibly build more gift shops, err.. rides.

 

[mesaboy2]

Evidence has shown that he will go away if ignored. It's been true in all his previous forms.

Wow. That worked far better than I anticipated!

 

[clsteve]

Wow. That worked far better than I anticipated!

You may not want to admit it, but you have true powers, my friend - and you use them wisely. You just need a raccoon sidekick.....

 

[mom2rtk]

Wow. That worked far better than I anticipated!

 

[mesaboy2]

Maybe I should start wearing gloves?

 

[AquaDame]

Figures. I don't like FP+. We tried it out in January thinking maybe it would be OK - they still had FP- going after all. Then BOOM they killed the machines the day before we got there. ARGH. When we got home we decided to wait and see, and do other things while they figured this madness out. Maaaaybe we'd go back in 2017 or 2018. Soon, they added the 4th FP and it seemed like things were stabilizing at least a little. I had an extra week of vacation next year that my husband doesn't get, my parents are bored and love going, heck with it, I'll go with them and it'll be a chill week.

Booked 7/30 when they opened packages then mere hours later I read about this nonsense.

Serves me right. I should have stuck to my guns. WHAT THE (#^$*@! ARE YOU DOING DISNEY?!

 

[3CW]

Okay, I've read up to page 32 so far, maybe this has been brought up in the last 15 pages or so, but here's what gets me about all this ride scheduling. Ostensibly the idea is to get us out of line and spending money, right?

But in our family's case, and I'm sure we're not alone, it's made me schedule less ADRs and rely more on QS for food...just because it's so freaking hard to plan FPs+ and now maybe BSs+ (have to go with Jennasis' term, sorry) around set mealtimes. MDE carves out a two-hour block of time for each ADR during which you can't schedule anything else.

Thus, MM+ has actually had the effect of making us spend LESS money overall. I guess we are just outliers if Disney's data is showing a boost in guest spending, though.

 

[over50visits]

Am I the only the person that would rather see admission to the parks reduced by 20% and ticket prices increased to make up for the difference (my math may be off, but something like that)? Disney's basic issue is that they are letting more people thru the front gate than their attractions can support. All the gimics in the world still leave us with guest demands exceeding capacity.

I would rather they spent their $1.5 billion on 15 new rides (that's $100 million per ride) instead of the customer tracking/management system they call MDE/FP+/NextGen whatever. Can you imagine how their popularity, attendance, and public image would have soared?

 

[AquaDame]

Thus, MM+ has actually had the effect of making us spend LESS money overall. I guess we are just outliers if Disney's data is showing a boost in guest spending, though.

I was thinking about that last night... would they be trying out SB+ if FP+ had indeed gotten people to spend more money? I think not... they want MORE people out of MORE lines! SURELY if we yell loud enough they will do what we want!

For all the people blaming management my husband had a good point. This may not be their idea so much as them greenlighting some Industrial Engineer's "brilliant" idea. We all accept that on paper this looks great and to IEs all that matters is the data.... emotion doesn't come into it. Source: he is an IE.

 

[DebbieB]

The app is currently showing a 60 minute wait for Soarin so the test must be over.

I can understand passing out times for A & E, the lines are ridiculous (3 to 5 hours?) and involves alot of little kids. It doesn't make sense for Soarin.

 

[kmb584]

The app is currently showing a 60 minute wait for Soarin so the test must be over.

I can understand passing out times for A & E, the lines are ridiculous (3 to 5 hours?) and involves alot of little kids. It doesn't make sense for Soarin.

It doesn't but someone sitting in an exec office seems to think it does. It's unfortunate.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

I would rather they spent their $1.5 billion on 15 new rides (that's $100 million per ride) instead of the customer tracking/management system they call MDE/FP+/NextGen whatever. Can you imagine how their popularity, attendance, and public image would have soared?

Being devils advocate here but if they build more rides, we'll just be in line for those rides not shopping and spending money. They want us shopping so maybe that is why they brought us MM+ instead of new attractions.