Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[MKMomma]

Where are the firings of the execs who even suggested this hogwash?

You mean the people that got big bonuses and were promoted?

What a mess, Disney.

 

[wn01aa]

OK, when you find that report that people had to wait in line for 3 hours yesterday for Soaring, please let me know. Reports that I have read had Soaring at lower than usual wait times and people not showing up for FP+. One report said it might have been the rain yesterday that caused the lower wait times. Put in perspective. They shut the standby line down for 30 minutes. Their test failed. Now, if they continue to try to implement this at Soarin in the light of this, i think that is more cause for concern. It will be interesting to see how it plays out today.

I would imagine bad weather would drive up demand even more for Soarin. If there are thunderstorms and Test Track closes, where do you think all those TT guests are going to go? Not sure if they closed TT yesterday because of rain.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

In case anyone is wondering....Orlando Theme Park News reported this test taking place yesterday on their Twitter account and the comments I posted came from the discussion on WDW Magic forum in the A & E SB+ thread going on over there. I'd post a link but I am challenged by that when posting from my phone. Google is your friend , though.

OTPN said the CMs called it a disaster.

Yep. I read these posts lastnight and I almost came over here to ask, but wasn't sure how reliable that site is since I only read it from time to time.
I was so happy to see Mad Hattered started this thread because I am curious to the end game.
I think it is very...controlling... shall I dare say, for Disney to take away the option of standby. I would never stand in a line longer than 30 minutes, , but I think it is very unfare to not give a choice. It's an amusement park afterall, people go expecting lines and they are usually okay with that, or they move on...

Hopefully Disney can find a away to make this work without taking the standby option away.

 

[MKMomma]

If you already booked a FP+ for TT you couldn't book Soarin' even if there were 1000 available.

That is an important fact many are missing. You can only Fastpass Test Track OR Soarin', so you ride stand by on the other.

 

[Praying Colonel]

In case anyone is wondering....Orlando Theme Park News reported this test taking place yesterday on their Twitter account and the comments I posted came from the discussion on WDW Magic forum in the A & E SB+ thread going on over there. I'd post a link but I am challenged by that when posting from my phone. Google is your friend , though.

OTPN said the CMs called it a disaster.

DS dropped by Soarin about 5pm yesterday to find this sign:



He's an experienced WDW traveler (and a current CPer) and to say he found this somewhat less than magical is an understatement. Imagine how the people on their 1st visit would feel.

Horrible, horrible idea, on many levels. I hope guests let Guest Relations know how they feel about this "test" (which I believe WDW would love to be step 1 toward a 100% reservation system).

 

[keaster]

Stories and threads like these make my glad that we are skipping WDW in 2015. Instead we are going to Aulani for March break and the DVC member cruise in August. While we will fly in the day before the cruise and stay in a DVC room, we won't waste time/money on a ticket and instead just enjoy the day at whatever resort we are staying.

Maybe by the time we return in 2016 there will be some rhyme or reason to all this madness

 

[mom2rtk]

Hopefully Disney can find a away to make this work without taking the standby option away.

All options are on the table except adding more attractions.

Now GO! Come back with more ideas!



I actually have it all solved. Everyone gets on admission per attraction per day loaded onto their magic bands. 3 of those (subject to tiering of course) can be FP+. The others are still standby, but you get only one per attraction per day.

How much will you guys pay me not to pitch this to Disney???

 

[magicbob]

As you proceed through the turnstile, please place your MB against the Mickey head where your assigned itinerary for the day will be uploaded. Note that deviation from your assigned itinerary is grounds for expulsion from the park without refund. Thank you and have a magical day.

 

[mom2rtk]

As you proceed through the turnstile, please place your MB against the Mickey head where your assigned itinerary for the day will be uploaded. Note that deviation from your assigned itinerary is grounds for expulsion from the park without refund. Thank you and have a magical day.

See? LOTS of options to make this thing work.

Of course, deviation for purposes of shopping will have to be worked into the equation.

 

[Mad Hattered]

DS dropped by Soarin about 5pm yesterday to find this sign:



He's an experienced WDW traveler (and a current CPer) and to say he found this somewhat less than magical is an understatement. Imagine how the people on their 1st visit would feel.

Horrible, horrible idea, on many levels. I hope guests let Guest Relations know how they feel about this "test" (which I believe WDW would love to be step 1 toward a 100% reservation system).

Well, that helps squelch the report here that Soarin' never reached capacity yesterday.

 

[lovethattink]

I actually have it all solved. Everyone gets on admission per attraction per day loaded onto their magic bands. 3 of those (subject to tiering of course) can be FP+. The others are still standby, but you get only one per attraction per day.

How much will you guys pay me not to pitch this to Disney???

You probably already did.

I'm sure the powers that be are gleaning feedback from the internet and social media.

 

[Aurora0427]

If you already booked a FP+ for TT you couldn't book Soarin' even if there were 1000 available.

Ahhhhh- so you can either book or FP+ for Soarin or TT. Not both.

This is the problem. Those two rides are the only rides at Epcot worth getting a FP for. Why don't they just let you FP both?

 

[mom2rtk]

Well, that helps squelch the report here that Soarin' never reached capacity yesterday.

 

[ucfknight]

With the reported $2 billion spent on My Magic Plus, Disney could have built five $100 million e-tickets at each of their 4 Walt Disney World theme parks.

What would most guests have been more happy with?
Which would have "increased park capacity" more?
Which would have prompted more potential guests to book more WDW vacations?

 

[mom2rtk]

You probably already did.

I'm sure the powers that be are gleaning feedback from the internet and social media.

Eh. The management at Disney is a lot of things. But I don't count stupid among them. I'm sure they've already considered this and would be doing it if they thought they could get away with it.

Ahhhhh- so you can either book or FP+ for Soarin or TT. Not both.

This is the problem. Those two rides are the only rides at Epcot worth getting a FP for. Why don't they just let you FP both?

Capacity. Not enough headliners to go around in at least 2 parks.

 

[mom2rtk]

With the reported $2 billion spent on My Magic Plus, Disney could have built five $100 million e-tickets at each of their 4 Walt Disney World theme parks.

What would most guests have been more happy with?
Which would have "increased park capacity" more?
Which would have prompted more potential guests to book more WDW vacations?

All options are on the table except building new attractions. They were very clear that they are not interested in an arms race of rides.

 

[NYDisGuy]

It's easy to jump on the Disney basing bandwagon but I've personally read countless threads on people NOT wanting to wait on lines which was the sole purpose of the thousand FP+ threads that have been created.

They probably surveyed people if they wanted to wait on standby for over 60 minutes. The answer was no. Now they issue cards so you don't have to wait and people are saying "but I want to wait!". Just playing devils advocate but it's pretty close to accurate from most of the posts on this board.

 

[ucfknight]

Ahhhhh- so you can either book or FP+ for Soarin or TT. Not both.

This is the problem. Those two rides are the only rides at Epcot worth getting a FP for. Why don't they just let you FP both?

Your answer is in your previous sentence. Those 2 rides are the only rides at Epcot that are highly popular. If they let people book both, there would not be nearly enough FP available to go around. Half the people going to the park that day would not be able to get either. If half your guests can't book either of the only 2 rides everyone wants to ride, that makes for a lot of unhappy guests.

Instead of making capital investments in new, in-demand attractions for Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios, this is their solution.

This is not a problem at Magic Kingdom because there are plenty of in-demand attractions. Sure there aren't nearly enough A&E or mine train FP available so everyone can get one, but everyone can still get Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Peter Pan, etc. as a consolation prize.

 

[surferdave]

All options are on the table except building new attractions. They were very clear that they are not interested in an arms race of rides.

They will build new attractions when they can do it with other people's money, like James Cameron. Epcot was built on that model, that's why it's withering away now.

 

[lovethattink]

Ahhhhh- so you can either book or FP+ for Soarin or TT. Not both.

This is the problem. Those two rides are the only rides at Epcot worth getting a FP for. Why don't they just let you FP both?

Right. One or the other due to tiering. The same thing happens at DHS with a choice of RnR, TSM, B&B, GMR, or F!