Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[PlutoMars]

From accounts on twitter yesterday:

https://twitter.com/Erika_Murphy/status/494258044382224384

Heading in to Soarin! Epcot is dead today.

https://twitter.com/orlando_parks/status/494313595262738433

"They didn't reach capacity according to some sources. The wait time for Soarin' was very low today. People didn't show up"

Now, the question is when was that capacity sign put there? During their test?

 

[Mad Hattered]

2 posts into a thread. Might be a record for you.

Nice deflection.

 

[PlutoMars]

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

Actually, it doesnt. If they put that sign up when they started the test it just means thats when they started handing out return times

 

[magicbob]

Haven"t read this whole thread, but if you get one of these FP++ for Soarin' with a 30minute window, do you go into the FP line when you come back?

I personally like the idea. It's like the old FP system, where you got the time that is available. And you didn't have to wait in line.

And then you could ride Soarin'(FP++) and Test Track(FP+) at a specific time in the same day.

Or am I not understanding???

No, you go in the standby line. And only people with those return tickets are allowed in the standby line. It's like the old FP, except no one without them is allowed to ride at all.

I think the biggest flaw with the premise is that FPs were/are limited to a certain percentage of the ride's capacity. With this SB+ fiasco, they seemingly just kept handing out tickets until they reached the ride's entire capacity for the day and then, in effect, shut it down for everyone else.

 

[surferdave]

Haven"t read this whole thread, but if you get one of these FP++ for Soarin' with a 30minute window, do you go into the FP line when you come back?

No, you get back in the standby line for a "moderate" wait.

I personally like the idea. It's like the old FP system, where you got the time that is available. And you didn't have to wait in line.

And then you could ride Soarin'(FP++) and Test Track(FP+) at a specific time in the same day.

Or am I not understanding???

It's all gone at some point in the day.....no standby left at all. They left a sign at the Soarin' queue to tell guests that the attraction was all booked up for the day.

 

[mom2rtk]

Wrong, the shopping times are part of the mandatory itinerary. The majority of it, in fact. Each guest will be assigned three rides of WDW's choosing (assigned based on a logrhythm designed to maintain acceptable queue lengths at the gift shop registers). Sample itinerary follows:

9-11am: Shopping
11-11:55am: Wait in line for Stitch
11:55-12 noon: Experience the magic of Stitch
12 noon - 1pm: Lunch
1-3pm: Shopping
3-3:55pm: Wait in line for Hall of Presidents
3:55-4pm: Experience the ALL NEW Hall of Presidents (Show abbreviated... now features only George Washington since the old format was taking too much time away from shopping).
4-6pm: Shopping
6-7pm: Dinner
7-7:55pm: Wait in line for your Tier 1 Experience (Carousel of Progress)
7:55-8pm: Experience the ALL NEW Carousel of Progress (Carousel no longer moves. Guests enter each of the auditoriums to watch a 5-minute trailer for an upcoming Disney film).
8-10pm: Shopping
10pm: Exit park. Please note that off-site guests must now walk/swim to the Transportation & Ticket Center because monorails and ferries are FP+ only (bonus FP+ for on-site guests).

Have you gotten your call yet? Then one with the job offer from Dinsey?

 

[Suvadoo]

I think that's a failed path to success for pretty much any endeavor. Too many of the guests at the park are either first time visitors, infrequent visitors who will not retain any learning from their previous trip or people with cultural or language barriers that would interfere with the learning. Whatever Disney implements for crowd and queue control has to be simple to convey and understand on the spot.

MDE and FP+ are not simple. Guests have to have a lot of tribal knowledge to effectively use the system. If I were a WDW newcomer, I would be incredulous at the amount of pre-planning suggested to maximize my visit to amusement parks!

I truly feel sorry for the front line CM's. I think the executives who suggested SB+ should work as front line CM's during implementation. I just don't understand why they thought this was a good idea!

Disney continues to pack the parks, but now they're to the point where there's no availability for their most popular rides, because they can't convince their guests that EO and Figment are fabulous.

I don't understand why they don't increase their park hours. It might help
with some immediate problems. However in the long run, they need more E ticket attractions. Particularly in Epcot and DHS, and they can't take 5+ years to build them.

 

[monkeybug]

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.

I am in the not waiting in lines camp, I research and plan to avoid as many as possible because to me waiting in long lines does not equal an enjoyable vacation. But, what about the people who aren't researchers or planners? Who book their rooms, buy their tickets, and then just show up! I imagine they would be pretty darn ticked to show up to a park like Epcot and not even have the opportunity to ride one of its major attractions. Those people bought tickets and deserve the chance to ride the attractions they are paying for. Maybe they'll have to stand in a 3 hour line to do it, but whether or not they do that should be up to them, not Disney.

 

[Jennasis]

TP lists soarin as a 30 min wait now. An hour after park open. So is it because of the test or not. TP removed A&E altogether from their wait times when this crud started.

 

[KittyKitty]

I guessing Disney did this because they got so many complaints about how long standby lines were. Of course they also thought about getting those ppl out of Standby and either going on other rides, eating, or buying merchandise.

At least Disney is trying to find a solution.


So what is the solution for shorter lines? My 1st thought is reserve 4 FP+s at a time.

 

[sharonped]

But wouldn't this overcome the problem of tiering? FP+ Soarin at your 60-day window, SB+ Test Track when you get there? (Assuming there was capacity left by the time you make it back there.)

 

[magicbob]

Actually, it doesnt. If they put that sign up when they started the test it just means thats when they started handing out return times

No, the sign clearly says they had "reached capacity for the day." That means they could take no more people for the rest of the day. This is because they had given out tickets to account for the ride's capacity for the rest of the day. You could not get into the SB line OR get a SB+ ticket at that point, otherwise it would still have some capacity (albeit projected capacity later in the day). They stopped letting people in line OR handing out SB+ tickets at 5pm. By 5:30pm the mob convinced them to reopen SB (despite the ramifications of doing so when those with SB+ tickets returned).

 

[surferdave]

I guessing Disney did this because they got so many complaints about how long standby lines were. Of course they also thought about getting those ppl out of Standby and either going on other rides, eating, or buying merchandise.

At least Disney is trying to find a solution.


So what is the solution for shorter lines? My 1st thought is reserve 4 FP+s at a time.

The only solution to capacity problems is more capacity. They don't have enough attractions for the number of guests they are courting to the parks, no matter what shell games they implement to move the crowds around.

 

[Jennasis]

I guessing Disney did this because they got so many complaints about how long standby lines were. Of course they also thought about getting those ppl out of Standby and either going on other rides, eating, or buying merchandise.

At least Disney is trying to find a solution.

So what is the solution for shorter lines? My 1st thought is reserve 4 FP+s at a time.

The solution is MORE attractions!! Two more headliners would do...at least one has to be in WS. that would redistribute crowds.

 

[mjhannaf]

TP lists soarin as a 30 min wait now. An hour after park open. So is it because of the test or not. TP removed A&E altogether from their wait times when this crud started.

I believe they are testing again today based off of my data

 

[monkeybug]

MDE and FP+ are not simple. Guests have to have a lot of tribal knowledge to effectively use the system. If I were a WDW newcomer, I would be incredulous at the amount of pre-planning suggested to maximize my visit to amusement parks!

I have two very intelligent parents who are coming with us this fall for their first trip, and they don't understand half of what I've explained to them. I think if you have no prior experience with Disney you have to do quite a bit of research to understand the new system (even with prior knowledge actually) and the truth is many people just don't have that kind of time or the desire!

Even with the old system I found myself often explaining how fastpasses worked to people in the parks who were confused. Now I guess those kind of people will be out of luck for the major attractions.

 

[mom2rtk]

No, the sign clearly says they had "reached capacity for the day." That means they could take no more people for the rest of the day. This is because they had given out tickets to account for the ride's capacity for the rest of the day. You could not get into the SB line OR get a SB+ ticket at that point, otherwise it would still have some capacity (albeit projected capacity later in the day).

So if we go with PlutoMars' contention that this was a low crowd day at Epcot ......... and couple that with reports that the test was an epic fail .......... anyone even want to imagine what this would be like on a BUSY park day?

 

[mom2rtk]

The solution is MORE attractions!! Two more headliners would do...at least one has to be in WS. that would redistribute crowds.

Now remember the rule number one in this game: Everything is on the table except more attractions.

 

[PlutoMars]

No, the sign clearly says they had "reached capacity for the day." That means they could take no more people for the rest of the day. This is because they had given out tickets to account for the ride's capacity for the rest of the day. You could not get into the SB line OR get a SB+ ticket at that point, otherwise it would still have some capacity (albeit projected capacity later in the day).

They wouldnt have placed that sign out there but for the fact they were running that test. that doesnt mean that they were over capacity for the day. Again, reports indicate otherwise.

From today:

https://twitter.com/justt4m/status/494477545426145280

 

[magicbob]

They wouldnt have placed that sign out there but for the fact they were running that test. that doesnt mean that they were over capacity for the day. Again, reports indicate otherwise.

From today:

https://twitter.com/justt4m/status/494477545426145280

Obviously, you will not be convinced (even with photographic proof). Have a magical day.