Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[chairbear]

Disney is making Epcot very un-magical day by day. Not looking forward to this mess

 

[wn01aa]

There's one thing I don't get. OK, more than 1 thing, but I'll just go with one for now: If they're going to implement SB+ for the headliners, why in the "World" would they be removing the legacy FP machines? Couldn't they use the legacy FP machines to hand out SB+? BTW, I think a system where they had FP+, SB+ that gave out return times up until 7 pm, and then at 7 pm change the SB+ line to regular old SB would work well. Nobody would be completely shut out, there would be no 2+ hour waits, and you wouldn't have to stay up that late to get in line if you miss FP+ or SB+.

The legacy FP machines are not capable of reading MagicBands (needed a card). They would need either new machines to hand out the tickets or a refit of the old machines (if permanent I can't imagine they would continue to have CMs hand them out. Machines could verify you don't already have a ticket for the attraction and like legacy, have either waited a certain time or the paper ticket has expired before a new one is issued. Basically identical the FP- tickets but with a 30 minute return window and a standby line when you return.)

 

[Mad Hattered]

Sfl

I hope you realize that now we are going to have 12 people ask what that stands for, right?

I'm gonna go with Standby is For Losers. Or is it Standby For the Lucky? Perhaps Standby-Free Line?

 

[SmallWorld71]

Lord help me if they're still doing this over Christmas week when I am there. If they take everyone out of the SB lines, where are all these people going to go?
These lines are essential to crowd control at busy times.

And, I've never understood why Disney thinks that getting me out of a line helps me spend more $ shopping? My vacation budget is finite.

 

[FINFAN]

It occurs to me that the problem will slowly correct itself, as fewer and fewer people will plan to go to WDW...

And voila! finally enough attractions for the right number of people.

We have decided that our upcoming trip will be our last to the parks of WDW

but don't you find that a bit sad. after paying all that money, simply sleeping until 9 oclock means you wont get the same access.

if Disney is going to do that, then they need to advertise that with the tickets.


Every new "system" is one more nail in my Disney coffin.
Every new "system" makes me more and more happy that I got to experience the mouse world back when you didn't need a PhD or a NASA inspired spread sheet to enjoy a vacation there.

I do own a dvc membership but luckily have long gotten back my investment. I use to think I would go to Disney for the rest of my life, taking my grandkids one day. Now I seriously doubt it.

Exactly how I feel. Our DD just moved to Orlando for work (not Disney) and we were all very excited as now visiting her also meant going to one of our favorite destinations and adding to the years an years of memories. We are scheduled to see her in a few weeks, and while I am thrilled to be seeing her, I regret spending on WDW tickets and cramming it into our trip. She is excited to show us some hidden gems she has found at the parks so that will be fun, but spending all the $ on park tickets has me feeling quite remorseful. Like you , I am very grateful that my family was able to enjoy WDW before it became such an imbalanced level of control. Again, Jimmy Buffett's song "Fruitcakes" comes to mind, especially the first verse.

This will never happen for me. I'll be at Weeki Wachee Springs. At least the mermaids swim there. Make it hard to get one park done in one day and Disney will be completely written off. My travel dollar will be spent on a State Park Pass.

One of my friends lives in Weeki Wachee! All I could think of while reading this thread (and getting depressed) was how I wish we were going back to RMNP in CO. $20 for a week, $40 for an annual pass....no FP+ to experience the beauty and awe, no Rope Drop or ADR's, just fresh air and a picnic lunch. If our DD didn't live in Orlando, WDW would have been cancelled.

The whole FP overhaul disturbs me, but I self-admittedly don't care too much for change, especially complicated change. I feel like WDW is doing the "Middle Class " crunch~ either you can afford to do everything or you can experience it slightly, no middle ground (except for shoppers )

 

[Tonyz]

This Sept is my first time to WDW since 2005. I did go to DLR last year (almost no prep for DLR, 90 min wait for Soarin' and no shot at Carsland).

I made an account here in April to better prepare for WDW (and even that was already past my 180 day ADR date). Since then, I've gotten most of what I want for our Sept trip (assuming no tech failures).

1. BOG Dinner (searched 8-10/day for 40 days).
2. CRT - that was actually still available about 160 days out.
3. TT Dessert Party (stumbled into the thread here when it was chaos because of the switch to 180 ADR. Made a call. Got it. If I wasn't on the Disboards all the time planning, I wouldn't have known).
4. DVC Rental Deluxe for price of a moderate (and dozens of hours of research before renting, including dozens of more hours comparing to FD).
5. A&E FPs - including all the research into how to get and booking last day first, etc.
6. 7DMT FP for each of three MK visits.

And more.

My upcoming vacation is almost perfectly planned.

But.

But.

But.

Conservatively, I've spent over 250 hours reading, learning, planning, searching, and booking (that's about 2 hrs/night for each of the last 120 nights and that's a conservative estimate).

Now, at my 40 day mark, I've imposed a moratorium on changes out of fear that some change will jinx the whole thing.

My point is two-fold

1. How many people will spend 200+ hours planning a vacation (I've known Bridezillas that were pikers by comparison)?

2. Just how entitled do you think I'll feel to be enraged if Disney makes a material change that sabotages the intricate planning they all but twisted my arm to make?

I think you're entitled to burn the place down! Print your post out and bring it with you when you go. Let 'em know who they're hurting with these unnecessary, ridiculous changes.

 

[g-dad66]

i did not make it to soaring tonight. We got sucked into test track, dd's favourite.

Disappointed, of course, not to get some direct feedback from one of DisBoard's best observers, but appreciate your letting us know.

Glad you were able to enjoy Test Track.

 

[Planogirl]

The comments about needing to stay longer to get the same amount done are interesting. I see it as a way to spread out the headliners but then wonder what else to do the rest of the day. There's plenty to do at MK but the other parks not so much.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

The comments about needing to stay longer to get the same amount done are interesting. I see it as a way to spread out the headliners but then wonder what else to do the rest of the day. There's plenty to do at MK but the other parks not so much.

This is what I've been saying since the advent of fast pass plus. Disney does not care about "spreading the wealth" and getting more people on the headliners one time/keeping people from riding headliners multiple times to give others a chance. They only care about their own wealth. I've been thinking since the beginning that the tiers and limits on FP+ are a careful ploy by Disney to get people to add days to their trips.

 

[igk]

I think if SB+ had a catchy slogan people wouldn't hate it - something like
'Get a time - why wait in line?'

</irony>

For me this boils down to CHOICE- there isn't capacity at Soarin' for everyone, but with SB+ those who miss out don't get the choice to join the SB line.
Previously if there was a 120 minute line you could choose to join it or not.
That the point.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

The comments about needing to stay longer to get the same amount done are interesting. I see it as a way to spread out the headliners but then wonder what else to do the rest of the day. There's plenty to do at MK but the other parks not so much.

I agree...especially when one hates to shop (gasp...I know). I could see FP+ working perfectly to get folks to stay offsite at Uni. Stay on site there and do express pass all day and then meander to Disney, ride your 3 preplanned rides and head out.

 

[mom2rtk]

How is this ever going to work? What if I've planned on dinner at let's say Be Our Guest at 6:30. I've had this ADR booked since my 180 mark. I want a SB+ for Anna and Elsa. How are they going to make sure its not going to overlap with my ADR? Especially for popular attractions. I guess this makes park hopping moot too. What's the point of park hopping if I can't experience any of the attractions? I don't even know how to react. This is the silliest idea ever. I want the freedom to ride what I want when I want. If I want to stand in a 5 hour line to meet Anna and Elsa, that's on me. I'd rather be able to choose to wait in a long line, than not be able to ride at all. It's just silly.

The bottom line is that it IS getting harder and harder to do exactly what YOU want to do on a trip. In the end, this has turned into an endurance contest, and you may or may not be able to do everything you dreamed of doing on your next trip. It's another layer to the stinky onion they are putting in place to ration rides (and experiences).

The ones who will be happy with their trips are the ones who are wiling to settle for sampling a few of the things they had in mind doing.

This is what I was thinking earlier. They probably will go to 4 lines:

1. FP++ which you pay for but get to go to the very front of the line
2. FP+ which you reserve online and gets you a 10 minute wait
3. SB+ which lets you come back later and get in a line for a 40-50 minute wait
4. Regular SB: wait determine by the guests using #1-3 (enter at own risk).

Is there a need to call it FP+ since FP- is gone. Maybe it should go back to just being called FP. Unless FP is what they plan to call this thing all along. FP gets you a 30 minute wait, FP+ gets you to the front of the line.

Isn't that exactly what they are testing? FP++ would be the headliner tour they just announced? Regular SB is the leftovers you can sample if you happen to know they are re-opening the line at 8 PM?

And it just keeps getting FABULOUSER and FABULOUSER!

There's one thing I don't get.

OK, more than 1 thing, but I'll just go with one for now:

If they're going to implement SB+ for the headliners, why in the "World" would they be removing the legacy FP machines?

Couldn't they use the legacy FP machines to hand out SB+?

BTW, I think a system where they had FP+, SB+ that gave out return times up until 7 pm, and then at 7 pm change the SB+ line to regular old SB would work well. Nobody would be completely shut out, there would be no 2+ hour waits, and you wouldn't have to stay up that late to get in line if you miss FP+ or SB+.

But then they would have had to know that they intended to do this with standby. Right now it very much seems like this is a giant game of whack-a-mole. And nobody knows where the next "fix" is going to pop up.

I find that Scarlett makes a good substitution.

 

[Jennasis]

Quick question...would extending park hours help? What if the park opened at 8am and stayed open until 1/2/3am? Wasn't there talk of this after the 24 hour days went so well?

 

[alice99]

I haven't read the whole thread.... up to page 4.... then came here, to the last page.

Stand-by should always be an option. If I plan on park hopping (out of Epcot)at 4 pm.... and show up at soaring at 1:30 to find there is no standby line I would be very aggravated.
At that point, I'd realize I missed out on any opportunity to ride Soarin' and should have gotten there at park opening to secure a SB+ pass (which is Fastpass, really)
It's absurd.

It's as though they are returning to the Legacy Fastpass without even admitting it. They've come full circle.

 

[monkeybug]

So if this practice stays in place, the way it is now, would a good RD strategy be to book your FP+ for TT, head over to Soarin' first thing and either ride in SB or get a SB+ ticket, and then after exiting the ride get another one?

 

[bjs1228]

Can anyone with a Touring Plans subscription look at the graph for the wait times of Soarin yesterday and make any sense of it? I'm looking at it, but evidently not smart enough to decipher it. Just curious as to what this test actually did to standby times.

 

[mom2rtk]

I haven't read the whole thread.... up to page 4.... then came here, to the last page.

Stand-by should always be an option. If I plan on park hopping (out of Epcot)at 4 pm.... and show up at soaring at 1:30 to find there is no standby line I would be very aggravated.
At that point, I'd realize I missed out on any opportunity to ride Soarin' and should have gotten there at park opening to secure a SB+ pass (which is Fastpass, really)
It's absurd.

It's as though they are returning to the Legacy Fastpass without even admitting it. They've come full circle.

Well, not exactly. The big difference of course is that they have effectively returned to legacy FP, but for only 10-30% of the ride's capacity.

 

[FlipHipster]

This is what I've been saying since the advent of fast pass plus. Disney does not care about "spreading the wealth" and getting more people on the headliners one time/keeping people from riding headliners multiple times to give others a chance. They only care about their own wealth. I've been thinking since the beginning that the tiers and limits on FP+ are a careful ploy by Disney to get people to add days to their trips.

There was much speculation about this in the beginning with FP+. I wonder if Disney data shows that guests really aren't adding on extra days, just FP+ one headliner and get in the SB line for the other(s)?

 

[mom2rtk]

There was much speculation about this in the beginning with FP+. I wonder if Disney data shows that guests really aren't adding on extra days, just FP+ one headliner and get in the SB line for the other(s)?

If this is what Disney is pinning their hopes on, they are likely to be disappointed. Most people get a week, and can't just pull more vacation days out of thin air.

 

[DaisyNY]

Hoping for a quick fix by our December trip...hoping to get FP+ we want at our mark and then do standby at rope drop first thing in am for those headliners we can't get...if that's not an option I am going to be very upset