Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[MrInfinity]

They've oversold the number of accomadation units. More hotel rooms and more DVC. It is a ride capacity issue.

Yes, Disney has ride capacity issues. I can say that. It's obvious! It is the darn symptoms of making something that so many people want. Disney is the #1 theme park, they have millions of guests, so they have ride capacity issues. I see them working on this, and have been for the longest time. They're expanding AK, will expand HS, and just added several attractions at MK. It takes time, and they'll do just enough to keep profit maximized while promoting their brands with rides at their parks.[/QUOTE]

My experience has been hurry up and wait. A very herky jerky way to see the parks. I've also had to cancel most TS lunches which is part of my enjoyment of the parks.[/QUOTE]

Sure. I definitely felt like we had to rush a few times to make some ADRs. But that comes with making the ADRs. We could have just not made them and not had to rush. Make an appointment then say you had to rush to get to it? I think I'm guilty of trying to pack too much in, and that leads to the rushed times.

 

[MrInfinity]

The only way this isn't hitting all of the Tier One's (at least) is if it fails so miserably. Every option they've "tested" through the past many months has been implemented. It doesn't take a huge leap of faith to expect this to be, as well.

True... but this is awfully reminiscent of when FP+ started rolling out and ppl called it a major failure too. Now 2 years later it's pretty smooth and the kinks worked out.

Every option they've "tested" through the past many months has been implemented.

Yes. Scary. Disney does not test to decide yes/no they test to decide how.

 

[mom2rtk]

You're not thinking it through. They didn't invest in MB's for this not to be monitored and rationed. Do you really think they're going to let guests run around collecting multiple cards and just riding all day? That's not the intent of this.

Nope

And do you really think this is just for M&G's? Why are they testing it at Soarin' then...? Why are the same people that broke the news saying it's going to be tested at TSMM...?

The only way this isn't hitting all of the Tier One's (at least) is if it fails so miserably. Every option they've "tested" through the past many months has been implemented. It doesn't take a huge leap of faith to expect this to be, as well.

Absolutely. This is about testing the concept of reserving the standby slots. For this limited test they don't care if people collect multiple cards because it's not worth investing the time for a limited test.

So it impacts the day for 3 days worth of guests? It's only 3 days. Never mind that it might be the ONLY day that family had in Epcot. Perhaps this year. Or ever. Or that it might have been the only day that family had to meet Anna and Else. They're just acceptable losses.

But yes, if this goes live, it will be with the limitations a program like this needs. Whether we all like it or not.

I have rethought it and they probably wouldn't introduce a 4th line if they started selling fastpasses. They would probably just add them to your FP+ allotment so instead of 3 you could by 2 more, 4 more, 6 more, etc (Each level for a different price). You would still use the FP+ line, just would be able to go in more of them. This would, of course, drive up standby waits even more.

But where are they going to get the additional capacity to sell?

Sure. I definitely felt like we had to rush a few times to make some ADRs. But that comes with making the ADRs. We could have just not made them and not had to rush. Make an appointment then say you had to rush to get to it? I think I'm guilty of trying to pack too much in, and that leads to the rushed times.

But the point is that some people ENJOY those lunches. And they used to be able to do the lunches AND still do all the rides they liked. Sure sometimes a FP time came up as a conflict. But all you had to do was step aside for a bit and wait for a slightly later time. It still was a far more flexible and spontaneous program.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes. Scary. Disney does not test to decide yes/no they test to decide how.

Look. We finally agree. Sigh.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

The fact that you could even use "donate" in this context is so telling as to your bias in all of this.

I am looking at my Disney Chase bill. I used that card ONLY for food and drink at WDW as it has the worst rewards of all of my CC's and I only use it for sentimental purposes.

My "donation" was $3,057.97. Nothing else, just food and drink at WDW no where else. Even the airport I use the Marriott CC.

With that kind of investment, I try to check my bias at the door and look at whether I can go and do places just as terrific however some people have Post-purchase rationalization, also known as Buyer's Stockholm Syndrome. When someone who has purchased an expensive product or service overlooks any faults or defects in order to justify their purchase. In other words, Disney can do no wrong, and I should be happy to settle for less.

 

[flicx]

I'll say this and you can quote me on it. The new system is a fail and closing in on an epic fail. They(Disney) have wasted billions of dollars that they could have spent to make Disneyworld heads and shoulders above the competition for decades to come. The way this new system is starting to morph scares me and has me wondering if I indeed may have seen the last of Disneyworld. When a system can be so time consuming and hard to get to work for people like disboarders I can only imagine what the general public goes through. Yes Disney has many guests now. I however believe this new system left unchecked will reverse that soon enough!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Yes, Disney has ride capacity issues. I can say that. It's obvious! It is the darn symptoms of making something that so many people want. Disney is the #1 theme park, they have millions of guests, so they have ride capacity issues. I see them working on this, and have been for the longest time. They're expanding AK, will expand HS, and just added several attractions at MK. It takes time, and they'll do just enough to keep profit maximized while promoting their brands with rides at their parks.

Sure. I definitely felt like we had to rush a few times to make some ADRs. But that comes with making the ADRs. We could have just not made them and not had to rush. Make an appointment then say you had to rush to get to it? I think I'm guilty of trying to pack too much in, and that leads to the rushed times.[/QUOTE]

Not at the rate they are building DVC or hotel room capacity.

"Make an appointment then say you had to rush to get to it?"

I had a 12:45 Via Napoli lunch, my one and only lunch reservation because DHS doesn't have enough attraction for a whole day and we enjoy the pizza. We did TSMM once (instead of our usual twice, I should be happy about that right) and once we finished the useless FP+ at Star Tours (the FP+ line was huge and the SB line walk on, I should be happy about that right?) we left with plenty of time to get to Via Napoli, we got to EPCOT IG around Noon. When I originally booked my FP+ Maelstrom was Tier 1 still and we had a long SB line in April and June at OPENING (Long lines at what should have been walk on at 11:30, I should be happy about that right?)

So I wanted a fourth for this and the only times were 12:50 or 6:30 smack dab in the middle of lunch and dinner ADR's, no flexibility or availablity (I should be happy about that right?). So we took the 12:50 and went straight to Via Napoli and missed all the pavilions in between that we wanted to shop at and grab some AC (I should be happy about that right?) Then went straight to Norway without stopping to make the FP+ and couldn't enjoy anything along the way (I should be happy about that right?).

After Maelstrom the DD's wanted to go back to the room which I can't blame them as the temperature was in the high 90's, very humid, and no breeze. So instead of enjoying the better part of the afternoon with the DD's in WS it was cut short (I should be happy about that right?)

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I'll say this and you can quote me on it. The new system is a fail and closing in on an epic fail. They(Disney) have wasted billions of dollars that they could have spent to make Disneyworld heads and shoulders above the competition for decades to come. The way this new system is starting to morph scares me and has me wondering if I indeed may have seen the last of Disneyworld. When a system can be so time consuming and hard to get to work for people like disboarders I can only imagine what the general public goes through. Yes Disney has many guests now. I however believe this new system left unchecked will reverse that soon enough!

Yes, people who are on the disboards, love WDW. They've invested a lot of time and money in planning and going there. If hardcore fans don't like it, who will?

 

[monkeybug]

I'll say this and you can quote me on it. The new system is a fail and closing in on an epic fail. They(Disney) have wasted billions of dollars that they could have spent to make Disneyworld heads and shoulders above the competition for decades to come. The way this new system is starting to morph scares me and has me wondering if I indeed may have seen the last of Disneyworld. When a system can be so time consuming and hard to get to work for people like disboarders I can only imagine what the general public goes through. Yes Disney has many guests now. I however believe this new system left unchecked will reverse that soon enough!

I don't know, my guess is that the new system might actually work in favor of the general public. I have talked to SO many people who go to Disney once and then swear they'll never go again because they approached it like any other vacation and as a result went during very busy times and had to wait in extremely long lines in the hot afternoon sun. With the new system those types of vacationers can still roll into the park at noon and get at least 3 of the things they were hoping to experience with a minimal wait.

For people like me and my family--I think it stinks! We rocked the legacy system and rode everything we wanted, usually multiple times a day!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, people who are on the disboards, love WDW. They've invested a lot of time and money in planning and going there. If hardcore fans don't like it, who will?

They are hoping the others will just surrender and go where they are told.

And I'm only saying that partly tongue in cheek.

 

[mousekatool]

Your username was aptly chosen.

Lol, I was thinking that from the first post!

 

[gamerlovesdisney]

I can see the new commercials for WDW:

COME SEE WALT DISNEY WORLD*
*by appointment only

 

[mom2rtk]

I can see the new commercials for WDW:

COME SEE WALT DISNEY WORLD*
*by appointment only

TOO FUNNY!

I have one revision for you though.......


COME SEE WALT DISNEY WORLD
by appointment only

 

[flicx]

I don't know, my guess is that the new system might actually work in favor of the general public. I have talked to SO many people who go to Disney once and then swear they'll never go again because they approached it like any other vacation and as a result went during very busy times and had to wait in extremely long lines in the hot afternoon sun. With the new system those types of vacationers can still roll into the park at noon and get at least 3 of the things they were hoping to experience with a minimal wait.

For people like me and my family--I think it stinks! We rocked the legacy system and rode everything we wanted, usually multiple times a day!

For me the new system has too many bugs, too much time on the computer months out. If you never been to Disney world how are you gonna know where you will want to be to ride what you want etc. It's all new to you. Now if Disney takes away standby lines and you don't know it and you are gonna miss headliners. I'm guessing there will be a lot of one and dones. The system needs redone. Perhaps allow one attraction booked in advance and a bank of fast pass machines that you can use your band with that function in the way legacy fast pass worked. One at a time and get a new one when the old one runs out. Just strategically place these machines in the park so you don't have to go to the attraction itself. There has to be a better way.

 

[bdoyledimou]

so basically-- they did away with paper FP -- then they make us plan our FP way in advance -- and then they technically bring back paper fp but only for one ride, without telling anyone -- and totally fill the ride with fp users.

that makes no sense at all.

 

[Jennasis]

If FP+ was the resounding success some here keep claiming it is, then why is Disney falling back on essentially what is original recipe Fast Pass?

Fuzzy logic indeed.

 

[monkeybug]

For me the new system has too many bugs, too much time on the computer months out. If you never been to Disney world how are you gonna know where you will want to be to ride what you want etc. It's all new to you. Now if Disney takes away standby lines and you don't know it and you are gonna miss headliners. I'm guessing there will be a lot of one and dones. The system needs redone. Perhaps allow one attraction booked in advance and a bank of fast pass machines that you can use your band with that function in the way legacy fast pass worked. One at a time and get a new one when the old one runs out. Just strategically place these machines in the park so you don't have to go to the attraction itself. There has to be a better way.

That is true! I didn't think about the fact that this new system doesn't allow much flexibility once you get there.
I definitely don't think they should eliminate the standby line! That one actually might work to the advantage of us researchers and planners (because it's a bit like getting a fastpass, and it's easy to see how if you got to the park in the morning you could potentially ride a headliner multiple times with a SB+ ticket) but it would surely piss some non-planners off!

 

[FlipHipster]

Yes, people who are on the disboards, love WDW. They've invested a lot of time and money in planning and going there. If hardcore fans don't like it, who will?

I know some get hung up on the whole "hate" thing but it's really more like the feeling you get when your favorite team calls a whack play.

Yay, we still got a chance to win if they just...
wait.
What the....??
!@#!%@@#

 

[Planogirl]

For me the new system has too many bugs, too much time on the computer months out. If you never been to Disney world how are you gonna know where you will want to be to ride what you want etc. It's all new to you. Now if Disney takes away standby lines and you don't know it and you are gonna miss headliners. I'm guessing there will be a lot of one and dones. The system needs redone. Perhaps allow one attraction booked in advance and a bank of fast pass machines that you can use your band with that function in the way legacy fast pass worked. One at a time and get a new one when the old one runs out. Just strategically place these machines in the park so you don't have to go to the attraction itself. There has to be a better way.

Exactly. People aren't going to put any more effort into planning than they did in the past. If they book a package and Disney tells them to book 3 FP+ then many will just pick whatever or they will ignore all of it. That is if they can get the website to work...

 

[robpa]

I don't know, my guess is that the new system might actually work in favor of the general public. I have talked to SO many people who go to Disney once and then swear they'll never go again because they approached it like any other vacation and as a result went during very busy times and had to wait in extremely long lines in the hot afternoon sun. With the new system those types of vacationers can still roll into the park at noon and get at least 3 of the things they were hoping to experience with a minimal wait.

For people like me and my family--I think it stinks! We rocked the legacy system and rode everything we wanted, usually multiple times a day!

The only problem I see with this is that I think the average guest will have greater expectations than just getting 3 rides in. Plus in the tiered parks they may not get to experience all the headliners & maybe some of the secondary attractions without some significant waits.