Soarin' SB+ test...Fail

[mom2rtk]

Not following you.

1) I was going off of the premise that this is a "once in a lifetime trip" for a lot of people. Those people, I doubt, are just walking up to the window to buy tickets. I would think a "once in a lifetime trip" involves some planning.

2) Even if they bought their ticket mid-day, and are turned away from a popular ride, they will know they need to plan better the following day. If it were me, I'd wake up at the crack of dawn and head to the entrance to ensure that I ride what I want to ride.

Back when everyone complained about FPs running out while they slept in, everybody seemed to think it was unfair to ask them to get out of bed and to the park sooner. Now all of a sudden that's the answer?

And I never said I was only concerned for the "once in a lifetime" visitors. I think everyone deserves a chance to decide if they want to wait through a long line to ride something.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Not following you.

1) I was going off of the premise that this is a "once in a lifetime trip" for a lot of people. Those people, I doubt, are just walking up to the window to buy tickets. I would think a "once in a lifetime trip" involves some planning.

It may involve some planning. Please tell me how planning 6 months ahead for a trip would have helped someone whose trip was last week? This test wasn't announced 6 months ago, or 2 months ago. There were rumors this would happen on a few sites a few *days* beforehand- hardly widespread news, though. How many people feel like they don't have to continue to *plan* their vacation once they are *on* their vacation?

2) Even if they bought their ticket mid-day, and are turned away from a popular ride, they will know they need to plan better the following day. If it were me, I'd wake up at the crack of dawn and head to the entrance to ensure that I ride what I want to ride.

And what about for those people for whom that day was the last day of their vacation? Who don't have the option to just "do better tomorrow"? Or who don't have park hoppers, and who only have tickets long enough to do 1 park/day and that was their 1 Epcot Day?

It boggles my mind how it always seems to come down to the guest's fault that they missed out on something when Disney fundamentally changed ride access to something without giving anyone any notice.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Well they're simply out of luck on that particular day. But presumably, they have more days where they can get to the park at RD and head to the ride that they were denied the previous day.

It just doesn't seem that complicated to me.

Why would you presume that they have another day? People don't visit Epcot on the last day of their vacation? People don't have one park/day tickets, and only 4 days in the parks (so 1 park/day?). I would never be so bold as to assume that people just have other days at their disposal.

 

[gwmort]

Not everyone gets to ride everything. Disney reserves all rights.

If your heart was set on riding Splash, and Splash goes down for maintenance or repair, tough luck.

Anyone demanding to get into SB for Soarin at 5:00 in the afternoon deserves what they get, one way or the other. The people with the return cards should have just been allowed in fastpass so the SB people wouldn't slow them down.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Not everyone gets to ride everything. Disney reserves all rights.

If your heart was set on riding Splash, and Splash goes down for maintenance or repair, tough luck.

Anyone demanding to get into SB for Soarin at 5:00 in the afternoon deserves what they get, one way or the other. The people with the return cards should have just been allowed in fastpass so the SB people wouldn't slow them down.

There's a huge difference between missing out on a ride because it is down for repair or maintenance and having the ride be open, operating normally and being told you are *not allowed* to wait in line for it.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I think everyone deserves a chance to decide if they want to wait through a long line to ride something.

Exactly! If someone wants to wait three hours for an attraction, let them wait three hours!

If Disney wants to offer guests return tickets, fine.... but I think that closing the stand-by line and not allowing guests to enter is absurd. They need to create a third line or modify an existing queue for these "return in 30 minutes" tickets.

But I also think that these return tickets are ridiculous, because it's essentially just returning to the paper FastPass system that Disney just eliminated!

 

[abbydancer]

I agree - a down ride is one thing, a not allowed is another.

Last December, we were at DLP. At the studios a friend who goes yearly and used to to work there told us we had to ride Crush's Coaster. We waited in a 1 hour line that turned into about 2 because of several breakdowns. Finally, they decided to close it totally. In a labor intensive process, they hand wrote out skip the line passes (not fastpass since mostly it was wait at the exit) for your choice of several, mostly lame, rides. Crush was an option, but they couldn't guarantee it would reopen that day, but it was good indefinitely. Problem was, we only had that one day. This didn't make me angry because I understand breakdowns happen. If we'd arrived and they said that the attraction was closed due to capacity, I would have been very angry, since that was our one shot. (oh, when we came back later to do something nearby, and it was open, the CM at the entrance very graciously switched out our pass so we did get to ride it.)

 

[TraderE]

A ticket gives someone the right to enter the park. There is nothing written anywhere that a ticket holder has the right to ride everything. If a ride is booked solid, then it's booked. Move on to the next.

 

[Laketravis]

Exactly! If someone wants to wait three hours for an attraction, let them wait three hours!

I agree with you, but I think the reality is that Disney is attempting to avoid the bad press of multiple hour wait times.

It's a much different spin for them when someone says "I couldn't ride/see _____ because all the passes were gone" versus "I had to wait 3 hours to ride/see ______"

 

[Angel Ariel]

A ticket gives someone the right to enter the park. There is nothing written anywhere that a ticket holder has the right to ride everything. If a ride is booked solid, then it's booked. Move on to the next.

No one said it gives everyone the right to ride everything. But this idea of rides being "booked solid" is very *very* new. Like, 1 week ago new. Because even legacy FP and FP+ being booked solid did not mean that the entire *ride* was booked solid. You always had the option to wait in line if you wanted to. This idea that a ride could be fully, 100% booked solid for the entire day and not being *allowed* to wait for it is literally brand new. You can't expect the large amount of visitors at WDW at any given time to just assimilate to this new way of thinking when the company gives them *no* warning.

 

[jcemom]

Exactly! If someone wants to wait three hours for an attraction, let them wait three hours!

If Disney wants to offer guests return tickets, fine.... but I think that closing the stand-by line and not allowing guests to enter is absurd. They need to create a third line or modify an existing queue for these "return in 30 minutes" tickets.

But I also think that these return tickets are ridiculous, because it's essentially just returning to the paper FastPass system that Disney just eliminated!

 

[TraderE]

You can't expect the large amount of visitors at WDW at any given time to just assimilate to this new way of thinking when the company gives them *no* warning.

Sure I can. This is a "test." Not a permanent solution (at least not yet). Tests are done randomly and without warning, that's why it's a "test."

People can be disappointed about not being able to ride something but they need to put on their big boy/big girl pants and move on.

 

[loudisneyfan]

People can be disappointed about not being able to ride something but they need to put on their big boy/big girl pants and move on.

Are you kidding me! We live in Canada and plan our Disney trip a year in advance. We go to each park for one day. If I got there and they were conducting a 'test' that was random and I didn't know was happening making it impossible for me to ride the ride I waited a year for and paid $100/day to do, I would be upset to say the least!

 

[mom2rtk]

Sure I can. This is a "test." Not a permanent solution (at least not yet). Tests are done randomly and without warning, that's why it's a "test."

People can be disappointed about not being able to ride something but they need to put on their big boy/big girl pants and move on.

Ah yes....... the "vacation as character building experience" defense.

Gotta love it.

I can stay home and do that for free.

 

[skater]

A ticket gives someone the right to enter the park. There is nothing written anywhere that a ticket holder has the right to ride everything. If a ride is booked solid, then it's booked. Move on to the next.

Somehow, I still believe that a ticket gives me more than the right to enter a park.

 

[annacali]

Personally I think Disney is just playing us. They took away the legacy FP system in favor of FP+. We didn't love it but many of us adjusted and coped with the new normal. Now they are taking away standby and introducing their fabulous, great and wonderful "Paper Reservation System" in its place---hoping we don't notice that it is simply our beloved old legacy FP system. Soon, when frustrations are at an all time high with the lack of a standby line and with the need to have a reservation for everything, Disney will remarket the all new "Wait and Ride" system formerly know as the standby line and everyone will suddenly think waiting in line is the best new thing in the world!

 

[Mad Hattered]

Sure I can. This is a "test." Not a permanent solution (at least not yet). Tests are done randomly and without warning, that's why it's a "test."

People can be disappointed about not being able to ride something but they need to put on their big boy/big girl pants and move on.

I'm just curious as to your history with WDW. That statement seems a little harsh for a new Disney fan on a message board.

 

[TraderE]

I'm just curious as to your history with WDW.

I'm not sure what you mean by "history." If you're asking how often I go, I go every year for a week. And I live in Chicago and yes, we plan everything out to the T.

There have been times in the past where I've booked a trip, gotten time off from work, paid for the airfare, only to find out months later that one of my favorite rides is undergoing a refurb/closure and I wouldn't be able to ride it. Disappointed? Yes. Did I fall to the ground and start pounding the pavement? No. I thought about all the other cool rides I would get to go on.

Think of all the kids out there who would love to go to Disney just to ride Dumbo. If all they got to ride was Dumbo, they would be thrilled and so happy. So people who were turned away from Soarin or A&E aren't going to get my sympathy.

 

[ArwenMarie]

So customers have to book restaurants six months in advance and ride times up to two months in advance, sacrificing almost all day-to-day flexibility...

Yet, they have to be flexible and easy-going when Disney decides we need to be flexible.

 

[natatomic]

Well they're simply out of luck on that particular day. But presumably, they have more days where they can get to the park at RD and head to the ride that they were denied the previous day.

It just doesn't seem that complicated to me.

I'm glad you live in a world where you have unlimited funds to spend on extra days and repeating parks. When I was a kid, we came to Disney exactly twice. And BOTH times we could only afford one day and one park total.

Yeah, let me just pull more money from my a** so we can come again since after spending the only money we have, we aren't allowed to ride the rides in the park, despite being willing to wait however many minutes. Not complicated at all.