The tiers really make Epcot look bad

[ArwenMarie]

What is everyone picking for their tier 2 rides at Epcot? Just curious...

I glanced at the tiers just to refresh my memory...and man, that ride selection is bad!

It wouldn't be quite as bad if they had stuck Soarin and Test Track in one tier and the rest in Tier 2, but I guess they couldn't even do that without running out of Tier 1s.

The tiers really accentuate how poor the ride selection is there (in my very humble opinion of course)

 

[AmyB2006]

Totally agree. And overall, I'm a fan of FP+ and the new system. It works for us. But Epcot... just stinks. To have to choose between Soarin' and TT is bad enough, but the tier 2 choices are just plain crap. None of those are rides that you would ever need a FP for, or at least you shouldn't.

 

[Tribe]

Test Track re-image was the downfall IMO. I am not even talking about the theme, which is fine to me. For what they spent on it, they could have created a new attraction in one of their empty spaces. They only allot so much money for each park and the re-image was their Epcot allotment for awhile.

 

[morethananyonex]

Yup, and sadly from a combination of what we know between confirmed projects and rumours, it's going to be like this for quite some time. Epcot needs some love!

For our tier 2 attractions on our Epcot days we picked Turtle Talk, Nemo and Spaceship Earth. I'm pretty sure we only ended up using Turtle Talk. The nice thing about Epcot is that you only really have to worry about being tied to a time for the tier 1 FP+, as the tier 2 rides are often walk ons or very short waits. I guess that's a silver lining? I suppose Mission Space might be a good choice, but that was a one and done ride for our family.

 

[TXHauntedMansionFan]

I have to agree with this as well. We were there all last week and the only tier 2 FP+ that was really any bonus to us was one for Spaceship Earth that might have saved us 10 mins (at most). Three times we had them for Figment and Nemo and ended up not needing/using them. I did wish that we could have used one on Malestrom...but I would assume that if they made it a Tier 2 option it would soon have a standby wait of an hour or so.

It does seem like the real issue is the need for another ride or two at the park.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I would love to see Epcot get some love, i just don't see it happening though.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I agree with both of you completely. That was the hardest park for me to make my FP+ selections, with DHS being the second hardest (I am really not liking this whole tiering thing). We are going to Epcot 2 and half days during our next trip and was in awe with what I had to choose from. I do understand Figment and Nemo for those families that have smaller children and who will also be going at high peak times of the year, but for those of us that have Tweens that could take them or leave them, that was hard. I also couldn't believe that Maelstrom was put into Tier 1, I mean it is a good ride and our family loves it, but is it really that great to be placed in Tier 1???? Then you have the option of Captain EO....Captain EO???? Come on, I am sorry and don't want to offend those that really enjoy this show, but I personally don't think it is an attraction that needs a FP to begin with....but then of course I could be way off.

OP, this is what I have planned (as of right now) for our Epcot Days, of course they are subject to change ....

Epcot Day 1 (also our arrival day)
1) Mission Space
2) Spaceship Earth (another ride that I don't feel needs a FP for since it is a continuous moving vehicle)
3) Special viewing area of Illuminations

Epcot Day 2
1) Mission Space
2) Soarin
3) Turtle Talk with Crush

Epcot Day 3
1) Test Track
2) Mission Space
3) Spaceship Earth

 

[shyjade]

I don't think anyone will argue this point. It's just too bad that Disney doesn't care and won't do anything about it.

I say they should do away with the tiering and just let people pick what they want/what's available. It is by far my biggest complaint about FP+!

 

[Reddog1134]

Test Track re-image was the downfall IMO. I am not even talking about the theme, which is fine to me. For what they spent on it, they could have created a new attraction in one of their empty spaces. They only allot so much money for each park and the re-image was their Epcot allotment for awhile.

Test Track is sponsored by GM/Chevy. It was redone because they wanted it/helped pay for it.

There probably wouldn't have been any new attractions if Test Track wasn't redone.

 

[morethananyonex]

I don't think anyone will argue this point. It's just too bad that Disney doesn't care and won't do anything about it. I say they should do away with the tiering and just let people pick what they want/what's available. It is by far my biggest complaint about FP+!

And then almost everybody picks TT and Soarin, causing a significant number of people to walk away with basically nothing (because as discussed, that's what the other options are).

Disney needs as many people as possible to lock in their Disney schedules before they arrive. A family who sees TT and Soarin have no FP are more likely to skip Disney completely that day. In the past when that happened, a family was already in the park. Taking away tiers it could potentially happen when that family is still weeks away from visiting WDW.

Sucks for guests, but we can thank the billions spent on MM+ instead of the parks that needed it.

 

[doctornick]

I'd just like to see Maelstrom in tier 2. I actually understand being able to pick only one of Test Track and Soarin' but Maelstrom would at least be a decent choice from tier 2 if it were an option.

But I also agree with others that building additional rides would help with the whole tiering. It would be nice if they could put something new in the WoL area (some have mentioned plans in the past to make that into a weather pavilion and use the Body Wars space for a copy of Storm Riders). Or actually put more rides in FW like something in Japan or Germany which have been planned in the past. Or replace Imagination with something worthwhile that echos the awesomeness of the original ride.

 

[johde]

What is everyone picking for their tier 2 rides at Epcot? Just curious...

I glanced at the tiers just to refresh my memory...and man, that ride selection is bad!

It wouldn't be quite as bad if they had stuck Soarin and Test Track in one tier and the rest in Tier 2, but I guess they couldn't even do that without running out of Tier 1s.

The tiers really accentuate how poor the ride selection is there (in my very humble opinion of course)

As someone who's been going to EPCOT since almost the beginning. I'm going to agree and disagree with you. To me, the tiers accentuate the brilliance of the original EPCOT imagineers. When EPCOT opened, it was a park with ONLY D & E ticket rides that all had massive capacity. Even before FP with park attendance higher than it is now, I very rarely remember long, over an hour, lines for anything, except body wars which wasn't an original attraction and the first low capacity attraction they put in.

The point is, Soarin', TT and to a lesser extent MS and Maelstrom are the only rides that needed FP partly because of their popularity but also because all the other attractions are so efficient.

That's not to say that there haven't been changes for the worse several place in EPCOT that have kept attractions from hitting the classic status of the MK attractions. The biggest probably being Journey into Imagination. But, you can't equate a lack of a line with a lack of popularity.

 

[Disworldluv]

I don't think anyone will argue this point. It's just too bad that Disney doesn't care and won't do anything about it.

I say they should do away with the tiering and just let people pick what they want/what's available. It is by far my biggest complaint about FP+!

Totally agree!

 

[kbelle8995]

It is confusing to me that Mission Space is a Tier 2 attraction.

MK seem to offer the most options where FP+ is concerned.

 

[Magpie]

For me, my Epcot FP choices looked like this:

1. Soarin'

2. Whatever.

3. Something random.

More than once, we simply ignored choices 2 and 3, letting the FPs lapse.

Test Track we managed by using the Single Rider line before 11am or after 8pm. By 8:30pm the lines are short enough that you can even ride standby without any difficulty.

Morning Extra Magic Hours are also a good time to ride Test Track. We stopped by accidentally at 7:45 on a 7-8am EMH morning and were able to walk right on.

I found I only really needed to go through the design process once, as my car was saved onto my band. (Won every speed test, but still wish I'd gone with plasma burners!)

It's really getting to the point where I love Epcot less for the rides (though Soarin' and Test Track are still favourites), than for the various special events and scavenger hunts in the World Showcase. Which are, admittedly, REALLY fun. I loved getting my Flower and Garden Festival passport book stamped as I sampled the assorted food offerings - it made my OCD little heart blissfully happy.

 

[morethananyonex]

It is confusing to me that Mission Space is a Tier 2 attraction.

MK seem to offer the most options where FP+ is concerned.

Just opened MDE to look, TT and Soarin have wait times of 120 and 130 minutes, while Mission Space is 30 minutes and right in line with Spaceship Earth (another tier 2 attraction).

Mission Space doesn't have the wide appeal TT and Soarin do. It makes a lot of people sick, and (just my opinion) it's not that impressive that it's worth doing over and over again. We did it once a few trips ago and that was enough. Maelstrom is a better fit for tier 1 than Mission Space IMO, only because a wider range of people can actually ride it.

It's more confusing to me that ToT is a tier 2 attraction, but I sure am glad it is!

 

[ArwenMarie]

As someone who's been going to EPCOT since almost the beginning. I'm going to agree and disagree with you. To me, the tiers accentuate the brilliance of the original EPCOT imagineers. When EPCOT opened, it was a park with ONLY D & E ticket rides that all had massive capacity. Even before FP with park attendance higher than it is now, I very rarely remember long, over an hour, lines for anything, except body wars which wasn't an original attraction and the first low capacity attraction they put in.

The point is, Soarin', TT and to a lesser extent MS and Maelstrom are the only rides that needed FP partly because of their popularity but also because all the other attractions are so efficient.

That's not to say that there haven't been changes for the worse several place in EPCOT that have kept attractions from hitting the classic status of the MK attractions. The biggest probably being Journey into Imagination. But, you can't equate a lack of a line with a lack of popularity.

Interesting point.

I guess though in reality, you only get one FP for Epcot. In other words, they could remove all of the FP+ from the Tier Two rides, give everyone just one FP for Epcot and just have one group.

 

[ArwenMarie]

For me, my Epcot FP choices looked like this:

1. Soarin'

2. Whatever.

3. Something random.

More than once, we simply ignored choices 2 and 3, letting the FPs lapse.

Test Track we managed by using the Single Rider line before 11am or after 8pm. By 8:30pm the lines are short enough that you can even ride standby without any difficulty.

Morning Extra Magic Hours are also a good time to ride Test Track. We stopped by accidentally at 7:45 on a 7-8am EMH morning and were able to walk right on.

I found I only really needed to go through the design process once, as my car was saved onto my band. (Won every speed test, but still wish I'd gone with plasma burners!)

It's really getting to the point where I love Epcot less for the rides (though Soarin' and Test Track are still favourites), than for the various special events and scavenger hunts in the World Showcase. Which are, admittedly, REALLY fun. I loved getting my Flower and Garden Festival passport book stamped as I sampled the assorted food offerings - it made my OCD little heart blissfully happy.

That's what I figured, one FP and two other things because the computer is making me pick them

I agree with your last paragraph. But then I guess I wonder about the admission fee? If it's just a food and drink mall, is that worth the same price as an MK admission?

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's more confusing to me that ToT is a tier 2 attraction, but I sure am glad it is!

That's confusing to me too, but good.

I think the shows at DHS must give the system enough capacity that everyone can at least get one from Tier 1 (Fantasmic once or twice and night and BaTB). Epcot doesn't have any big shows like that...until they expand the FP+ viewing area for Illuminations I guess

 

[fairestoneofall]

we do Mission Space and Spaceship Earth for our extra FPs. my kids love MS and we all love SE.

i don't think of Epcot as a big "attraction" park. i enjoy just wandering through WS and enjoying the shops and food of the various countries.