They need to do something about POTC!

[MickeyOCD]

Made RD at MK. Went straight to POTC. Did it STBY, cause we had FPs for later in the day for the mountains. Because they utilize 1 side for STBY & 1 side for FPs, STBY waits will build throughout the day & cannot be relieved. We rode it and it was NIT a walk on as you would expect for that time of day. Yes, we did not wait long. BUT, boats went COMPLETELY EMPTY, because they were on the FP side & STBY had to wait. I do not like this & this is counter to every thing that seems to be set up to get more people thru the rides. This just makes STBY build as there is no way to relieve it thru the FP side. They need to combine the lines prior to the split if they want to get more people thru & to not send empty boats ( like they do at Star Tours & Buzz Light Year, & pretty much every single ride). Yes, they can do this, STBY's queue would just be outside under the overhang. This would let EVERYONE (STBY & FP) thru faster! They could restrict entrance to the side paths so that they do not fill up, so that they wait here does mot exceed 10 min. Then, in this manner, no boats are sent empty.

 

[mom2faith]

WHAT!?!?! That is ridiculous!!
When we were there in Oct they did send some SB people around to the FP+ line the back way (past the last CM through a hallway over the ride). Why would they not continue to do this??

 

[surferdave]

MickeyOCD, please state for the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have never met before and you have never described your experience to me before, correct?

Ride capacity can go down, all it takes (even on the omnimovers) is sending ride vehicles through with fewer guests on board. We don't know how common that is but people have reported seeing it; we had a first hand report of couples riding PotC alone in a boat to themselves when it had a long SB line.

If the FP line moves slower than the ride can load but steadily enough that there's not time to slip SB guests in between the FP guests then the ride will load below 100% capacity.

When there is a long, stagnant SB line and a steadily moving FP line you can count the number of people scanning through the first Mickey Orb over time and that is your ride capacity, even if the ride typically moves people through faster.

This can be managed if they can figure out how often to stop the flow from the slower FP line long enough to quickly file in some of the SB guests to fill the gaps but I suspect they aren't sure how to do it yet. There certainly doesn't seem to be a protocol yet since the guest experiences vary so much.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3255706

 

[ucfknight]

WHAT!?!?! That is ridiculous!!
When we were there in Oct they did send some SB people around to the FP+ line the back way (past the last CM through a hallway over the ride). Why would they not continue to do this??

Sounds like the OP went right at rope drop and said they had a short wait. The cast members probably didn't feel the need to actively manage the queue at that point as it wasn't long. I've gone later in the day a few times when there was a longer wait, and numerous times I've seen them shuttle people from standby to the FP+ line if the FP+ line got too short.

Frankly, the OP's experience is not much different than the "good old days". Before FP was added to the ride, they would often only have 1 of the 2 queue lines open for Pirates when the line wasn't long. So they would be only loading from one dock just like the OP experienced now.

 

[mom2faith]

Sounds like the OP went right at rope drop and said they had a short wait. The cast members probably didn't feel the need to actively manage the queue at that point as it wasn't long. I've gone later in the day a few times when there was a longer wait, and numerous times I've seen them shuttle people from standby to the FP+ line if the FP+ line got too short.

Frankly, the OP's experience is not much different than the "good old days". Before FP was added to the ride, they would often only have 1 of the 2 queue lines open for Pirates when the line wasn't long. So they would be only loading from one dock just like the OP experienced now.

Thanks for the perspective

(Ok Re-read that and it sounded sarcastic, I am actually thanking you! LOL!! No emotions via text.)

 

[MickeyOCD]

Correct SurferDave, we have never met.
My point was that every other boat was completely empty. Yes, I had a short wait, but the people behind me had a longer wait than I did, & boats still went empty. This will impact lines for the rest of the day. And the people behind them had an even longer wait, & boats still went empty. All I'm suggesting is they combine the queue before the split in order to minimize/prevent this from happening, just like the do at other rides.

 

[HallGirl]

At rope drop, Pirates does not always load from both sides. That's why you see every other boat empty. It's not good for them to load every boat from one side because then you'll get a back up at the end. Shortly after opening they'll load from both sides, but it partly depends on staffing.

I also want to point out that there is a merge point for Pirates. After that merge point, standby and FP merge, so both can go to either loading dock. However, there are times when it's one or the other just because it may be easier to control the lines so that they are continually moving, but it's not supposed to be "starboard is FP" and "port is standby".

 

[Bluegrrl]

My issue is that potc, HM, philharmagic and even Small and teacups have never NEEDED fp. I remember when fp- came out they created a fp for HM. It was rarely used, if at all. These large show rides are what imagineers call a " people swallower", rides that can take large crowds and cycle them efficiently. Now the Fp+ has taken away the ability to swallow the large crowds and thus created huge backups and frustration. Nothing like seeing and empty fp+ line and a huge sb line at the mansion to make you really scream.

 

[xie]

When we were there in January, they were supplementally feeding the FP loading side with guests from the Standby line. We went to the FP side ourselves, twice that week, when we got to the front of the Standby line. The CM asked how many in our party and sent us around to the FP side.

It actually slowed us down, as we had to walk around to the FP side, and as we got to the FP side loading area, I noticed people who had been behind us in the Standby line were already in boats leaving the loading area. But they were keeping the boats full, by feeding standby riders to the FP side.

If the CMs are not doing this, and there is a standby wait of longer than 10-15 minutes, somebody should find a manager and complain. It is very easy to send Standby guests around to the FP side of the loading dock.

 

[Kate and Family]

I think POTC is scheduled for refurb Apr 28, 2014 to May 01, 2014
Maybe they will figure out what they need to do and make changes to the queue

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

That makes me so mad.....I went on living with the land and had my own row.....I was 1 and there was a couple in back of me...we all could have fit....the ride had a 30 minute wait.

They send out the boats with empty seats. My dd told me Soarin had empty seats.....all that with a 110 min wait?

Why are they keeping people in lines....to frustrate them.....if I ran the rides there would be minimal waits

 

[OhMari]

That makes me so mad.....I went on living with the land and had my own row.....I was 1 and there was a couple in back of me...we all could have fit....the ride had a 30 minute wait.

They send out the boats with empty seats. My dd told me Soarin had empty seats.....all that with a 110 min wait?

Why are they keeping people in lines....to frustrate them.....if I ran the rides there would be minimal waits

Soarin shouldn't have empty seats. Something must have happened that they did not get people in the area on time. FP and Standby lines merge way before you get in the area to get on Soarin. I've seen people walk in the Fast Pass line without FastPasses and then they have big discussions how to obtain Fast Passes. This happened to me 3 times. There are people that know the old Fast Pass way and have no clue how to obtain the new Fast Passes. I heard a mom and dad arguing how they knew it was the Fast Pass lane, but thought maybe the machines were near the front of the ride, since they couldn't find them, so they someone walked through the Fast Pass entrance without a CM scanning their ticket or bands.

Another ride that needs better control is Peter Pan. Fast Pass people get on the ride instantly, no waiting. I counted 100 people that walked through and finally the CM turned around and left 2 people on. It happened again and again. After a 90 minute wait, that was suppose to be 30, I finally got on.

 

[phtktz3]

Soarin shouldn't have empty seats. Something must have happened that they did not get people in the area on time. FP and Standby lines merge way before you get in the area to get on Soarin. I've seen people walk in the Fast Pass line without FastPasses and then they have big discussions how to obtain Fast Passes. This happened to me 3 times. There are people that know the old Fast Pass way and have no clue how to obtain the new Fast Passes. I heard a mom and dad arguing how they knew it was the Fast Pass lane, but thought maybe the machines were near the front of the ride, since they couldn't find them, so they someone walked through the Fast Pass entrance without a CM scanning their ticket or bands.

Another ride that needs better control is Peter Pan. Fast Pass people get on the ride instantly, no waiting. I counted 100 people that walked through and finally the CM turned around and left 2 people on. It happened again and again. After a 90 minute wait, that was suppose to be 30, I finally got on.

It was the same on Dinosaur! They let about 8 standby in to every 30 FP+ holders. Posted wait was 20 min we waited 40 min. I had newbies with me and thankfully they thought the ride was worth the wait

 

[DOOM1001]

I totally agree that Pirates and some of those rides don't need FP+,they rarely had 15+ minute wait before FP+ and now the standby lines appear to be getting screwed up because of it.I've always said that FP or FP+ is for the headliners, a lot of rides being put on that FP+ list for no reason.

 

[Planogirl]

I totally agree that Pirates and some of those rides don't need FP+,they rarely had 15+ minute wait before FP+ and now the standby lines appear to be getting screwed up because of it.I've always said that FP or FP+ is for the headliners, a lot of rides being put on that FP+ list for no reason.

I bet that the reason is to have more rides available for those who are selecting their FP+. If more people end up using FP then they need to have enough capacity.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I am not a FP+ lover, but I must agree with others, that even pre FP+ this would happen. Sometimes one side was closed and other times everyone just fled to one side like a flock of lambs even though both sides were open.

 

[girlbomb]

I wish they'd also look into doing something about people constantly taking flash pictures on Pirates. Constantly. Every ride. In every boat. I know that people take flash photos on other dark rides -- like the woman behind us at Pooh who illuminated every inch of it for us! -- but it's particularly bad at Pirates.

 

[mom2faith]

I wish they'd also look into doing something about people constantly taking flash pictures on Pirates. Constantly. Every ride. In every boat. I know that people take flash photos on other dark rides -- like the woman behind us at Pooh who illuminated every inch of it for us! -- but it's particularly bad at Pirates.

For us it was Ariel! Extra flash on top of a DSLR camera! Ridiculous!

 

[Mad Hattered]

It was the same on Dinosaur! They let about 8 standby in to every 30 FP+ holders. Posted wait was 20 min we waited 40 min. I had newbies with me and thankfully they thought the ride was worth the wait

A friend at work just got back last week and had the same complaint. This was his first ever trip to Disney, to boot. He and his family got in line for Mission Space with a posted 10 minute wait and got off the ride 50 minutes later. His complaint was that they were letting all the FP+ people bypass them continuously. He also had the same situation at Dinosaur. They waited 30 minutes longer than the posted wait.

One would think that with this new Earth-Shattering technology that they could accurately track and post a realistic wait time. Those bands are "magic", correct?

He thought FP+ was OK. He liked the fact that he could open his door, and that sometimes it worked when they would pay for meals with it (although he called Disney QS some of the worst food he has ever eaten). I then pulled my wallet out and showed him the FP-s that are in my sig pic. Even he agreed that 3 < 6 and he would have liked a lot more. But he is an Engineer, so take that for what it's worth.

 

[Cais]

Like others have posted the merge points for pirates is the point at which you get sent port or starboard. Starboard load is really only used from about 10am onward there's not enough need in the morning to justify the extra staffing.

It has nothing to do with fastpass+.

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