Tower of Terror Reduced Capacity

[LaMapa]

This past week Tower of a Terror has only been using two elevatior shafts while doing maintenance on the third one. This is REALLY backing up the Fastpass and standby lines and also the lines inside the boiler room. There was also no sign indicating this at the entrance, and the only way I could tell of this was the fact that at one point TOT had a longer line than RSR!

There's gotta be a solution to this: give out fewer fast passes on the reduced capacity days, place a sign out front warning people, or NO fast passes whatsoever on those days. The standby line wasn't moving. I stared at all the switchbacks for about 10 minutes and it didn't move an inch!

What should they do about this problem?

 

[whoever]

Given the nature of TOT, they REALLY need to NOT shortcut the renovation. As far as the FP, I'm sure they've been reduced.

 

[Vintage Mouseketeer]

This past week Tower of a Terror has only been using two elevatior shafts while doing maintenance on the third one. This is REALLY backing up the Fastpass and standby lines and also the lines inside the boiler room. There was also no sign indicating this at the entrance, and the only way I could tell of this was the fact that at one point TOT had a longer line than RSR! There's gotta be a solution to this: give out fewer fast passes on the reduced capacity days, place a sign out front warning people, or NO fast passes whatsoever on those days. The standby line wasn't moving. I stared at all the switchbacks for about 10 minutes and it didn't move an inch! What should they do about this problem?

We had the same scenario two weeks ago, It was a waste of a FP... I felt like I was stuck in the Autopia FP line, truly scary. LOL

 

[peterpanandwendy]

Ride closures like that don't bother me too much… am I in the minority maybe? There is so much more to do at Disney, so if a ride is down or slow I just move on to something else and cut my losses.

The thing about your story is that there still were people in line for the ride who were perfectly fine with waiting… those who weren't happy with waiting would have eventually ducked out and moved on… so obviously people who really want to ride are willing to wait it out. Obviously Disney knows this, and so they kept 2 shafts open to accommodate these people, which is the best they can do in the situation. I remember as a kid waiting for 2+ hours for Indiana Jones when it first opened, and it was just part of the Disney experience. Grab an ice cream or some popcorn, and wait in line… you meet some very interesting people waiting in line lol!

And its nice to know you are waiting in line for a safe ride

 

[LaMapa]

For me it's all the mental effect. I'd rather wait two hours in a fast moving line than one hour in a slow moving line. And I'll tell you, I'm not sure if they were ever getting on, that thing didn't move.

And also, why in the middle of the summer? I'd think they'd be smarter than that. I would think that they'd do it on weekdays in the middle of January. But no, when I went on a dead weekday in January they were using all three and we almost got a whole elevator to ourselves.

Sorry, it's just that TOT is my all time favorite ride.

And I'll tell you EVERYONE was complaining about the backup. Those who were waiting in the standby line said it was taking forever and the only reason they didn't get out of line was because they didn't know how much longer they had in line.

 

[bakerudall]

Easy solution--ride it a few times at park opening while everyone else is in CL.

 

[YukonMommy]

Nothing really that can be done. I believe like with anything maintenance can be needed at any time. Especially for this ride its better to be safe than sorry.

I also think it depends on the crowds. I have gone mid week January also and have waited an hour to ride TOT, but the next day could just walk on.

 

[mom2rtk]

Easy solution--ride it a few times at park opening while everyone else is in CL.

Unless of course you want to do CL yourself.

 

[starshine514]

Does TOT ever have all three shafts open? I think I've only ever noticed two running at once. In the off-season, I've often seen it with only one shaft running.

I have to say, it is one of the worst standby lines around. Even with FP, you may get put into one of the pre-show rooms quickly, but you still have a line to wait in after that. And if you're waiting standby, it feels like every FP person gets to go in front of you...

 

[zanzibar138]

And also, why in the middle of the summer? I'd think they'd be smarter than that. I would think that they'd do it on weekdays in the middle of January. But no, when I went on a dead weekday in January they were using all three and we almost got a whole elevator to ourselves.

Not all closures are scheduled maintenance. Sometimes things just need fixing up. For any rides really, but especially in the case of TOT, I'd definitely rather them shut that lift down if there's any chance that things aren't 100% right

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

This past week Tower of a Terror has only been using two elevatior shafts while doing maintenance on the third one. This is REALLY backing up the Fastpass and standby lines and also the lines inside the boiler room. There was also no sign indicating this at the entrance, and the only way I could tell of this was the fact that at one point TOT had a longer line than RSR!

There's gotta be a solution to this: give out fewer fast passes on the reduced capacity days, place a sign out front warning people, or NO fast passes whatsoever on those days. The standby line wasn't moving. I stared at all the switchbacks for about 10 minutes and it didn't move an inch!

What should they do about this problem?

They did this a lot of last year. It seems to be the standard refurb/maintenance strategy for ToT. It's not a new practice AFAIK.

 

[DisneyBiskit]

Not all closures are scheduled maintenance. Sometimes things just need fixing up. For any rides really, but especially in the case of TOT, I'd definitely rather them shut that lift down if there's any chance that things aren't 100% right

I agree, but its good to know that the lines are not moving as quickly as normal. I'll keep that in mind when I go next week.