Toy Story Land soft opening in April?

[gharter]

I hope this is correct as we will be there toward the end of April and would love to do a soft opening of TSL. My wife and daughter were able to be part of the soft opening of Pandora last year. A very limited number of people were allowed in at any one time. They loved it and felt like they had the land to themselves.

 

[BostonEd]

yeah, that was the rumor I saw two - that the third track will be down for quite a while but at some point the whole ride will be down for a bit to make the final cross over to the new queue. Exactly when and for how long was not known (I saw someone mention the whole thing would be down for a month but that feels a bit on the high side, but who knows).

OK, the interesting thing is that on WDW's official site, there is no mention of the ride being closed for refurbishment. So, I'm guessing, until the plans firm up, they won't make any notice of closure on their site. BUT, since they know it's going to shut down at some point, but don't know exactly when, they are not providing FPs.

Does that make sense?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

OK, the interesting thing is that on WDW's official site, there is no mention of the ride being closed for refurbishment. So, I'm guessing, until the plans firm up, they won't make any notice of closure on their site. BUT, since they know it's going to shut down at some point, but don't know exactly when, they are not providing FPs.

Does that make sense?

I think so - plus they are probably trying to keep anything official about notice of timing of Toy Story Land opening on the DL so I think won't mention the closing of TSMM until they really have to - and who knows, maybe they are hopefully they can figure out a way to handle this without having to have the entire ride down but aren't sure. Definitely a lot easier/better guest feedback if you don't offer advance FP for it and then it turns out to be open that day vs offering the advance FP and then have to take them away

 

[BostonEd]

and who knows, maybe they are hopefully they can figure out a way to handle this without having to have the entire ride down but aren't sure.

Well, of course, they knew that TSL was going to be built when they added the third track to TSMM, so I would HOPE they anticipated doing exactly that.

 

[Doug5984]

Going to be in HWS around the last weekend of April, fingers crossed for some type of AP soft opening. Even if we can't ride anything I'm really hoping to walk around.

 

[gharter]

For the AP Pandora previews, you had to be an AP holder. Non-AP holders could not tag along. They had a whole system to scan you in with confirmations and everything. I'm not sure how the DVC side of the previews worked though.

My wife and daughter went to the soft opening of Pandora through DVC. My daughter is not on our DVC, but she had no problems going with. We had offers for AP and DVC, sounds like they picked the correct offer.
They loved the soft opening, said it was not crowded at all. Even got to do FoP twice!

 

[BostonEd]

I saw the satellite pictures updated on 1/26, and I find it hard to believe even soft openings will happen in April. Anyone else seeing something I'm not?

 

[rteetz]

I saw the satellite pictures updated on 1/26, and I find it hard to believe even soft openings will happen in April. Anyone else seeing something I'm not?

This is what Pandora looked like 6 months before opening.

https://www.wdwmagic.com/attraction...--the-world-of-avatar'-under-construction.htm

Then this was Pandora in April.

 

[HopperFan]

Do you guys know if an AP holder can bring a non-AP guest?

I plan to be there with a group of 6 AP holders the week before Memorial Day weekend.

I don’t have an AP myself, but do you think I can tag along with my group?

I don't recall the particulars of how many, if any, additional people besides the actual AP holder could attend with that AP holder. Maybe someone who attended will respond.

We went.

NO non-AP holders were allowed.

We had a friend with us so she just went to grab a bite to eat then waited for us at Nomad Lounge.

Saw plenty trying and they were being very strict and turned them away.

Don't forget that only those AP holders who had managed a reservation for each time frame could enter, so even if you had an AP .. if you didn't have reservation you could not get in.

 

[mikejs78]

We went.

NO non-AP holders were allowed.

We had a friend with us so she just went to grab a bite to eat then waited for us at Nomad Lounge.

Saw plenty trying and they were being very strict and turned them away.

Don't forget that only those AP holders who had managed a reservation for each time frame could enter, so even if you had an AP .. if you didn't have reservation you could not get in.

It just seems impossible to me that they would close down an existing attraction in a park with very few attractions to begin with for a soft opening for DVC/AP members. For necessary construction, sure. But not for any lengthly soft-opening. The options I think they have are:

a) Soft-open the land to everyone, like they did with New Fantasyland (October general soft opening, December grand opening)
b) Soft open the land to everyone including TSM, but only allow AP/DVC on the two new attractions

I don't think the demand will be quite as high as for Pandora, so I think either of these are viable...

 

[HopperFan]

It just seems impossible to me that they would close down an existing attraction in a park with very few attractions to begin with for a soft opening for DVC/AP members. For necessary construction, sure. But not for any lengthly soft-opening. The options I think they have are:

a) Soft-open the land to everyone, like they did with New Fantasyland (October general soft opening, December grand opening)
b) Soft open the land to everyone including TSM, but only allow AP/DVC on the two new attractions

I don't think the demand will be quite as high as for Pandora, so I think either of these are viable...

I do think it may be possible to do a preview and reduce impact to guests.

Your (a) YES there were AP Previews for New Fantasyland because we were sad to not be able to make it. And they then did soft opening. http://www.**************.net/2012/...nced-for-early-november-at-walt-disney-world/

(b) is possible but kinda pointless as well since part of the preview is to not be in a packed land (like Pandora is now) and it would be a huge hurt on CMs to be turning folks away from those rides non-stop.

How do I think it possible?

At the point that TSL is officially fully operational the TSMM entrance will be on the backside. Right now they are doing all the prep work so that at the actual flip of the switch will take as little time as possible, so in effect they would at the point be able to operate from both sides if they wanted. Especially possible since there are two completely different tracks with different queues they can easily shift operations.

- TSL can easily be in previews minus opening TSMM, keeping guests entering from the front until the last minute when they do the final switch. I mean I doubt any of us APs would care at all if TSMM were part of this, even if I looked about the entrance I wouldn't waste a minute of my preview to go on a ride I've been on tons.

- TSL can easily be in previews with TSMM without regular guests entering by using the new entrance and 3rd track for preview guests, and the old entrance and old tracks for regular guests. It is literally the closing of a door that keeps them apart. It is closed right now.

- We rode last week and we entered via what was an exit ramp/emergency type area, and you could easily imagine keeping both sides open without mixing if the back entrance were open. All they need are some doors/partitions in place.

I do agree the demand won't be as high as Pandora but I do think many will be interested, especially families that will enjoy those rides. I know we would drive the 8 hours, not because I'm excited about it but so my DS can ride Slinky Dog a few times before that line is nutty. AND to get photos in the land with the toys before it is wall to wall people.

 

[mikejs78]

I do think it may be possible to do a preview and reduce impact to guests.

Your (a) YES there were AP Previews for New Fantasyland because we were sad to not be able to make it. And they then did soft opening. http://www.**************.net/2012/...nced-for-early-november-at-walt-disney-world/

(b) is possible but kinda pointless as well since part of the preview is to not be in a packed land (like Pandora is now) and it would be a huge hurt on CMs to be turning folks away from those rides non-stop.

How do I think it possible?

At the point that TSL is officially fully operational the TSMM entrance will be on the backside. Right now they are doing all the prep work so that at the actual flip of the switch will take as little time as possible, so in effect they would at the point be able to operate from both sides if they wanted. Especially possible since there are two completely different tracks with different queues they can easily shift operations.

- TSL can easily be in previews minus opening TSMM, keeping guests entering from the front until the last minute when they do the final switch. I mean I doubt any of us APs would care at all if TSMM were part of this, even if I looked about the entrance I wouldn't waste a minute of my preview to go on a ride I've been on tons.

- TSL can easily be in previews with TSMM without regular guests entering by using the new entrance and 3rd track for preview guests, and the old entrance and old tracks for regular guests. It is literally the closing of a door that keeps them apart. It is closed right now.

- We rode last week and we entered via what was an exit ramp/emergency type area, and you could easily imagine keeping both sides open without mixing if the back entrance were open. All they need are some doors/partitions in place.

I do agree the demand won't be as high as Pandora but I do think many will be interested, especially families that will enjoy those rides. I know we would drive the 8 hours, not because I'm excited about it but so my DS can ride Slinky Dog a few times before that line is nutty. AND to get photos in the land with the toys before it is wall to wall people.

NFL did have AP previews but they were only for a handful of days *after* the general public previews had started (General Public was mid-October, AP previews they shut down NFL just to AP members on certain dates in November). Pandora is one of the first major openings where they didn't have a general public soft opening.

 

[HopperFan]

Pandora is one of the first major openings where they didn't have a general public soft opening.

They don't need them. Disney can use CMs for previews if they want feedback to make adjustments. I could see them going totally away if they haven't already, because the expectation of them from guests creates issues that can be totally avoided by just not doing them anymore.

 

[chrismom3]

Any current news/dates on the opening of Toy Story Land this summer?

 

[CAS239]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-toy-story-land-information-thread.3661485/#post-58756390

There is no opening date yet

 

[BostonEd]

I saw the satellite pictures updated on 1/26, and I find it hard to believe even soft openings will happen in April. Anyone else seeing something I'm not?

Looks like I was correct.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

It just seems impossible to me that they would close down an existing attraction in a park with very few attractions to begin with for a soft opening for DVC/AP members. For necessary construction, sure. But not for any lengthly soft-opening. The options I think they have are:

a) Soft-open the land to everyone, like they did with New Fantasyland (October general soft opening, December grand opening)
b) Soft open the land to everyone including TSM, but only allow AP/DVC on the two new attractions

I don't think the demand will be quite as high as for Pandora, so I think either of these are viable...

I could see another option. If they need or want to permanently move the entrance, instead of being closed maybe they will put up a construction wall to get people around the building and just go into the entrance on the backside but not be able to go into or see the rest of TSL. That way they could go back to full operation before TSL opens and still have soft opens for AP and DVC. Maybe that’s why they aren’t saying anything about it yet - they don’t want to commit to being back up to full operation on a given date. I was originally thinking they would go into full closure after May 9, but if they are doing that, why not say so now? It’s easy to commit to a closure.