Toy Story Mania

[Lilypaige]

Any updates on this ride??? We are going in May and I would love for it to be up and running then.

 

[Danauk]

The last pictures I saw on the net from last weekend showed the ride being tested, including the screens. A reliable source on another Disney site is saying the ride will be open for soft opening sometime in April with official opening Late May 2008/Memorial Day Weekend. This isn't official info, but they seem to know what they are talking about! I hope it is open in time for you to test it out!!

 

[Lilypaige]

Danauk, thanks for the info. We will be there Mother's Day weekend and heres to hoping it will be a test day!

 

[HydroGuy]

From this post: "Disney's California Adventure Project Tracker" http://micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2269405#post2269405

<B>Toy Story Midway Mania

Project Status: In progress.​

Soft Open: April 2008​

Open Date: Late May 2008/Memorial Day Weekend​

</B>

 

[chickybanky]

What is a "soft open"??

We'll be there in April, so I wonder if we'd get to ride it!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

We'll be there Mother's Day weekend too... I really hope it will be open for us to check it out!! **fingers crossed**

I am not sure what "soft open" means, I am guessing that means it will be open on and off until the grand opening??

--Lisa

 

[Danauk]

Soft opening is when the ride isn't officially open but opens at random times for testing and they let guests ride it. They do not advertise when the ride is opening so it is a case of being in the right place at the right time!

 

[Albort]

We'll be there Mother's Day weekend too... I really hope it will be open for us to check it out!! **fingers crossed**

I am not sure what "soft open" means, I am guessing that means it will be open on and off until the grand opening??

--Lisa

usually when CMs and media get their turn to check the ride out before any guest can go check it out. Sometimes APs can get into the action and people who get dreamed too...

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Oh no! LOL As much as I want to see it I was kind of hoping it wasn't going to be open when we go the first week in June. Wonder if that's going to draw the crowds!

We were there when Nemo opened last year, and they all were in line for Nemo, so the rest of the park wasn't too bad. Hopefully it will be like that again! Oh well, I'm excited to maybe get to ride it now, wasn't expecting it to open that early!

 

[Dobie]

I'm hoping that they'll let GCH guests into DCA 1/2 hour early this summer to ride Midway Mania.

 

[jemilah]

I agree..........i really want to check it out...........but am wondering if it will be a mess trying to ride it and if it will increase the crowds!
My DS8 is going to be thrilled though ....he watched the sneak peak of it on disneyland.com and really wants to ride it!

 

[MommyWithDreams]

Maybe you all will get lucky at that time and the crowds will move over to DCA for awhile making for smaller crowds in DL. Ok not really but it sounds good.

 

[HydroGuy]

What will happen is something similar to the post-POTC refurb in 2006 and the post Nemo opening in 2007. Both happened in June. And the AP holders pooooooouuuuuured into DLR to ride it before their blackout period and pushed the lines up to insane 3-4 hour levels.

For those going to DLR in May and June, if possible visit TSMM on an AP blackout day. See www.mouseplanet.com/misc.php?pg=blackout for a blackout schedule.

The big summer blackout starts on June 18 for the SoCal Select AP holders June 28 for the SoCal AP holders.

 

[JenM]

Will the soft-openings be exclusive to AP holders? Because I'm not an AP holder, and I would be bummed not to be able to ride if there's a soft opening when I go in May.

 

[HydroGuy]

Will the soft-openings be exclusive to AP holders? Because I'm not an AP holder, and I would be bummed not to be able to ride if there's a soft opening when I go in May.

It depends. For Space Mtn re-opening in July, 2005 soft openings were available to everyone for a few weeks beforehand. I do not remember if they had a special AP only soft opening before that. Before general public soft openings they usually have a CM soft opening.

For POTC re-opening in June, 2006 they were timing this to coincide with the release of the POTC 2 movie and premiere at DL so did not have soft openings at all except for maybe CMs.

For Nemo opening in June 2007 they were tight on schedule to meet the opening date in early June and did not have time for general public soft openings. They did have CM and AP soft openings though, with the AP ones by lottery if memory serves.

Soft openings are for the purpose of getting the kinks worked out and training the ride operators. The risk of getting in line for a soft opening is that they can stop the ride at any time. If you wait 45 minutes in line you could get to the front and they will say "sorry, the ride is closed for the day". They do not and cannot have the same "customer first" mentality as normal rides have.

 

[Lilypaige]

Okay okay Trey, explain blackout date to me??? So AP holders cannot go into the park with their AP on these blackout dates??

 

[mama2twoluvbugs]

We got to be part of the soft opening for the monsters inc. ride in dec '05 and we do not have APs, so I would guess it doesnt matter what kind of ticket you have, we were just standing around a CA eating a turkey leg when a CM walked over to us and asked us if we'd like to try it out..of course we didnt say no...lol

 

[HydroGuy]

Okay okay Trey, explain blackout date to me??? So AP holders cannot go into the park with their AP on these blackout dates??

There are four types of AP holders. I have never had one myself (thought about it last year but decided not to). Two of the four categories are "SoCal" and only available to people with the right zip codes. They are cheaper but also have many blackout days where they cannot be used. Not sure of the rule but such AP holders can visit DLR during blackouts for a discounted price - $40 or something. Most choose not to visit on blackout days because it defeats the purpose of having an AP with "free" visits on non-blackout days.

I may be wrong but it is my understanding that 90% of the DLR AP holders are of the SoCal variety. If you check my link you will see these folks are blacked all of July and most of August and parts of June. So they will not come to visit during these times. The parks are still crowded, but with non-AP holders for the most part and these folks are less savvy than the AP holders.

The thing about SoCal AP holders is that they have a different value system than infrequent visitors. Since many of them visit DLR monthly or even weekly, then coming to DLR to ride just one ride and waiting 4+ hours for that ride is not a deterrent. They can ride the other rides at any time. For most irregular visitors time at DLR is precious and not to be wasted on such long lines. Hence AP holders can make lines super-duper long because they do not care how long the line is if it is something new to see. They just bring a book, IPOD, or come with a group of other AP holder friends and turn it into a social event. Nothing wrong with this, it is just what happens.

In late June 2007 we were at DLR the week the blackouts took effect. We were there for 1 1/2 days before the blackout and then 2 days after. The drop in crowds was very noticable. This was when Nemo just opened and the AP holders were trying to ride before their blackout period started instead of waiting another two months.

FWIW, since most WDW AP holders are not locals the above dynamic does not apply at WDW.

 

[jenjersnap]

Ugh, not good news for us. We'll be there the first week of June without AP blackout dates. We don't get the advantage of mid-summer's longer hours either. I knew our first visit, being in June, would be busier than we'd like but this is making me consider canceling the trip entirely.

I was so hoping this would open after our trip.

 

[HydroGuy]

Ugh, not good news for us. We'll be there the first week of June without AP blackout dates. We don't get the advantage of mid-summer's longer hours either. I knew our first visit, being in June, would be busier than we'd like but this is making me consider canceling the trip entirely.

I was so hoping this would open after our trip.

Well, there are more AP holders but less non-AP people on weekdays. Plus the AP holders will be at DCA and not DL if TSMM has opened. All it really means is visit DCA amd TSMM on blackout days if possible during this time. I doubt it will affect DL very much.