Tron to use VQ at opening and introduce new locker system

[tguz]

Love the VQ. Worked great for us on our last vacation. Rode Ratatouille 3 times and loved it.

 

[Skippyboo]

Wondering the same. That would be nice, especially with Splash closed.

There is still a huge demand for GotG VQ. I for one am hoping they don't drop it.

I'm sure they can it they try. Just not sure if they'll try or not. I'd much rather be in a VQ than a line!

The flip side to this is if they move GotG to LL, it would greatly increase the sales of G+ at Epcot. Hmmmm....

Guardians is already a paid LL. They aren’t moving it to Genie+.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Guardians is already a paid LL. They aren’t moving it to Genie+.

Right, forgot about that. If they removed the VQ it would go to ILL$ or standby.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Davey Jones II]

What's the alternative? Wait 6 hours on line if you want to ride? I much prefer the VQ. Yes - I'd prefer that they made it a little closer to park opening time than 7am but at least this way - for most of the year - if you're dead set on the VQ and don't get it at 7am and want to change your plans on which park to go to - you can still do it. They've basically picked the best option for handling demand on this - no option is great for everyone. And with Guardians - we've seen already that the 1pm queue is relatively easy to get into and expect we'll see similar with Tron.

Why are some posters talking as if VQs are suddenly the only way to go? That's funny, up until a few years ago, EVERY new ride opened with FP and standby. And guess what? If you wanted to ride, you got to ride. When FOP had very long wait times, I was still able to ride it every time I went to AK. That's true for EVERY single new and wildly popular ride, including TSMM, 7DMT, Slinky, etc. We always experienced it, even when visiting the same year it opened. We used FP, early entry, or getting in line before closing time. And no, I never saw six hour wait times, not even in the aft. And we know that some of those posted 180 min. waits were exaggerated, to discourage people from getting in line.

Now, we have to put up with a lottery system, in which we have to compete with the "fast finger" crowd who practically live on their smartphones all day, every day. Sorry, but I have better things to do than play with an overrated tech toy. As a result of this crap, there is a very real possibility that we could go to WDW for multi-day trips (our current plan) and STILL get shut out of the two newest rides. I have read, on these boards and elsewhere, that both BGs and ILL disappear in seconds for the most popular rides. How am I supposed to have confidence that I'll get to ride??

No, if Disney leaves both GOTG and Tron on the VQ system, we're cutting Disney days in favor of Universal/Sea World/Busch Gardens -- hell, ANYWHERE that I don't have to fight it out in the "smartphone LL wars"!

And, judging from the many complaints I've read on these boards, I'm far from the only one who will move money elsewhere.

 

[mamaofsix]

Why are some posters talking as if VQs are suddenly the only way to go? That's funny, up until a few years ago, EVERY new ride opened with FP and standby. And guess what? If you wanted to ride, you got to ride. When FOP had very long wait times, I was still able to ride it every time I went to AK. That's true for EVERY single new and wildly popular ride, including TSMM, 7DMT, etc. etc. We always experienced it, even when visiting the same year it opened. We used FP, early entry, or getting in line before closing time. And no, I never saw six hour wait times, not even in the aft.

Now, we have to put up with a lottery system, in which we have to compete with the "fast finger" crowd who practically live on their smartphones all day, every day. Sorry, but I have better things to do than play with an overrated tech toy. As a result of this crap, there is a very real possibility that we could go to WDW for multi-day trips (our current plan) and STILL get shut out of the two newest rides. I have read, on these boards and elsewhere, that both BGs and ILL disappear in seconds for the most popular rides. How am I supposed to have confidence that I'll get to ride??

No, if Disney leaves both GOTG and Tron on the VQ system, we're cutting Disney days in favor of Universal/Sea World/Busch Gardens -- hell, ANYWHERE that I don't have to fight it out in the "smartphone LL wars"!

And, judging from the many complaints I've read on these boards, I'm far from the only one who will move money elsewhere.

Agree 100%. Standby gives everyone a chance to ride who really wants to. The reason VQ is so hard to get is everyone is competing for it - even those who have already ridden 10 times, and those who would never dream of waiting in a long line to ride.

Standby is far more equitable to all guests.

 

[DavidNYC]

Agree 100%. Standby gives everyone a chance to ride who really wants to. The reason VQ is so hard to get is everyone is competing for it - even those who have already ridden 10 times, and those who would never dream of waiting in a long line to ride.

Standby is far more equitable to all guests.

With GotG anyone who wants to ride can ride. The 7am queue regularly lasts at least long enough for all who try at 7am to get it and the 1pm queue is regularly open an hour or more. I still say that telling people if you want to ride you have to give up 4-6 hours of your day is not the way to go (and that's assuming the ride doesn't go down at some point). Remember all those people whose boarding group didn't get called when RotR first opened and how many days they got though only a small percentage of those with reservations? Imagine the headaches when instead of dealing with people who got to spend time in the park all day you're dealing with people who spent 4 hours on line . . .

Your definition of equitable is very different than mine. I find the VQ far more equitable than limiting rides to those who are able to stand there for 4 hours. Also far more guest friendly as you gain back many hours of your day.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Agree 100%. Standby gives everyone a chance to ride who really wants to. The reason VQ is so hard to get is everyone is competing for it - even those who have already ridden 10 times, and those who would never dream of waiting in a long line to ride.

Standby is far more equitable to all guests.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but how is standby more equitable than VQ if anyone who rides the ride can just get back in line and ride again?

 

[Davey Jones II]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but how is standby more equitable than VQ if anyone who rides the ride can just get back in line and ride again?

So what if they do? Does that somehow prevent anyone else from getting in line? The point is, with the standby line and multiple park days, you will get to ride.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

So what if they do? Does that somehow prevent anyone else from getting in line? The point is, with the standby line and multiple park days, you will get to ride.

Just to be clear, I prefer standby. My question to the other poster was about equity. It's more equitable to give everyone a chance at riding once versus having people riding multiple times.

 

[Davey Jones II]

With GotG anyone who wants to ride can ride. The 7am queue regularly lasts at least long enough for all who try at 7am to get it and the 1pm queue is regularly open an hour or more. I still say that telling people if you want to ride you have to give up 4-6 hours of your day is not the way to go (and that's assuming the ride doesn't go down at some point). Remember all those people whose boarding group didn't get called when RotR first opened and how many days they got though only a small percentage of those with reservations? Imagine the headaches when instead of dealing with people who got to spend time in the park all day you're dealing with people who spent 4 hours on line . . .

Your definition of equitable is very different than mine. I find the VQ far more equitable than limiting rides to those who are able to stand there for 4 hours. Also far more guest friendly as you gain back many hours of your day.

Okay, if what you say is true, it looks like we'll at least get to ride GOTG. As for Tron? I'll believe it when I ride it.

 

[RoseGold]

I don't think they'll have a PR issue at all. This is all old news now. The fact is there are more people who want to ride than the ride can handle and people get that now. Having to give up half of your day waiting on line to ride is a far worse look to me.

That's not what the VQ is for. It's not supposed to be "equitable" or whatever. It's crowd control for the new rides constantly breaking down. That's why ROTR in particular just had days and days and days where there were no queues or nobody got to ride. They don't want you standing there four hours while they deal with that. They can just call no one until noon, or just release nothing, if they have to, to get it working.

Remy was also pretty unreliable for a long time.

GOTG seems to have functioned pretty great. They only canceled the afternoon queue a few times, which is pretty remarkable.

Oh, and VQ is a replacement for DAS. So, as long as the hot new ride is in VQ, either get a VQ pass or pay the $ILL, because DAS won't help.

 

[DavidNYC]

Okay, if what you say is true, it looks like we'll at least get to ride GOTG. As for Tron? I'll believe it when I ride it.

Reports on GotG are pretty uniform now that the 1pm queue lasts a while. I would still recommend getting it right at 1 as it will run out at some point - but if you're not heading there at Christmas, you'll get in. For Tron expect the same thing but of course in the first couple of weeks it's going to go a lot faster. And remember with standby it's never guaranteed either - they did close the lines early for FoP when the standby lines were getting too great at closing for a while when it was new and at peak times. And lines were frequently cleared when rides broke down. The VAST majority of people who actually tried right at 7am reported no issues with getting a VQ. And everyone who tries at 1pm is getting them.

That's not what the VQ is for. It's not supposed to be "equitable" or whatever. It's crowd control for the new rides constantly breaking down. That's why ROTR in particular just had days and days and days where there were no queues or nobody got to ride. They don't want you standing there four hours while they deal with that. They can just call no one until noon, or just release nothing, if they have to, to get it working.

I never said that was its purpose. I just said I find it more equitable than a 4 hour stand by line for a new ride. For every person saying it more equitable to limit the ride to people who want to dedicate 4 hours on line, I'll find you a family with a child too small to ride who says that it's completely inequitable to tell parties that if you can't stand on line for 4 hours you don't get to ride. My point was which do you think looks worse - a virtual queue to manage the line even if it means some people don't get it but know that right up front and you don't have to wait in line for hours or showing lines that snake through the park and then people complaining that they waited 3 hours and the ride went down . . I expect Tron will not have nearly as many tech issues as at the end of the day it's a pretty standard roller coaster. But the fact remains that most people are very happy to not have to wait in line for 3-4 hours. And Tron would definitely be in that 3-4 hour range to start.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

The VQ was necessary for Rise because it broke down too much. Disney learned from Hagrid’s and got ahead of the issue. I guess we can’t expect modern, complex experiences and reliability at the same time…

Other than Rise, the VQ system probably hasn’t been all that necessary outside of the first week or so of a ride being open. But Disney must have determined it boosts guest satisfaction overall. The biggest problem with a VQ is it increases demand - people who wouldn’t wait 45 minutes, let alone 2+ hours for a ride will still try for the VQ because there’s no real downside. I think that’s why once demand gets reasonable, Disney gets rid of the VQs.

Personally, I like the VQ system but I can understand why some people don’t.

 

[RoseGold]

Let's not be silly. The VQ is also about money. The goal is money, and the VQ is the hottest, newest ride. The VQ obviously isn't to capacity, you just have to pay for all the ILL$ slots. So, the remaining capacity is $$$ guests. Aw shucks, didn't get a VQ spot? Well, $15 can fix that.

It also eliminates the DAS angle, and maybe encourages them to pay as well. If Disney cared about the technical components, GOTG could have dropped it months ago. It has been running incredibly well for a long time, obviously way better than ROTR, and probably many of the legacy rides at this point.

 

[boxer]

So you will have the 7AM VQ line--and if you would get shut out of that--when would the ILL availability start (I thought that was also 7AM?)?

 

[RoseGold]

So you will have the 7AM VQ line--and if you would get shut out of that--when would the ILL availability start (I thought that was also 7AM?)?

You've got two choices. Wait until 1PM and risk it. Or pay $15 right now. Better pay soon before that sells out too. We aren't coming back, so we better just pay it. We can't risk missing 1PM too. It's really a brilliant strategy.

 

[boxer]

You've got two choices. Wait until 1PM and risk it. Or pay $15 right now. Better pay soon before that sells out too. We aren't coming back, so we better just pay it. We can't risk missing 1PM too. It's really a brilliant strategy.

Yeah, but if the ILL opens at 7AM also, I can't imagine that lasting much longer than the VQ? That's my point--if you get shut out of VQ, you will seemingly probably be shut out of ILL too--as I see them both being gone within seconds.

I got pretty good luck with VQ in the past--just trying to have a game plan if I can't get it this time.

 

[RoseGold]

Yeah, but if the ILL opens at 7AM also, I can't imagine that lasting much longer than the VQ? That's my point--if you get shut out of VQ, you will seemingly probably be shut out of ILL too--as I see them both being gone within seconds.

ILL lasts several hours, usually well into mid-morning, I thought? It was available at 11ish last time I was there, which is mid-week off-peak to be fair -- with an established ride that wasn't breaking down.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yeah, but if the ILL opens at 7AM also, I can't imagine that lasting much longer than the VQ? That's my point--if you get shut out of VQ, you will seemingly probably be shut out of ILL too--as I see them both being gone within seconds.

I got pretty good luck with VQ in the past--just trying to have a game plan if I can't get it this time.

We won't know how long the ILL$ last for Tron until the attraction is open and people are using the VQ and ILL$ system but for GotG, the ILL$ lasts a bit longer than the VQ does. Data here.

 

[musicguy856]

We won't know how long the ILL$ last for Tron until the attraction is open and people are using the VQ and ILL$ system but for GotG, the ILL$ lasts a bit longer than the VQ does. Data here.

The first few days GotG was open ILL sold out almost instantly at 7am. Then it moved to being available longer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tron is the same way.