TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[mom2rtk]

Gosh, what could possibly go wrong?



The only question left in my mind is whether they are only working out the kinks to install this in Norway or whether they intend to do this will all the headliners.

 

[mjhannaf]

I think that has to be true. I would guess that FP waits would be closer to 15 minutes than to 5 minutes if every rider is going through the FP queue (though still significantly shorter than SB waits).

Lines will be longer than 15 minutes. Expect something closer to 30-45 min.

I'm confused....are they handing out return SB+ tix or no? So folks that arrived right at RD and were first in line couldn't ride? Craziness....I mean I'm sure there were some folks that had that strategy in order to maybe get 2 rides on TSM or a ride there and one of RnRC.

FastPass+ only. No SB+ tickets.


Also, they are releasing extra FP+ slots for guests on the day of. Article has been updated with that info

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

At 10:24 for a party of 3 option 1 & 2 has TSM for 7:20 and option 3 & 4 has TSM replaced with RnR.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

I sure hope the person responsible for this "genius" idea is the one who has to stand outside the ride to turn angry guests away.

ITA! How do they come up with these "genius" ideas?

If Disney changes over to this system, I think we will be staying DVC and playing and dining at Universal.

 

[mom2rtk]

Keep in mind as you are evaluating how quickly the spots go that nobody knew about this when they got up this morning. I imagine that if they installed it to use permanently that the spots will go exponentially faster.

 

[lugnut33]

So folks that arrived right at RD and were first in line couldn't ride? Craziness....I mean I'm sure there were some folks that had that strategy in order to maybe get 2 rides on TSM or a ride there and one of RnRC.

That's what I'm curious to know about also. Did they allow any rope drop people in line, and if they did at what point did they cut the line off?

 

[BigMommaMouse]

This would mess up my DHS touring plan. I hope it does not last.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Keep in mind as you are evaluating how quickly the spots go that nobody knew about this when they got up this morning. I imagine that if they installed it to use permanently that the spots will go exponentially faster.

I agree.

 

[wareagle57]

I am going to rage if this happens during out trip. The idea of no standby is idiotic and WASTEFUL. There are going to be times when NO ONE is in line for an extremely popular ride. Park opening, at the end of the night, when the ride opens back up after breaking down. But sorry, you can't ride if you don't have a FP+. We are going to send out empty cars.

It may sound good in theory to some big wig who's goal is to simply give every guest the chance to ride everything once, but guests deserve the choice to wait in line and ride their favorite ride as many times as they want.

 

[mom2rtk]

That's what I'm curious to know about also. Did they allow any rope drop people in line, and if they did at what point did they cut the line off?

In the other tests, and in the use at DL, they are allowing a very small number of guests to enter the standby line to get things going.

This would mess up my DHS touring plan. I hope it does not last.

Disney does not care about your touring plan. Among other things.

 

[mjhannaf]

Keep in mind as you are evaluating how quickly the spots go that nobody knew about this when they got up this morning. I imagine that if they installed it to use permanently that the spots will go exponentially faster.

That's correct. While I broke the news last night, my site isn't mainstream, lol.

If this were to be a permanent feature, I would expect people would flood MDE the exact moment that the times are released and they'd be gone in less than an hour.

 

[tndisneyfan]

For the life of me, I can't figure out their end game on this.

If it's to eventually go to standby free lines by handing out passes, that will probably be the end of us with Disney being an annual trip. We don't like doing rope drop n run. Handing out paper fp's is no different that the old fp system- they're just doing it without the machine. But to do that, and not allow a standby line to form- well that would be it for us.

If they switch it to all fp+ eventually, then I don't see a problem with no standby lines. I know others do, but long lines clog the walkways and make it difficult to move around in the parks.

Before our last trip, I was dead set against doing away with standby lines.
But people don't seem to know any other way of forming a line other than running it across the walkway and blocking people. And those in line are so afraid someone is trying cut that you have to force them to move so you can get by. It happened several times on our last trip- even at IASW! Not a long line at all, but it was into the street for a bit and heaven forbid they should line up by the ride- nope, gotta run it right thru the middle of the walkway.

That said, it sure is a pia if they happen to run one of these un-announced tests during your vacation!

The thing I don't understand is where are these huge lines coming from. I've been going to WDW at least once or twice a year since 2003. Until FP+ arrived I only remember seeing lines blocking streets and walkways a handful of times. TSMM always has that line back to the fountain a park opening. A few other rides were the same right at park opening when people start to line up before the ride is actually open. In the past year or so since FP+ rolled out has been the only time I've seen these huge standby lines that go out into the street. Lots of times even the FP line is out into the walkway, I've seen that on BL numerous times in our last two trips.

Just want to add we don't just go during slow times. We've been to three very, very busy spring breaks. We do a lot of late Mays to mid Junes. Then there was that few days before Christmas that we didn't think would be busy that was just crazy busy.

 

[FlipHipster]

Is anyone there today with a FP for it? If everyone has a FP, won't the wait go up significantly for them?

Theoretically yes. If they allocate 100% of the ride capacity to FP+ then they essentially just built a reservation only SB line. The ride doesn't load faster because you have a FP but it should move faster than the old SB since there are no FP riders showing up to break in line. They can make the wait shorter by not handing out as many FP but then they wouldn't be running at 100%, which would seem counter intuitive for a high demand attraction.

I guess the positive is that we should know we are "locked out" before we get to the park.

 

[mom2rtk]

So could this be the end of the "if you don't like FP+, just don't use it" arguments?

 

[BigMommaMouse]

Disney does not care about your touring plan. Among other things.

And there goes some of the magic... I pay the prices because I WANT them to care.

 

[mom2rtk]

Theoretically yes. If they allocate 100% of the ride capacity to FP+ then they essentially just built a reservation only SB line. The ride doesn't load faster because you have a FP but it should move faster than the old SB since there are no FP riders showing up to break in line. They can make the wait shorter by not handing out as many FP but then they wouldn't be running at 100%, which would seem counter intuitive for a high demand attraction.

I guess the positive is that we should know we are "locked out" before we get to the park.

There were reports from the second round of "no standby" testing at A/E that sometimes the return line was 45 minutes or longer. I'm sure part of this test will be tinkering with how many spots they distribute. Give out too many and the line gets long. Give out too few and cars could be sent out empty while guests were denied the chance to ride.

 

[FLchick415]

It seems to me that they're only doing this test on attractions that generally see some of the highest waits across the park. This, Soarin', A&E. So maybe this won't be something (at least I hope) they implement on all of the rides, just the ones that get the longest lines? (IDK, I'm just thinking out loud mostly)

 

[lugnut33]

In the other tests, and in the use at DL, they are allowing a very small number of guests to enter the standby line to get things going.
.

Yeah, but I think once they cut off the line they were handing out FP slips. In this instance if you're not allowed in line you're out of luck, or you need to jump on your phone and mess your schedule around to fit in TSMM (possibly throwing away another tier 1 attraction)

 

[mom2rtk]

Yeah, but I think once they cut off the line they were handing out FP slips. In this instance if you're not allowed in line you're out of luck, or you need to jump on your phone and mess your schedule around to fit in TSMM (possibly throwing away another tier 1 attraction)

That is correct. The ones who are out of luck are the ones who diverted to Sunset Boulevard intending to go back after the initial crowd dies down. Or the ones planning to ride standby during Fantasmic.

 

[ghtx]

I don't know if these things have ever been announced. In December 2009, they had a 3 day test of Virtual Standby Queue on Rock 'n Roller Coaster. You picked up a card then you had to wait in the RnR plaza area until the letter on your card was called. Then you proceeded directly to the preshow. The system eventually became the Dumbo virtual queue. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2351433

From a research standpoint, telling people about the test could taint the results. Of course with the internet, once a test starts, at least a group of people will know fairly quickly.

I disagree. In the long run (i.e. if this becomes a permanent feature at TSMM), then of course people will know about it beforehand (e.g. by reading guidebooks). It seems to me that telling people about the test in advance will make the test results less tainted, not more tainted, since the test will mimic more closely the final outcome.