TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[lugnut33]

I think I qualify as a long time Disney vacationer- been there on and off for over 35 years. I don't agree that there has been a significant deterioration in the value of my vacation dollars at Disney for what I now receive.

You are in the minority.

I got a relative who worked with FP+ right from the beginning at MK and they said there is a clear difference in FP+ perception from those with little or no previous WDW experience compared to those who have been visiting for many years.

 

[Laketravis]

or if they had no idea it was happening and had planned to ride that night while everyone else was at Fantasmic.

Now I get their point - had to put my mind in that of veteran rope-dropper mode. And yes, if my plan was to hit rope drop and take advantage of short SB lines (as we've all been told to do if we felt FP+ limited our experience, right?) and use my FP's for later in the morning/afternoon/night - this current turn of events would certainly screw up that strategy.

 

[cakebaker]

You are in the minority.

I got a relative who worked with FP+ right from the beginning at MK and they said there is a clear difference in FP+ perception from those with little or no previous WDW experience compared to those who have been visiting for many years.

On these boards? Absolutely. In the real world, no one has a clue.

 

[mom2rtk]

On these boards? Absolutely. In the real world, no one has a clue.

How about on Facebook? No, never mind. I'm sure they'll clean those posts up soon.

 

[Laketravis]

You mean other than just being responsible and up front with their guests?

If someone didn't plan to start their day at that particular ride, it's possible they would not have found out until they did the other half of the park and completely missed out.

We've always had park hoppers, so if that happened to us we would probably leave unhappy, go to another park and try to maximize our yield in spite of it.

But I can empathize with those who enter the park without hoppers and are locked into that park for the day, totally unaware that they can't get in line for TSM without an FP.

 

[cakebaker]

You mean other than just being responsible and up front with their guests?

If someone didn't plan to start their day at that particular ride, it's possible they would not have found out until they did the other half of the park and completely missed out.

If you're doing rope drop at HS, TSM is probably on your list of rides to hit. My comment was to the poster who said they did rope drop to hit lines with no waits.

I've already said it would've been nice had they posted a notice at the gate- but they never do it so not surprising they didn't.

 

[DisUniversal]

Exactly. For the first time in over 20 years I will be taking some of my money away from Disney and visiting the dark side next month. Who knows...the way things are trending at Disney we just might not be going back. This is the first time EVER I'm not excited about our trip to Disney. I can't imagine we'll be returning anytime soon.

Hope you have a great time. Universal today is in many ways what Disney was in the past...unfortunately what is becoming a distant past. They're continually adding attractions and giving their guests new experiences to enjoy rather than just continually trying to find more ways to squeeze money out of their customers while giving them the same product...or even less of a product. The theming in Harry Potter areas is second to none. The hotels are pretty amazing as well. Best part of all...you can go there and enjoy a relaxing vacation without having to schedule every meal and attraction in advance.

 

[diskids2]

On these boards? Absolutely. In the real world, no one has a clue.

Until they come home and voice their opinion about everything they hated and can't understand why WDW veterans love the experience so much. But IMHO, I think Disney is after the first time visitor and not so much the repeat customer.

For us the thrill of going to WDW is still there. I think this will be my family's 15th trip...probably doesn't count for much in the grand scheme of things....but I can tell you as the planner....everything going on now is taking a bit of the joy out of it and I am a Type A super planner.

I'll see how everyone feels when we return.

 

[mom2rtk]

We've always had park hoppers, so if that happened to us we would probably leave unhappy, go to another park and try to maximize our yield in spite of it.

But I can empathize with those who enter the park without hoppers and are locked into that park for the day, totally unaware that they can't get in line for TSM without an FP.

And we never buy hoppers (except at DLR). So my mind never considers that possibility.

If you're doing rope drop at HS, TSM is probably on your list of rides to hit.

We always do rope drop. But we almost never would do TSMM. We didn't feel the need to do it more than once, and love to zig when others zag. So we usually started out on Sunset Boulevard.

 

[lugnut33]

On these boards? Absolutely. In the real world, no one has a clue.

Real world. Like I said, my relative worked the FP+ kiosks (stationary and wandering) from day one until the team was recently disbanded. Don't know if you know, but they recently disbanded a bunch of FP+ teams at all the parks to save money.

What you don't seem to understand is this has nothing to do with guest satisfaction, it's all about maximizing profits and getting Iger the largest golden parachute in the history of business. Until he's gone expect the belt tightening and the lack of new attraction announcements to continue.

Yeah, they're building at DHS, but it's an extra track and some kiddie rides that are off the shelf and Pixar themed. Doing it on the cheap.

 

[DisUniversal]

I'm sorry but you're ridiculous. What you are doing is just childish. No one even knows what Disney's long term plan is for the test. The only people you are hurting are those at the parks right now who cannot ride because of selfish people like yourself.

Thought about it last night and cancelled my FP+ reservations for today and have not made more. As another poster implied...Disney doesn't need my help in disappointing their customers...that is one area in which they excel lately.

 

[glamdring269]

We just used our 3rd fp at ToT. Unsurprisingly, even on an fp+ only day, there were no more tsmm available as of 3pm. I expect throughput to deteriorate even more as the day progresses since people will likely cash it in instead of waiting for that late day fp slot. We were planning to take advantage of typically lower end of day crowds to sneak in another ride (or 2) via standby but are now on the way back to the boardwalk instead.

Plenty of time left for us this week but I feel bad for those who may have only been here during the test.

 

[FLchick415]

Real world. Like I said, my relative worked the FP+ kiosks (stationary and wandering) from day one until the team was recently disbanded. Don't know if you know, but they recently disbanded a bunch of FP+ teams at all the parks to save money.

What you don't seem to understand is this has nothing to do with guest satisfaction, it's all about maximizing profits and getting Iger the largest golden parachute in the history of business. Until he's gone expect the belt tightening and the lack of new attraction announcements to continue.

Yeah, they're building at DHS, but it's an extra track and some kiddie rides that are off the shelf and Pixar themed. Doing it on the cheap.

Aren't "kiddie rides" exactly what everyone says DHS is lacking? You think little kids are gonna care if they're "off the shelf"?

 

[Laketravis]

Don't know if you know, but they recently disbanded a bunch of FP+ teams at all the parks to save money..

I was wondering how long that was going to last. I couldn't help but think how much those resources were costing and whether or not it was sustainable when I saw how many CM's would be out in force with their iPads to assist guests with FP's.

 

[lugnut33]

I was wondering how long that was going to last. I couldn't help but think how much those resources were costing and whether or not it was sustainable when I saw how many CM's would be out in force with their iPads to assist guests with FP's.

Originally Disney was only going to use the plaid dressed CSRs at City Hall to assist guests with FP+. That idea was quickly scrapped when they realize the monster they had created.

 

[Laketravis]

We just used our 3rd fp at ToT. Unsurprisingly, even on an fp+ only day, there were no more tsmm available as of 3pm. I expect throughput to deteriorate even more as the day progresses since people will likely cash it in instead of waiting for that late day fp slot. We were planning to take advantage of typically lower end of day crowds to sneak in another ride (or 2) via standby but are now on the way back to the boardwalk instead.

Plenty of time left for us this week but I feel bad for those who may have only been here during the test.

Wow, that really sucks. But I guess the upside is that WDW will be able to obtain the answer to the question that has been eluding mankind for centuries.....

"How many guests can you fit on an attraction that can fit 900 guests an hour?"

 

[cakebaker]

Real world. Like I said, my relative worked the FP+ kiosks (stationary and wandering) from day one until the team was recently disbanded. Don't know if you know, but they recently disbanded a bunch of FP+ teams at all the parks to save money.

What you don't seem to understand is this has nothing to do with guest satisfaction, it's all about maximizing profits and getting Iger the largest golden parachute in the history of business. Until he's gone expect the belt tightening and the lack of new attraction announcements to continue.

Yeah, they're building at DHS, but it's an extra track and some kiddie rides that are off the shelf and Pixar themed. Doing it on the cheap.

Yes, I was aware of that with the kiosks. And btw, there's nothing wrong with "kiddie" rides being built. WDW was never a thrill ride park- there's one of those right down the street. I'm all for rides for the over 2 under 10 crowd.

You know, it gets tiresome to repeatedly be told- oh, you just don't understand, you don't get it and all because I don't agree with you.

I get it just as well as anyone else, I just don't agree with the gloom and doom outlook so many on this board seem to have. I don't believe Disney is being gutted by the company in order to pad Iger's pockets.

In fact, I'm not so sure I'd keep going to Disney if I was as unhappy with it as some people here seem to be.

 

[lugnut33]

Aren't "kiddie rides" exactly what everyone says DHS is lacking? You think little kids are gonna care if they're "off the shelf"?

So the company that brought you incredible ride experiences like Splash Mountain, Test Track, and Kilimanjaro Safaris should be perfectly fine with just adding in some kiddie rides when we all agree that DHS is severely lacking in both kiddie rides and major attractions? You're OK with spending billions on FP+ and not adding kiddie rides and major attractions?

I don't get why we customers don't hold Disney to a high standard considering the money we spend there?

 

[Cyrano]

Folks you known the drill.

Please respect all viewpoints and do not engage in 1 on 1 debates or your posts and the thread will be gone.

 

[charmed59]

Epcot took 3 years to build from groundbreaking to opening at a cost of $1.4B AK took 3 years to build from groundbreaking to opening at a cost of $800M MM+/FP+ has been in the works going on 5 years now (longer if you want to count the patent filing date) and current estimates are the total costs are kissing $2B.

Concept art for Epcot was floating around in 1966. It would not surprise me if it took 20 years from concept to opening. That $1.4B would be $3.5B in todays dollars.

I'm guessing it took more than 5 years from concept to opening for Animal Kingdom also. And yes, that $800M, for a half day park, would be $1.4B in todays dollars.