TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[crazycatlady]

Great description of exactly our recent visits on Universal.

We are long time lovers of WDW, and still think of it as our comfort zone for vacations. It is a magical place.

Well, guess what, so is Universal. And they are winning in so many fronts: resorts, new grand attractions, ride line theming, front of line pass, employee attitude to the public, lack of in your face "spend more money" pitches.

We will continue to go to and love Disney for many years, as they cash in on our emotional investment. But, guess what, Universal is g-r-r-r-r-reat!

This is exactly my how my family feels! We took our first trip to Universal in August and we loved it! When I asked the kids where they want to go next year for vacation, they said "Universal". This is the first time in many years that the answer to that question was not Disney World. So I am planning another trip to Universal with the family for next May or June.

I am also planning a fall Disney World trip for my husband and me to celebrate being semi-empty-nesters (youngest starts college next fall).

 

[Planogirl]

If they can successfully transition people to a FP+ only mentality for most of the rides with as little pushback as possible, they can then truly lock people into their vacations, like schedules on a cruise ship.

There just isn't enough to do for this to work. People want the hot rides and between low capacity and tiering and so on, this just isn't working. Yet.

Ugh.

 

[mom2rtk]

There aren't many restaurants at WDW that are available for walk ups.

You are confusing counter service with table service. BOG is a counter service restaurant at lunch. And they all take walk-ups.

 

[flicx]

I wonder how many people would be complaining about $1B+ of new attractions...

The excitement and anticipation party would still be going full force on these boards.

You know unfortunately I truly believe it was just as easy as that. No question people would be so much more excited if 10 to 15 attractions were added. Not to mention the number of slots the new attractions would add to the fast pass pool. Instead some brainiac came up with this reservation system that is pi$$!ng people off. But I digress by all means take away the standby lines, everyone will love it!

 

[cakebaker]

You are confusing counter service with table service. BOG is a counter service restaurant at lunch. And they all take walk-ups.

Not confused, just forgetful.

It does have the feel and look of a sit down and I forget that it really is counter service for lunch. Still, they were closed to walk ups well before 11 both trips, so the limiting of it to only fp+ is not much more than a technicality. It was virtually limited to that anyway.

 

[Laketravis]

EDITED: Information already supplied by a previous poster.
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[canoe86]

Our oldest is a senior in HS......so Disney is it. Next year, we will broaden our horizons considering all the crazy going on.

 

[4077]

It an outrage and if this is the future of WDW...well...it's the end.

This ain't what a vacation is supposed to be.

I don't disagree with your feelings, but I have realized over the last 5 years that Disney is NOT a vacation ( in the kickback, relax and unwind sense). Now, mind you, my wife is a commando uber planner, and that is how we do Disney...open til close in the parks with perhaps 1 1/2 days of not in parks for a stay of 7 full days. But even if we went for 2 full weeks and did every other day, I would never look at "park days" as vacation. It is fun, crazy, hectic touring and playing, but it is not a vacation! That is my opinion, anyway...I have yet to return from Disney as anything but wiped out...lol.

If I want to "vacation" in the method your use of vacation implies, it'll be at the beach on Cape Cod, state parks in upstate NY, or something else like that!

 

[indimom3]

One of our booked FP for one of our dhs days was Fantasmic, so I didn't want to release all my FP to chase TSMM all morning long, especially since every CM we spoke to had a slightly different answer to, "is this going to be working like this all day?" And what about people who have used the FP+ advantages to book their FP at another park later in the afternoon, as we have done tomorrow? Do I give up SDMT and space to ride TSMM ? I really have to pick? Is it unreasonable as a guest that I should be able to do both in one day? Honest question. Is it unreasonable? I thought that was the great advantage of FP+? I've had a positive FP+ experience overall. It's worked just fine for us, apart from the obvious problem of tiering at EPCOT. This test is a different ball game, and it's just wrong, IMO. DHS is pretty much the only park where taking one ride out of commission takes the whole park out of our schedule. We enjoyed a few street scenes, had some nice tapas and a glass of wine at the Brown Derby. And rode Star Tours often enough that we saw every vignette at least twice. But the experience just squatted there in the back of my mind all day long. I find myself bracing for some other insanity introduced in a different park over the weekend. Maybe they will decide to randomly force people to watch the Lumberjack show.

 

[famy27]

Not confused, just forgetful.

It does have the feel and look of a sit down and I forget that it really is counter service for lunch. Still, they were closed to walk ups well before 11 both trips, so the limiting of it to only fp+ is not much more than a technicality. It was virtually limited to that anyway.

There's a big difference, in that offsiters are now 100% shut out of BOG for lunch. As of my trip two weeks ago, you could still go to the restaurant early (10:30 or so) and get a return ticket. If it is FP only, then offsiters cannot eat lunch at BOG. That stinks. Especially since getting a dinner ADR is no easy trick.

 

[cakebaker]

There's a big difference, in that offsiters are now 100% shut out of BOG for lunch. As of my trip two weeks ago, you could still go to the restaurant early (10:30 or so) and get a return ticket. If it is FP only, then offsiters cannot eat lunch at BOG. That stinks. Especially since getting a dinner ADR is no easy trick.

Yes, no doubt off site guests are completely shut out of being able to lunch at bog for now at least. In our 3 last trips, even at the 60 day mark we were unable to get adrs for bog- its almost impossible - at least it was for us. Looks like Disney is really pushing for people to stay on site. Whether this is permanent or not only time will tell. It is strange as it doesn't appear as though anyone staying on site who wanted to get a fp for lunch ever had trouble getting them. I'm surprised they didnt open it to all guests.

 

[disneyholic family]

I'm reminded of a joke about a job interview: Interviewer: What would you consider to be your biggest weakness? Candidate: Honesty. Interviewer: I wouldn't think honesty would be considered a weakness. Candidate: Well, I don't really care what you think.

Great!!

 

[Momtomouselover]

At around 6pm today it took us over 45 mins to ride TSMM with our FPs. people were angry and several groups left through the emergency exit which aggravated the CMs. at one point someone said we should start chanting and all walk out. right before you got on the ride there was a manager passing out FPs to another ride and these passes were good until Oct.31st. didn't help us since we are leaving in a day though. The passes also were not good for shows, Fantasmic or Toy Story which doesn't leave much if you don't like thrill rides. Big pain!

 

[disneyholic family]

Fair enough - people are certainly upset if they can't get a reservation at a restaurant and it's booked. But, is anyone suggesting that a BETTER alternative would be for the restaurant to leave a certain fraction of its tables available everyday for walk-up/standby guests? That doesn't seem like an improvement to me.

I'm hoping there will be walk-ups when DD and her husband are there next month.
She booked at about 90 days out.
At the time she booked, there were no ADRs at all in several of the parks on ANY of the days of her 14 day visit.
So what will she do if there are no walk ups?
She's on the dining plan, so yes she's already paid for her food.

 

[slzer0]

I'd think she would have to leave the parks to use her TS credits, which could be a real pain.

 

[agavegirl1]

Wow, lots of posts! I am hoping this test is OVER on 10/18 since that is EE for DHS and I will be there. I was sort of relying on a Rope Drop ride because...no way I would choose TSMM over RnRC as my tier one selection. If I arrived this week, my plan would have never worked and my obsessively planned vacation would have been thrown the biggest monkey wrench WDW could have invented.Apparently WDW does not monitor their FB page as judiciously as they do their blogs.

 

[cakebaker]

I'm hoping there will be walk-ups when DD and her husband are there next month. She booked at about 90 days out. At the time she booked, there were no ADRs at all in several of the parks on ANY of the days of her 14 day visit. So what will she do if there are no walk ups? She's on the dining plan, so yes she's already paid for her food.

Honestly, I wouldn't count on it. We didn't book a single ADR for our last trip because none were available at any restaurant we could stand. Its the reason I hate free dining - And its a major complaint I have about Disney. They oversell-during free dining its impossible to get adrs within weeks of your vacation.

 

[Money82]

I'm hoping there will be walk-ups when DD and her husband are there next month.
She booked at about 90 days out.
At the time she booked, there were no ADRs at all in several of the parks on ANY of the days of her 14 day visit.
So what will she do if there are no walk ups?
She's on the dining plan, so yes she's already paid for her food.

I find that hard to believe to be honest. At 3 months out, even with free dining, you should be able to get ADR's at all save the most coveted dining establishments. You may not get your ideal time but there should be some spots open.

I've never had trouble booking ADR's at 90 days out for park restaurants during free dining season.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

I'm hoping there will be walk-ups when DD and her husband are there next month.
She booked at about 90 days out.
At the time she booked, there were no ADRs at all in several of the parks on ANY of the days of her 14 day visit.
So what will she do if there are no walk ups?
She's on the dining plan, so yes she's already paid for her food.

When I worked in restaurants in the States there was always a table to be found somewhere.Might be a no show, might be unbooked ext. My sister went with us a few years back to WDW and her family got tables everyday. There was a board up in the MK near City Hall that told you which restaurants had tables for that day. There is also DTD she can try for tables. Once she checks in she could ask the concierge for help.
I should point out it was during free dining.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

Honestly, I wouldn't count on it. We didn't book a single ADR for our last trip because none were available at any restaurant we could stand. Its the reason I hate free dining - And its a major complaint I have about Disney. They oversell-during free dining its impossible to get adrs within weeks of your vacation.

Free Dining for the States is different then Free Dining for the UK time wise. They do overlap on some weeks but not all.