When did FEA turn into a wet ride?

[Accident]

So I happened to pick up a last second fastpass for FEA last night and also got to walk on with standby (it was broken and fixed just before the fireworks so nobody around to get on it). I'm telling you, same day fastpasses are great now.

What I wasn't expecting was to come out feeling like I was just on splash mountain. We did notice the seats at the ends of every row was a little damp but did not expect that mini-kali wave to splash against the rocks and into the boat that happened. First 2 rows seemed to get most of it.

 

[bladiator]

Management: "How can we get higher ride capacity on FEA guys?"

Engineers: "Uhh ... speed up the boats!"

Management: "Great idea! Nothing can go wrong!"

2 months later: Sign changed to "Splashin' Ever After"

 

[mom2rtk]

Management: "How can we get higher ride capacity on FEA guys?"

Engineers: "Uhh ... speed up the boats!"

Management: "Great idea! Nothing can go wrong!"

2 months later: Sign changed to "Splashin' Ever After"

"Don't forget we can also squeeze in more people and make the boats heavier!"

 

[KimmiP]

We were there last week and we were in the 2nd row. I was on one end, my 20 yo DD on the other with my husband in the middle. My DD and I got more wet on that than we did on Splash.

I think you don't notice it on the seats so much is because people are packed in and most of the water ends up on you. Was quite a surprise when it did happen.

 

[Accident]

I think you don't notice it on the seats so much is because people are packed in and most of the water ends up on you. Was quite a surprise when it did happen.

One of my cameras agrees with you. it didn't survive the ride.

 

[wilkeliza]

I am so glad all my electronics are water proof now because we were in the front row and I got soaked. This was on our easter trip back in April. I guess there is a warning that says you may get wet but I never had gotten wet on Maelstrom and not in the 5 other times I have ridden FEA. This time completely soaked. It was a wave that came over the side of the boat after the drop. Thankfully we didn't have cameras or anything with us but my shorts definitely needed to be in the Florida sun for a little bit.

 

[emilymad]

I was in the first row and got soaked as the did the woman in row 2. On our boat it seemed like the left side got it worse than the right. I was completely soaked, even my head and face got wet.

 

[Accident]

I was in the first row and got soaked as the did the woman in row 2. On our boat it seemed like the left side got it worse than the right. I was completely soaked, even my head and face got wet.

same here, it was the left that got the most and it looked like the rock decorations got the wave from the boat and the it curled up coming into the boat but the water got rough so it wasn't clear for the right side of the boat but it wasn't a wave coming at the boat.

 

[Moneypenny]

Yes, we wondered this, too! We rode Maelstrom many times and got nothing more than a tiny bit of light spray once in a while. On our one (and only!) ride on FEA, we were soaked. We had to ring out our t-shirts and our shoes were squishy for the rest of the day. We were not pleased.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

Ugh..I can't stand that. Why ruin a nice ride and try to make it a "wet" splash ride? That won't make a thrill ride, just a wet one.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It's been a wet ride for me since 2006.
In 2006 and 2011 I got soaked sitting in the front row of Maelstrom. I was not happy.
Last month we did get a little wet but it was nothing in comparison to the previous times so we were fine with it.

 

[dreiwhit]

"Don't forget we can also squeeze in more people and make the boats heavier!"

And that's probably the reason why FEA breaks down regularly.......

 

[ArwenMarie]

This reminds me of the Pirates threads. Whatever happened with that, seems it died down. Maybe they can do whatever they did there to fix it?

 

[Liljo22]

Management: "How can we get higher ride capacity on FEA guys?"

Engineers: "Uhh ... speed up the boats!"

Management: "Great idea! Nothing can go wrong!"

2 months later: Sign changed to "Splashin' Ever After"

Unless the loading station is waiting on boats to come, the duration of the ride has zero effect on capacity. Capacity is determined by the boats leaving rather than the boats pulling in.

 

[CAS239]

I've been multiple times and never got a drip

 

[gillep]

I rode this in January, as part of a larger group, I was in the front row left side and I left this ride soaked, it looked like someone had splashed me with a bucket of water (just me, I apparently blocked everyone else). I have ridden this ride on a couple other occasions, and nary a drop, I have also never gotten wet on Pirates, even though DH and I are almost always put in the front row, so I guess it was my time...

 

[PSUGuy]

We rode once last Oct., front row, we both got a good splash on us and I weigh about a buck 45 and wifey less so it's not like we were anchors up front.

Bill From PA

 

[DisBabe94]

Unless the loading station is waiting on boats to come, the duration of the ride has zero effect on capacity. Capacity is determined by the boats leaving rather than the boats pulling in.

The duration of the ride absolutely has an effect on capacity!
Think about it this way: if the ride is 9 minutes long and it takes 1 minute to load, then a single boat will go through the ride 6 times in an hour. Say the boat holds 6 people (not sure the actual number), then that is 36 people per hour per boat. If the boats are moving faster and thus the ride is shorter, say now it is 8 minutes long still with 1 minute to load, then a single boat will go through the ride 6.66 times in an hour. Holding the same 6 people per ride, that is about 40 people per hour per boat. That is a 4 person per hour per boat increase with just one minute decrease in the ride duration!

 

[eastendlights]

My daughter and I got soaked in Feb. We were in the front row and both were wet to the skin through our jeans. Very annoying.

 

[Liljo22]

The duration of the ride absolutely has an effect on capacity!
Think about it this way: if the ride is 9 minutes long and it takes 1 minute to load, then a single boat will go through the ride 6 times in an hour. Say the boat holds 6 people (not sure the actual number), then that is 36 people per hour per boat. If the boats are moving faster and thus the ride is shorter, say now it is 8 minutes long still with 1 minute to load, then a single boat will go through the ride 6.66 times in an hour. Holding the same 6 people per ride, that is about 40 people per hour per boat. That is a 4 person per hour per boat increase with just one minute decrease in the ride duration!

Not true. If there is constantly a boat loading and a boat waiting, the only variable that will effect capacity is load time. If a boat leaves the dock every 1 minute, that is 60 boats in an hour not matter if the ride duration is 1 minute or 30 minutes. Now if they can cut that load time, they can increase capacity. By speeding up the ride, they are just going to have more boats waiting at the end similar to what you see in Pirates and IASW.