TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[Suvadoo]

I have never stayed in a rental home but I do like condos and hotels with extra amenities. I have no desire to cook but is nice to have a full fridge full of drinks and fruit and it's also nice to be able to pop a pizza in the oven late at night if someone has the munchies. As for a pool, all of the pools could disappear from everywhere as far as I'm concerned. We never bother with any pools.

One thing I do like to do is limit how much time we wait in lines. Great if some of you don't mind long lines but I can't stand them and will bypass most attractions if the line is too long. To each their own.

I agree with everything, including the pools. Just curious: What's you max wait time? With my family, it's 20-30 minutes.

 

[robinb]

I agree with everything, including the pools. Just curious: What's you max wait time? With my family, it's 20-30 minutes.

When we go that's a SHORT wait.

 

[wisblue]

I agree with everything, including the pools. Just curious: What's you max wait time? With my family, it's 20-30 minutes.

I would bet that first time and infrequent guests have more tolerance for lines than frequent visitors.

We generally wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes for a ride we had done dozens of times over the years and maybe once already on a current trip.

But, if you were on your once in a decade or lifetime trip to WDW, a 30-45 minute wait in the middle of the afternoon for something like POC or Haunted Mansion wouldn't seem so bad. Similarly, even regular visitors are more willing to wait a little longer for a new attraction like 7dMT

I know that we have a lot greater tolerance for lines when we make our much less frequent trips to Disneyland or Universal.

 

[wisblue]

When we go that's a SHORT wait.

No kidding. Those of us who usually visit at Easter or Christmas can only shake our heads at people who can't believe waits of 30-40 minutes in the middle of the afternoon for things like POC, JC, and HM.

 

[cakebaker]

I have no tolerance for standing in line, but if I was only going once or thought it was my only chance, I'd stand in line longer- but an hour, that's my limit.

We have a picture of our first trip in '87. My sister is standing by the wait time sign at Space Mountain pointing at it and it read 60 minutes. I recall it because there was great discussion as to whether I would commit to a line that long. I ended up doing it because that was going to be our 1 trip to WDW. But, it was a big deal for me to give up to stand in line that long.

Things have only gotten worse since then. 30 is my limit now. I consider it a huge waste of my time, but my now grown daughters will stand in line however long it takes if it's something they really want to do. Makes for interesting discussions in the parks.

 

[FlipHipster]

For us, even though the cost is high, we pay to walk out on our balcony and watch the giraffes, gazelles, etc. grazing outside our window (Animal Kingdom Lodge, of course). That's an experience that may not be for everyone, but we love it and you certainly can't get that at a condo or rental home (unless maybe a gator shows up in your swimming pool! ).

Well, we have veered even further so...

How 'bout that standby-less TSMM test?

Anyone think we'll see more of these in the near future?

And do you think there will be certain rides that this becomes the norm for? Or perhaps only during peak crowds?

What about a standby only test? Would be interesting to see what happens to the queue with no FP at all. Just for the sake of comparison....

 

[cabanafrau]

What about a standby only test? Would be interesting to see what happens to the queue with no FP at all. Just for the sake of comparison....

Those days are gone, many, many, many, many dollars ago -- widely assumed to be $1B+. Nobody's seriously going to propose that as a Throwback Thursday at this point.

 

[FlipHipster]

Those days are gone, many, many, many, many dollars ago -- widely assumed to be $1B+. Nobody's seriously going to propose that as a Throwback Thursday at this point.

Yeah I know Disney isn't going to do it, I was just curious what others thought about it. The fastest moving line will be the one that is not inhibited by merging, whatever they choose to call it. I mean we are basically saying they are replacing a walk up SB line with a virtual one that you have to start queuing for in advance by booking a reservation. Depending on how they ration the passes, you may still have to stand in line, only now you have to book your spot and the number of people competing for those spots has grown. Is it worth the tradeoffs? Get up 60 days out and work for FP's, schedule your days, still possibly stand in line vs. just get in line.

 

[flicx]

Those days are gone, many, many, many, many dollars ago -- widely assumed to be $1B+. Nobody's seriously going to propose that as a Throwback Thursday at this point.

Part of that is the problem. At what point does Disney say, Hey we made a mistake with this fast pass plus system. Too many heads (execs) would roll. So we will get hair brain ideas such as these tests until they can solve this mistake ridden system. No one wants to take the fall for that kind of expenditure!

 

[surferdave]

Part of that is the problem. At what point does Disney say, Hey we made a mistake with this fast pass plus system.

That depends on whether overhead costs stay sky high or ever reduce to what they planned on.

They will not ever admit any mistakes, they will keep the functions of MDE that really matter to them and you will continue to wear the electronic tag in the park. But they may scale back FP+ to something that doesn't require so much support.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

This really is the little thread that could.

At this point the TSMM refurb will be finished by the time this one finally dies.

 

[vacationer1954]

And then this thread will come up again when Disney starts making changes that resemble the test.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

That depends on whether overhead costs stay sky high or ever reduce to what they planned on.

They will not ever admit any mistakes, they will keep the functions of MDE that really matter to them and you will continue to wear the electronic tag in the park. But they may scale back FP+ to something that doesn't require so much support.

Which is all I can hope for at this point.

 

[OtherScott]

What about a standby only test? Would be interesting to see what happens to the queue with no FP at all. Just for the sake of comparison....

Virtual or real?

 

[Suvadoo]

That depends on whether overhead costs stay sky high or ever reduce to what they planned on.

They will not ever admit any mistakes, they will keep the functions of MDE that really matter to them and you will continue to wear the electronic tag in the park. But they may scale back FP+ to something that doesn't require so much support.

So far, I don't think Disney is able to scale back on FP+ support. I just wonder how long they will continue to limp along with this crap, oh I mean technologically advanced, system. I'm reading more and more threads about people who are unable to get any (good) FP+'s for 30 days out in November
(during the slow times). I wonder what it will be like this Christmas.

 

[Laketravis]

So far, I don't think Disney is able to scale back on FP+ support. I just wonder how long they will continue to limp along with this crap, oh I mean technologically advanced, system. I'm reading more and more threads about people who are unable to get any (good) FP+'s for 30 days out in November
(during the slow times). I wonder what it will be like this Christmas.

Yup. The next two months are going to provide a real test - conditions are much different this Thanksgiving / Christmas than they were last year. There were still FP machines in the parks over Thanksgiving, an army of iPad wielding CM's, and a much lower percentage of park goers utilizing FP+ let alone making advance reservations. Not to mention those CM's marking the end of the long FP lines that I was told I was imagining.

Based on what I've seen so far, it's got the potential to be very ugly this year.

 

[FlipHipster]

Virtual or real?

Which one gets us to 200 pages?

I get it, Disney can manipulate queue times by requiring everyone to have a reservation. Tradeoff is that you have to make a reservation and that introduces other issues. At the end of the day it seems like it might only really be necessary for the busiest times of the year anyway.

So I was asking basically, if the avg. wait time for a headliner was 30mins over the course of a year, would it be worth the tradeoff of loosing SB so Disney could guarantee you a 30min or less wait but you have to book a reservation and all that comes with it? For part of the year it's less than a wash if the process is cumbersome and you have to fight for reservations 60 days out. The times when waits would normally be above 30mins would be great, but competition is also greater reducing your odds of getting a pass anyway.

As far as resort perks, we've enjoyed staying onsite. The resorts are nice, love me some WL. Walking/boating into parks is awesome. Transportation is a nice option but if you are park hopping or resort hopping and have a car its waaaayyyy easier to drive. The rooms worked great when the kids were small but 10 days in a box with preteen kids vs. everyone has a bedroom and a bathroom..... It's really nice to have so many options. I like options, lots and lots of options.

 

[Suvadoo]

Yup. The next two months are going to provide a real test - conditions are much different this Thanksgiving / Christmas than they were last year. There were still FP machines in the parks over Thanksgiving, an army of iPad wielding CM's, and a much lower percentage of park goers utilizing FP+ let alone making advance reservations. Not to mention those CM's marking the end of the long FP lines that I was told I was imagining.

Based on what I've seen so far, it's got the potential to be very ugly this year.

If they think the negative publicity is bad now, Disney's got another think coming. IMO the house of cards will collapse, but that may be wishful thinking on my part

 

[FlipHipster]

So far, I don't think Disney is able to scale back on FP+ support. I just wonder how long they will continue to limp along with this crap, oh I mean technologically advanced, system. I'm reading more and more threads about people who are unable to get any (good) FP+'s for 30 days out in November
(during the slow times). I wonder what it will be like this Christmas.

I really hope these reports are followed up in November/December with people reporting lots and lots of same day availability. I am really hoping they are limiting the adv books but I fear the worst. It could be "free" dining is filling the resorts and everybody is booking their rides.

 

[Laketravis]

I really hope these reports are followed up in November/December with people reporting lots and lots of same day availability. I am really hoping they are limiting the adv books but I fear the worst. It could be "free" dining is filling the resorts and everybody is booking their rides.

I hope you are right, but I fear the tests with Soarin and TSMM may have been a prelude to a high-crowd scenario that WDW plans on using over the holidays.

We put together this years touring schedule based on rope drop/standby lines and making FP's in the afternoon. I'm gonna be pissed if we show up at RD and TSMM is FP only.