Is two attractions side by side better than one?

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
Original Poster
Is having two Dumbo's side by side with the pager system actually helping with wait times? If so, can we expect to see Disney utilize this technique with existing or future attractions? Is this just unique to Storybook Circus? Seems like a good idea if it works, especially for attractions that have such long wait times. Im not saying they should build another Soarin or TSMM next to the existing ones (allthough when im standing in line for them it seems like a good idea), but perhaps learn from the experience with Dumbo's effectiveness and use that knowledge to ACTUALLY enhance guest experiences for the future, not just make us reserve a fastpass 180 days out.
 

RandomPrincess

Keep Moving Forward
Is having two Dumbo's side by side with the pager system actually helping with wait times? If so, can we expect to see Disney utilize this technique with existing or future attractions? Is this just unique to Storybook Circus? Seems like a good idea if it works, especially for attractions that have such long wait times. Im not saying they should build another Soarin or TSMM next to the existing ones (allthough when im standing in line for them it seems like a good idea), but perhaps learn from the experience with Dumbo's effectiveness and use that knowledge to ACTUALLY enhance guest experiences for the future, not just make us reserve a fastpass 180 days out.

The current time listed for reserving FP+ is 60 days.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
Two Stitch theaters...

there were two sides to Mr Toads Wild Ride also.

Cute story about that....because of the popularity of Mr. Toad at Disneyland originally TDO wanted two Mr. Toad buildings and asked Rolly Crump to design them. Crump told them it was a stupid idea, so he built two rides in one building where Line A cars and Line B cars would explore Toad Hall together before going on separate adventures. (and hell)
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
Original Poster
They already kind of do this but you may not know it. Two stretching rooms. Two Soarin rooms. Anyone else know of more examples?
I knew that, I meant more in a sense of if they were to build a new attraction like a Soarin type of ride (multiple theatres), or a Space Mountain type ride (2 sides/lines), would it better to have 2 entire attractions side by side. Picture two huge Space Mountains side by side, or 2 Soarin hangers like in Disneyland side by side. Im just using those 2 as examples. I know it would double the cost for an attraction, but I was asking if that could be a better system to deal with congestion. Many people seem to like the Dumbo system with the pagers, so if in the future they encorporated it on a larger scale and use a little imagination, it might be pretty cool to see two mountain size rides side by side with a themed area you stay within while waiting to be paged for your ride, (a land within a land), similliar to the way Storybook Circus is within Fantasy Land and has Dumbo. I'm not saying this the answer or that it is better than MM+. But if a ride like Mermaid costs appx. $100 million, it seems it wouldn't be outrageous to think it could fit in the budget to have 2 of them considering what NextGen has cost (so far). You would have plenty left over to build more attractions side by side and make it look cool. And no, I'm not saying i want side by side little mermaid attractions. Just an example. I dont hate NextGen or MM+ so please don't think that is what I'm saying and let slip the dogs of war upon me. Just curious if anyone else has similliar thoughts.
 

Tegan pilots a chicken

Sharpie Queen 💜
Premium Member
I feel like two mountain rides and the twin Dumbo spinners is sort of apples and oranges. You could think of the addition of the second spinner as being similar to the addition of the second track of Mr Toad or Space Mountain. It's not really a separate attraction. Plus two of the same mountain complete with individual buildings and theming and whatnot would be very not cost effective.
 

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
I knew that, I meant more in a sense of if they were to build a new attraction like a Soarin type of ride (multiple theatres), or a Space Mountain type ride (2 sides/lines), would it better to have 2 entire attractions side by side. Picture two huge Space Mountains side by side, or 2 Soarin hangers like in Disneyland side by side. Im just using those 2 as examples. I know it would double the cost for an attraction, but I was asking if that could be a better system to deal with congestion. Many people seem to like the Dumbo system with the pagers, so if in the future they encorporated it on a larger scale and use a little imagination, it might be pretty cool to see two mountain size rides side by side with a themed area you stay within while waiting to be paged for your ride, (a land within a land), similliar to the way Storybook Circus is within Fantasy Land and has Dumbo. I'm not saying this the answer or that it is better than MM+. But if a ride like Mermaid costs appx. $100 million, it seems it wouldn't be outrageous to think it could fit in the budget to have 2 of them considering what NextGen has cost (so far). You would have plenty left over to build more attractions side by side and make it look cool. And no, I'm not saying i want side by side little mermaid attractions. Just an example. I dont hate NextGen or MM+ so please don't think that is what I'm saying and let slip the dogs of war upon me. Just curious if anyone else has similliar thoughts.

I think it works when both the cost per "copy" of the attraction makes it feasible, and when the demand makes it justifiable. A scene-heavy ride like Mermaid or Pirates wouldn't make it feasible when it would cost tens of millions per duplicate (not to mention the space needed), but a simpler ride system involving just vehicles or a screen like Dumbo, Soarin', or Star Tours makes it much more doable.

Add in the demand that some of these attractions get and I think that's why we see it done with some rides more than others. Don't forget that there were once two riverboats on the Rivers of America. One could be loading while the other was sailing. When one ship was irrepairably damaged, the demand for double the capacity wasn't there to justify replacing it (as much as I would love to see a double smokestack riverboat on the River again). By contrast, Soarin' could probably use another theater in addition to the two it has. So demand is a huge part of how such decisions are made.
 

bdearl41

Well-Known Member
There are six Star Tours. Also Tower of Terror has 4 elevator entrances with two tracks, two elevator loading docks per tract. Another really good design feature WDW has is the accesible loading dock for Kilanmanjaro Safaris is seperate to keep the ride flowing as its more difficult to get those with disability onto the ride vehicle.
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
Original Poster
I think it works when both the cost per "copy" of the attraction makes it feasible, and when the demand makes it justifiable. A scene-heavy ride like Mermaid or Pirates wouldn't make it feasible when it would cost tens of millions per duplicate (not to mention the space needed), but a simpler ride system involving just vehicles or a screen like Dumbo, Soarin', or Star Tours makes it much more doable.

Add in the demand that some of these attractions get and I think that's why we see it done with some rides more than others. Don't forget that there were once two riverboats on the Rivers of America. One could be loading while the other was sailing. When one ship was irrepairably damaged, the demand for double the capacity wasn't there to justify replacing it (as much as I would love to see a double smokestack riverboat on the River again). By contrast, Soarin' could probably use another theater in addition to the two it has. So demand is a huge part of how such decisions are made.
I agree with you. Its all about demand and space needed. Just feels like there must be a better way than FP or MM+ for the rides that have HUGE demand. i.e TSMM, Soarin, TT. To me, those are the big three that you see wait times hit 200 minutes, sometimes even more. Thats just insane. Fast Pass and MM+ are like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. They are not allowing more people to ride, just creating a race for whomever can get the FP first. Building more attractions seems like the easy answer, but it seems like Disney is in no hurry to build new attractions, so I dont think people would complain if they gutted out an area next to TSMM and simply built another one. Give them unique differences but keep the ride the same. Would that ease congestion, or would you just have two TSMM with wait times of 200 min.? I never heard any complaints about being able to charge things to your room more efficiently, or that using your room key as a your park pass was a huge problem, so why spend 1.5 billion dollars on those areas when you could spend less than half that to put in a few big attractions, parades, double smokestack riverboat , etc. because you definitely hear complaints about attractions and wait times. I say give 1.5 billion dollars to the right group of Imagineers (if there are any left) and let them run wild. In reference to the riverboats, I really wish I had gotten the chance to ride the original Admiral Joe Fowler before it was scrapped. At least we have the ferry from the TTC that bears his name though. I would have loved to have a conversation with the man himself, perhaps its leaders like him that are missing from Disney, or even the world today.
 

BryceM

Well-Known Member
Yep. Two Space Mountain tracks. 4 elevator shafts on Tower of Terror. Dragon Challenge at Islands of Adventure rarely has a long wait time, as the two coasters just eat people up. Tower of Terror also rarely has a long line.
 

CP_alum08

Well-Known Member
Was the Dumbo wait time ever that long before? I honestly don't remember. I thought it was more for the visual effect that they had two.
 

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
This may just be my imagination, but I feel that having two LOAD AREAS (OR two rides) should make Fastpass SUPER easy. One for Standby, one for Fastpass. The two lines would go the same speed, but the Fastpass line would just be shorter. No "punishment" for those who didn't get Fastpass, as you'll still be loading your one line as quickly as they're loading theirs. Also, the system can't get all botched up by adjusting the load ratio like it can now.
 

bethymouse

Well-Known Member
Two of the same rides next to each other? Not a good idea in my opinion. They need to think of new and innovative rides to reduce the lines at these "popular" rides. Or maybe build a whole new park?:cool:
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
This may just be my imagination, but I feel that having two LOAD AREAS (OR two rides) should make Fastpass SUPER easy. One for Standby, one for Fastpass. The two lines would go the same speed, but the Fastpass line would just be shorter. No "punishment" for those who didn't get Fastpass, as you'll still be loading your one line as quickly as they're loading theirs. Also, the system can't get all botched up by adjusting the load ratio like it can now.
This assumes that FastPass holders return in a consistent, uniform manner. Wouldn't you hate to see half empty trains or cycles being dispatched while waiting in the Stand-By queue?
 

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
This assumes that FastPass holders return in a consistent, uniform manner. Wouldn't you hate to see half empty trains or cycles being dispatched while waiting in the Stand-By queue?
It seems that with the newish method of actually enforcing the return windows, that wouldn't be an issue. If it got down to that, though, I suppose you could do a bit of side-swapping. If the load type allows, at least.
 

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