Too many boats.

[SnarkyMonkey]

Person in front of me had their own little Epcot, and so did I...a nice way to listen to the Land.
View attachment 80392

That is a beautiful shot. This is one of my favorite rides so your pic brought me to my happy place. Thank you.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Person in front of me had their own little Epcot, and so did I...a nice way to listen to the Land.
View attachment 80392

It's even better when you have your own Bus heading to the parks....

 

[SnarkyMonkey]

It's even better when you have your own Bus heading to the parks....

It's like having an oversized stretch limo...that smells like diesel.

 

[Goofyernmost]

It's like having an oversized stretch limo...that smells like diesel.

Sure, but really... how often have you been chauffeured around in a $450,000 dollar limo?

 

[FettFan]

Person in front of me had their own little Epcot, and so did I...a nice way to listen to the Land.
View attachment 80392

I'd get to the unload area, and if there was nobody waiting to load, I'd just stay on the boat and go 'round once more.

 

[SnarkyMonkey]

Sure, but really... how often have you been chauffeured around in a $450,000 dollar limo?

I was joking. I am aware the WDW buses are not actually limos.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I was joking. I am aware the WDW buses are not actually limos.

I was aware of that and was just trying to make a humorous comment on the plus of being the only one on the bus. Must come from my years as a bus driver. I'm not quite that feeble minded yet, but, I probably am quickly approaching that status.

 

[216bruce]

...In a dark tunnel?

 

[Tom Morrow]

They say too many boats will spoil the ride!

 

[Chef Mickey]

Fun notes about boat rides:

The spacing between boats is called the "dispatch interval" and is carefully timed, sending boats as frequently as possible while still allowing spiels/effects to reset and fully play.

Yes, the dispatch interval does change with how many boats are on the flume. The ride's computer keeps track of how many boats are out, and tells the cast members the resulting dispatch interval before they can send the next boat. More boats on the flume, quicker (and closer) dispatch interval.

The boat count DEFINITELY has an impact on capacity. More boats = noticeably less wait time; if some boats break down or have to be taken backstage, you notice that too, unfortunately.

It is considered part of a good ride operation to adjust the boat number as necessary. When wait times die down, it's good form to take boats back to prevent (as mentioned) boat-bumping at the end of the ride, and to minimize the chance of guests seeing another boat's show scene.

Some parks/attractions do this better than others. Many managers prefer not to mess with the boat count because it might involve slowing the ride or taking cast off other jobs. I've witnessed this process at both coasts and Disneyland seems to do this MUCH better. When I saw Disneyland discretely taking boats off the flume at their version of Pirates, it was almost flawless, done very discretely (almost completely in the dark) and with almost no noticeable change to the ride speed. Much better than I could imagine at WDW.

I'm not sure what the difference is at WDW and why problems like those at Small World and Pirates exist. It's disappointing though; regardless of how you feel about wait time, it's very poor show if it can be prevented, in my opinion. The pirates in the jail scene aren't in nearly good enough condition to hold up to several minutes of scrutiny, as they consistently are under these days (again, ride Disneyland's to see what the scene should actually look like).

It could be any number of technical issues, but it's also entirely possible it's just the result of managers seeking to optimize efficiency and capacity (especially in this FP+) era at the expense of show.

Show should trump efficiency.

Thanks for this info. What is the mechanism that actually makes the boats move foward and at what speed? I never see a mechanism push the boats. Is it just every so often something "pushes" the boat from underneath or is it just the waterflow? Both? Sometimes, boats seem to move much more slowly on small world and pirates than other times.

 

[dancotton]

If you have stacking, you are not gaining throughput, you are gaining capacity? If you're stacking 12 boats at the end you will have the same throughput (assuming same dispatch frequency) as if you had 2 boats stacked. Whilst you will have more people on the ride at one instant, it takes longer for each boat to be refilled and therefore throughput is the same. Throughput is what will move the queue not capacity.

 

[SnarkyMonkey]

But can they not increase the speed when they have more boats on? I'm pretty sure they can and do.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Motorize the boats, put a "captain" like the JC, have the "captain" deliver a spiel, increase the speed through the ride, bingo, increased throughput and does TDO care if people cannot see the whole ride?

 

[Tom Morrow]

But can they not increase the speed when they have more boats on? I'm pretty sure they can and do.

No, the speeds are fixed. They can change the dispatch interval (rate at which boats leave load dock) in relation to how many boats are on the track.

 

[FettFan]

Thanks for this info. What is the mechanism that actually makes the boats move foward and at what speed? I never see a mechanism push the boats. Is it just every so often something "pushes" the boat from underneath or is it just the waterflow? Both? Sometimes, boats seem to move much more slowly on small world and pirates than other times.

They move on the flow of the water....if you ever pay attention to the water, you will see ripples, and below them a large black box. That box is a 1200 Gallon Per Minute water pump creating a river flow. The *push* you feel comes from when your boat moves directly in front of one of the pumps.

 

[HakunaMatata89]

Nothing says "Disney Magic" quite like getting stuck in a 15-20 minute log jam while waiting to exit.

i think sitting in the shade waiting to exit is a lot better than standing in the sun in a line that doesn't move either.

 

[MarkTwain]

Thanks for this info. What is the mechanism that actually makes the boats move foward and at what speed? I never see a mechanism push the boats. Is it just every so often something "pushes" the boat from underneath or is it just the waterflow? Both? Sometimes, boats seem to move much more slowly on small world and pirates than other times.

All of the above. Spaced periodically throughout the flume are underwater pumps which force out bursts of water. Those push the boat forward and also help keep the whole flume moving forward, helping move boats in between the pumps.

 

[Tom Morrow]

i think sitting in the shade waiting to exit is a lot better than standing in the sun in a line that doesn't move either.

But, as already explained in the thread, if the boats are stacking, more people may be "on the ride", but it doesn't make the line move any faster.

 

[Goofyernmost]

But, as already explained in the thread, if the boats are stacking, more people may be "on the ride", but it doesn't make the line move any faster.

Or any slower. There is a problem with the system at this point. Whether it is because more people require assistance getting into or out of the boats or something else, it will only handle so many completed rides per hour. Therefore the question is, would one rather be sitting in the AC looking at the scenes while you wait for the boats to move again, or stand in a hot sweaty line waiting for the same thing.

Yes, I know the answer is neither, but every once in a while, reality pokes it's ugly head into our fantasies. Hopefully they can fix some of the reasons for the problems, but, who knows?

 

[Tom Morrow]

Or any slower. There is a problem with the system at this point. Whether it is because more people require assistance getting into or out of the boats or something else, it will only handle so many completed rides per hour.

I'm guessing that the number of boats used on the attractions at busy times is possibly the maximum the ride can handle and/or based on a perfect world scenario where every dispatch is right on time and there are no delays with loading and unloading, in which case maybe only two or three boats would stack. But as we all know, there will always be delays.