News 2021 Theme Index

[Jrb1979]

Unfortunately…we’ve crossed the rubicon on virtual queues…

They’ve made their choices.

There is a reason no other park does it. Parks are meant to have people waiting in lines.

 

[Casper Gutman]

They sort of did for half a minute. The area in front of the Tangled Toilets was just such a space before it was invaded by strollers. NextGen’s interactive queues (see The Haunted Mansion) were also supposed to serve a similar sort of purpose.

On a related note, someone needs to come up with an ingenious way of storing strollers offstage and retrieving them rapidly - the current hordes of parked strollers really make the park feel more crowded.

 

[UNCgolf]

Adding Fallon like waiting areas with phone chargers, seating, and entertainment could make things a bit better relatively quickly. But yes, they really need to spend on capacity.

I really don’t believe all standby would increase individual line duration on any given ride at any given time, since folks would now be in only one line instead of two or three. What it would definitely do is make lines faster, reduce wait time on average across a park, and allow lines to ebb and flow across the day.

I think that's true at the Magic Kingdom, but not at the other three parks. They just don't have enough attractions.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They sort of did for half a minute. The area in front of the Tangled Toilets was just such a space before it was invaded by strollers. NextGen’s interactive queues (see The Haunted Mansion) were also supposed to serve a similar sort of purpose.

Just standard parlor tricks for Disney…but they are better than nothing.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think that's true at the Magic Kingdom, but not at the other three parks. They just don't have enough attractions.

Only for 25 years at Epcot and since the day the other 2 opened…they’ve been “busy” building dvc.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There is a reason no other park does it. Parks are meant to have people waiting in lines.

No other parks have the attendance that they have…did you notice that?

Not kings island

 

[Jrb1979]

No other parks have the attendance that they have…did you notice that?

Not kings island

I get that. Parks have never been made for people to not be in some queues.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I get that. Parks have never been made for people to not be in some queues.

And disney innovated with show dumps, multiple preshows, etc to use lines and holding areas effectively

But the math has become untenable. Standby lines were super long with less attendance focused on “high” seasons.

Not it’s higher numbers basically everyday. The fight was lost when they decided to not increase capacity in an effort to make Pennies off packing crowds…which in the long run is less profitable.

 

[UNCgolf]

Only for 25 years at Epcot and since the day the other 2 opened…they’ve been “busy” building dvc.

It's wild how much they've whittled away at EPCOT's capacity since the early-mid 90s. That park had far more to do then than it does now.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It's wild how much they've whittled away at EPCOT's capacity since the early-mid 90s. That park had far more to do then than it does now.

But you needed more than a 20 second attention span.

 

[JoeCamel]

On a related note, someone needs to come up with an ingenious way of storing strollers offstage and retrieving them rapidly - the current hordes of parked strollers really make the park feel more crowded.

Or they could ban them and make people carry their kids or the kids walk and they wouldn't bring so much crap with them? It would be better for their waistlines - said some CFO somewhere sometime....

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Or they could ban them and make people carry their kids or the kids walk and they wouldn't bring so much crap with them? It would be better for their waistlines - said some CFO somewhere sometime....

The lack of strollers was a pleasant surprise at DL Paris. Very few in the parks and most of the ones in the parks were tiny compared to the huge strollers we have in America, more like the strollers we had as kids 40 years ago.

Really reduces the congestion.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I know nothing really feels like Disney, HOWEVER Uni doesn’t make it as hard to go there and have a good time, and oh yeah, they sell annual passes and no one needs a park reservation.

 

[Touchdown]

I know nothing really feels like Disney, HOWEVER Uni doesn’t make it as hard to go there and have a good time, and oh yeah, they sell annual passes and no one needs a park reservation.

You definitely feel magic in Diagon Alley and Hogesmeade though, it’s just British magic. Couple that with unlimited express at deluxe resorts and it makes for a very relaxed vibe, plus you can get in loads of laps on your favorite rides and go for the 999,999 score on MIB.

 

[bhg469]

I know nothing really feels like Disney, HOWEVER Uni doesn’t make it as hard to go there and have a good time, and oh yeah, they sell annual passes and no one needs a park reservation.

Living down here I have been to Universal property a handful of times. Every time has been a great experience and I have never gotten express yet, unless you could HHN with express. The wait times are not ever terrible for attractions so IMO express isn't always needed but during HHN, on the weekends especially, last Saturday was terrible. Studios closes early to set up the park for the event, then Islands becomes god-awful. Hogsmeade was just a sea of people and there was no escaping it.

I am 100% getting an annual pass for Universal once Epic Universe opens. IMO it will be the tipping point for a lot of people. Many believe they will just steal their own guests from the other parks but I think that is silly. They are poised to be consistently above the three lesser Disney parks without question.

 

[el_super]

It's their own fault in that they let capacity lag and tried to fix it with VQs, but they've kind of put themselves into a box now. Either they invest gigantic sums of money to fix the capacity problem, or they cling to VQs so that guests don't spend their entire day waiting in line to get on a handful of attractions.

Building more capacity doesn't solve the issue, because the guest expectation will always be to not wait in line. The fervent anger displayed at the removal of free Fastpass and the continuing price increases in Genie+ show that, above other changes at the parks, not waiting in line is a crucial part of the experience now.

Changing the expectation in guest behavior is going to be rough, but it's probably necessary. Their biggest issue right now seems to be that skipping the line is so crucial to the experience, that people are willing to pay gobs of money to keep skipping the lines, even as Disney is raising the prices and trying to discourage it. If the percentage of visitors buying into Genie+ remains high, the prices will have to keep going up.

Line skipping not being free though, may be better for the long term success of the park, but it will put a tremendous pressure on the "value" of existing attractions that may need to be replaced.

 

[Tha Realest]

Building more capacity doesn't solve the issue, because the guest expectation will always be to not wait in line. The fervent anger displayed at the removal of free Fastpass and the continuing price increases in Genie+ show that, above other changes at the parks, not waiting in line is a crucial part of the experience now.

Changing the expectation in guest behavior is going to be rough, but it's probably necessary. Their biggest issue right now seems to be that skipping the line is so crucial to the experience, that people are willing to pay gobs of money to keep skipping the lines, even as Disney is raising the prices and trying to discourage it. If the percentage of visitors buying into Genie+ remains high, the prices will have to keep going up.

Line skipping not being free though, may be better for the long term success of the park, but it will put a tremendous pressure on the "value" of existing attractions that may need to be replaced.

Line waiting is one thing. It's that that choice is deprived from us.

For some of the newer attractions, it's a contest between a lottery or paying $20 for the "privilege" of experiencing it at all.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Building more capacity doesn't solve the issue, because the guest expectation will always be to not wait in line. The fervent anger displayed at the removal of free Fastpass and the continuing price increases in Genie+ show that, above other changes at the parks, not waiting in line is a crucial part of the experience now.

Changing the expectation in guest behavior is going to be rough, but it's probably necessary. Their biggest issue right now seems to be that skipping the line is so crucial to the experience, that people are willing to pay gobs of money to keep skipping the lines, even as Disney is raising the prices and trying to discourage it. If the percentage of visitors buying into Genie+ remains high, the prices will have to keep going up.

Line skipping not being free though, may be better for the long term success of the park, but it will put a tremendous pressure on the "value" of existing attractions that may need to be replaced.

Just more bunk. The psychology and perception of waiting is known but that doesn’t fit your narrative that Disney is always right.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Get rid of AP's? I mean, that's what some people think needs to happen, right? Get rid of the "unfavorables" because of the myth that "they don't spend as much". You know what that is? It's a win-win for me and thousands of others, because we then have no reason to spend money at Disney theme parks anymore. And guess what? It won't make one damn bit of difference in wait times. They're letting Bob's BS (all-IP-all-the-time-everywhere) overtake DCL. My vacation dollars seem to be getting pulled towards other companies who actually want to earn my business by providing a better product at a competitive price. My kids, who grew up going to the parks on at least an annual basis, have little desire to return because even they see what Disney has become - a money-grubbing operation that values charging a premium price more than providing a premium experience.

But, there's a sucker born every minute, and Bob believes the supply of suckers is infinite.

Building more capacity doesn't solve the issue, because the guest expectation will always be to not wait in line. The fervent anger displayed at the removal of free Fastpass and the continuing price increases in Genie+ show that, above other changes at the parks, not waiting in line is a crucial part of the experience now.

Changing the expectation in guest behavior is going to be rough, but it's probably necessary. Their biggest issue right now seems to be that skipping the line is so crucial to the experience, that people are willing to pay gobs of money to keep skipping the lines, even as Disney is raising the prices and trying to discourage it. If the percentage of visitors buying into Genie+ remains high, the prices will have to keep going up.

Line skipping not being free though, may be better for the long term success of the park, but it will put a tremendous pressure on the "value" of existing attractions that may need to be replaced.

Consumers will never expect to not wait in line if they add real, meaningful ride capacity. Where do you dream this nonsense up? And Bob has already been quite successful in changing consumer behavior. Just look at how many people buy Genie- and ILL's.

 

[el_super]

Line waiting is one thing. It's that that choice is deprived from us.

If anything there are more choices now than there were before. Before, if a new ride had a 5+ hour wait, that was your only option.

I'd much rather pay the $20 to skip a 5 hour wait, than have to deal with the lottery.

Just more bunk. The psychology and perception of waiting is known but that doesn’t fit your narrative that Disney is always right.

They're not always right, but they know a far bit more about their park operations than you do.