News Disney Park Pass System announced for Walt Disney World theme park reservations

[Jrb1979]

How long was that an issue? Days? Weeks? Months?

Now look at Velocicoaster. I rarely hear of super long lines.

 

[fgmnt]

So some nights would require staying up until 11 or 12 to book? No thank you. Give me 7 AM over that. And I didn't like that.

The pool of people is still a small percentage of the overall park users. Maybe you push it back even earlier; I just would not be surprised if there are technical limitations they created incidentally that prevents them for booking anything on a future day. If the timeline of the tip board for a future day could roll over at 8, 9, 10, 11:01 PM it would be different than rolling over at 12:01 and unlocking at 7am.

 

[fgmnt]

Now look at Velocicoaster. I rarely hear of super long lines.

I know they are both roller coasters in the same park and made by the same manufacturer and opened recently but that is where the operational similarities end. The Hagrid ride system is many orders of magnitude more complex, requiring perfect execution of multiple quick switch tracks, drop sections, 3x as many launch sections, and all of those systems working together to keep more individual trains circulating at the same time. Velocicoaster is "just" the best possible implementation of a full circuit launch roller coaster in 2023; regional parks all over the world operate similar attractions.

Somewhat relating back to the barely relevant tangent, Universal Express alternate queuing was recently added to Velocicoaster but still is not on Hagrid's. Would not surprise me if that is the case for another year or longer.

This is all the same reason why I think it is good Rise had VQ for as long as it did and frankly, should have had it for another 6 or so months after they ended it. You simply can't have people be in a 5 hour line for a ride that breaks down unless you want your GR team to have the turnover rate of a gas station.

 

[UNCgolf]

This is all the same reason why I think it is good Rise had VQ for as long as it did and frankly, should have had it for another 6 or so months after they ended it. You simply can't have people be in a 5 hour line for a ride that breaks down unless you want your GR team to have the turnover rate of a gas station.

This is the reason the Rise VQ made sense -- it just wasn't operationally reliable. It was probably the best solution for a bad situation.

That's not the case for rides like TRON or Cosmic Rewind (at least at this point).

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

This is the reason the Rise VQ made sense -- it just wasn't operationally reliable. It wasp probably the best solution for a bad situation.

That's not the case for rides like TRON or Cosmic Rewind (at least at this point).

Rise was a total disaster - it needed to open with the land and then when it STILL wasn’t ready to operate reliably they came up with VQ.

How much did Rise run over budget?

 

[doctornick]

I didnt say everyone could do this, just that there was ways to avoid the long wait, including rope drop/close or ILL.

Wasn’t that way for Hagrids which (1) didn’t open until hours after park opening by which time there was already a long line that people had waited in for hours and (2) they would close off the line before park close so you had to time it before they stopped the line.

The Disney system for a new ride is way superior to just having standby especially for an unreliable ride. They do use it for way too long though (no reason to have it running for Cosmic Rewind at this point or for months now really)

 

[Touchdown]

Wasn’t that way for Hagrids which (1) didn’t open until hours after park opening by which time there was already a long line that people had waited in for hours and (2) they would close off the line before park close so you had to time it before they stopped the line.

The Disney system for a new ride is way superior to just having standby especially for an unreliable ride. They do use it for way too long though (no reason to have it running for Cosmic Rewind at this point or for months now really)

GotG and Tron are far more reliable then Hagrids already.

 

[doctornick]

GotG and Tron are far more reliable then Hagrids already.

Agreed. I don’t agree with how long Disney does the VQ, but I do think it is a good system to use when a ride initially opens. Much better than the crazy lines for stuff like FoP or Hagrids.

 

[bmr1591]

Pre-booking for VQ could be just the day before, and as part of a lottery, and not dished out months before.

A lottery for VQ? Please, no. Just refresh your app at 6:59 and you'll get it 90% of the time. It's not that hard. And the 1 o'clock times have been getting even longer. There's no point to put a lottery for the spots.

 

[dreday3]

Yeah I don't like the idea of a lottery. Less of a chance of winning.

Either wake up with quick fingers or purchase it at 7am.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Yeah I don't like the idea of a lottery. Less of a chance of winning.

Either wake up with quick fingers or purchase it at 7am.

And that gives a huge advantage to pass holders and regulars who know the system and are good with tech

 

[CaptainAmerica]

And that gives a huge advantage to pass holders and regulars who know the system and are good with tech

So what? Some people are going to have an advantage over others. Rich people. People who have been to the parks hundreds of times. People without kids. People who wake up early. People who stay up late. People who walk fast. People who are physically fit. There's no system that's going to eliminate these dynamics.

 

[dreday3]

And that gives a huge advantage to pass holders and regulars who know the system and are good with tech

I don't play fair at Disney.

 

[Jrb1979]

So what? Some people are going to have an advantage over others. Rich people. People who have been to the parks hundreds of times. People without kids. People who wake up early. People who stay up late. People who walk fast. People who are physically fit. There's no system that's going to eliminate these dynamics.

There is only system that makes it even and it's standby only.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I don't play fair at Disney.

Oh I’ll use to my advantage as well…. I rode runaway railway at Disneyland like 5 days in a row.

 

[UNCgolf]

So what? Some people are going to have an advantage over others. Rich people. People who have been to the parks hundreds of times. People without kids. People who wake up early. People who stay up late. People who walk fast. People who are physically fit. There's no system that's going to eliminate these dynamics.

A VQ lottery does eliminate those dynamics (or at least most of them), which is why it's the best solution. Nothing will be 100% fair, but that's certainly more fair than how it's currently done.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

A VQ lottery does eliminate those dynamics (or at least most of them), which is why it's the best solution.

I phrased my conclusion wrong.

We *shouldn't* try to eliminate those dynamics. Someone who pays more or plans thoroughly *deserves* to have a better experience than those who don't.

What you're suggesting is the equivalent of charging everyone $300 per night for a hotel room and then leaving it to a lottery to determine who stays in the Yacht Club and who stays at All Star Music.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I phrased my conclusion wrong.

We *shouldn't* try to eliminate those dynamics. Someone who pays more or plans thoroughly *deserves* to have a better experience than those who don't.

What you're suggesting is the equivalent of charging everyone $300 per night for a hotel room and then leaving it to a lottery to determine who stays in the Yacht Club and who stays at All Star Music.

VQs are free. The are not a pay-for perq. The analogy doesn't hold.

I'm sure Disney wants a wide range of customers, not just those who know the quirks of the system. Those who don't know have a worse experience and the GSAT drops along with people's affection for The Disney Brand and they don't come back.

To the thread in general: It's easy to be for the system one knows how to use to get an advantage. And rage against systems that are more equitable.

In the end, Disney decides which plan to use and they'll use the more equitable plan....

... and any loopholes or extra advantages will be expensive.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Two options:

​

1. Guests sign up for that one VQ in the park, and then get to ride one of the new super-popular rides with a minimal wait, but, all the other rides in the park have an extra 10-20 minute wait, OR...​

​

2. Guests wait 3 hours in a standby line for one of the new super-poplar rides, but all the other rides in the park have a shorter wait by 10-20 minutes.​

I would think that most guests would chose #1.

Those of you with high constitution scores (and possibly, no children or family members with special physical needs) are obviously going to pick #2. But Disney is going to go with what most guests would want, especially families with children.

And if those two choices are equal in the eyes of most guests, Disney is still going to go with #1 because it's a heck of a lot easier on Ops. No lines snaking into the parks. No fights with people who need to use the bathroom and then fight their way back to their families in line.

This. And also option 2 is a little exaggerated. It’s probably a 3-5 minute impact on the wait times of other rides (if that), not 10-20 minutes. I pick option 1 every day of the week.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Two options:

​

1. Guests sign up for that one VQ in the park, and then get to ride one of the new super-popular rides with a minimal wait, but, all the other rides in the park have an extra 10-20 minute wait, OR...​

​

2. Guests wait 3 hours in a standby line for one of the new super-poplar rides, but all the other rides in the park have a shorter wait by 10-20 minutes.​

I would think that most guests would chose #1.

Those of you with high constitution scores (and possibly, no children or family members with special physical needs) are obviously going to pick #2. But Disney is going to go with what most guests would want, especially families with children.

And if those two choices are equal in the eyes of most guests, Disney is still going to go with #1 because it's a heck of a lot easier on Ops. No lines snaking into the parks. No fights with people who need to use the bathroom and then fight their way back to their families in line.

Just to add... None of this changes the fact that, in order to experience the new attraction, you have to wake up early, which is the thing that people complain about the most. Waking up early will ALWAYS be an advantage, whether it's waking up to book something on your phone, waking up to go stand in a line, waking up to go get a paper FastPass ticket, waking up 60 days before your trip to book something from your computer, etc.

ETA: And to reiterate your point, once we're talking about 3 hour wait times, we're not just talking about what's efficient or convenient or fair. We're talking about basic human needs like food, drink, and bathrooms. The only people who want this are childless "Disney adults."