flynnibus
Premium Member
Except the time for previews was YEARS ago... Now it's just excuses and dragging your most valuable assets through the mud
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FastPass+ Chaos at MK today
- Thread starter Arty Cordova
- Start date
Except the time for previews was YEARS ago... Now it's just excuses and dragging your most valuable assets through the mud
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
The big difference there is that Mr. Lincoln performs the same whether there's one person watching him or 100,000. Testing on a system of this nature only gets you so far because you never get a clear picture of the load it needs to bear until it's been rolled out to the masses.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Companies like Ixia and Spirent have built entire businesses around testing web facing systems to failure with millions of simulated customers. Funny how Amazon does not go dark during busy shopping periods.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Dude... I develop products for one of the largest technology companies in the world... I know whats involved
JediMasterMatt
Well-Known Member
Easy.
GO TO DISNEYLAND RESORT INSTEAD OF WALT DISNEY WORLD.
Simple.
Everything you are disillusioned by is a byproduct of the management of WDW. Your love of the resort was founded by a love of the intrinsic things that Disney Parks created. WDW no longer adheres to the same level of show quality that they once did; but, thankfully - DLR does and in recent years has been doing infinitely better than the Florida property.
Sure you won't be able to get lost in Pixie Dust after you leave the parks like you can/could at WDW with the real world melting away; but, once you step through those turnstyles - you will remember why you ARE a Disney fantatic (AP holder, DVC member, and stockholder) instead of questioning your beliefs.
DLR is an affirmation these days of why you fell in love to begin with anyway.
Go.
Mike S
Well-Known Member
Yes, highly recommended from someone who just went recently. To tell the truth though there are still some things I prefer about WDW even after my trip to DL.
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lincolnryan
Member
My wife is a teacher, so it's tough to go during non-peak hours and I really don't want to go in the FL heat. Back in 2006, I went to DL in early June and it was awesome. The crowds weren't bad, the weather was great, and the smaller footprint of the parks was awesome.
After the WDW trip this past Jan/Feb, I kept thinking it would've been better for us to go to WDL instead. My kids are small and were interested in characters and rides, something that WDL has. The hugeness of WDW was just a big problem for everyone involved.
Are the crowds lower at WDL? I haven't been in 10 years so things have changed I'm sure.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
This is so true. After being a WDW person my whole life, and exposed to WDW regularly for the better part of the last decade, I finally got to visit DLR two years ago for the first time. I thought "well, it'll be cool to see but I'll probably feel the same."
Nope, completely blown away.
pax_65
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that! I'm seriously considering it. A bit further to travel but worth it from what I hear. How many days does it take to do both parks? Would 3 days be enough time?
JediMasterMatt
Well-Known Member
You did hit DLR at its worse and still came away with a great time. As you've pointed out, you couldn't imagine pulling the same caliber attractions offline at WDW and having near the same experience. Imagine what it will be like on your next visit.
I also have a list of things I prefer about WDW as well. That list is small and unfortunately, getting smaller as time goes on.
The beauty of DLR these days is the welcoming reassurance that a WDW fan hasn't lost their mind in that it there was a time when loving the place was fine. DLR is like a home cooked meal after being served fast food for the last decade.
Guess what, you are in luck. Unlike WDW, a visit to DLR during the "peak" season is thought by many (me included) as the smart way to do a visit. DLR scales their hours and entertainment offerings based on the anticipated crowd levels. Going when schools are out means long hours and a full roster of entertainment offerings (and usually less down for refurb).
The parks will be busy; but, they also have far more to do in those parks in terms of rides and attractions than any of the WDW parks (actually the DLR parks have more rides than all 4 WDW parks put together, attractions WDW comes out ahead; but, remember that attractions at WDW include a lot of meet-and-greets). So, even when the parks are busy, lines aren't as bad as WDW. The "feeling" of being busy if you base it on how crowded the streets are, DLR can feel busier than WDW; but, honestly after my visit to MK in November and January - even at "low" crowd levels, WDW feels busier because of FP+ dumping everyone out into the streets.
Speaking of which, DLR = no MM+, no FP+. Nuff said.
So, I wouldn't think of her teaching as an issue. Think of it as a blessing. Plan a trip this summer. You will likely be able to go on nights where you can catch Fantasmic! (the far superior version) with 2 shows a night, Paint the Night (new LED nighttime parade) 2x a night, Disneyland Forever (what should be a new standard in fireworks spectaculars), and hopefully WoC Celebrate returning to 2x per night as well.
JediMasterMatt
Well-Known Member
You could do everything in 3 days; but, since you're a self confessed Disney fanatic - I would take your initial first thought and add at least 1 day to it.
When go (via a connection flight from Indianapolis from Imaginationland), we usually stay a week. That's because we don't rush things and since my wife is disabled, she can only be out in the parks for a few hours at a time. For a first time visitor, I would think 4-5 days this summer would allow you plenty of time to explore everything while still relaxing.
The size of the parks and their proximity to each other make it easy to get around versus WDW; but, they have more things to do in each park than the Florida ones. Plus, you have 4 major nighttime spectaculars to take in.
Mike S
Well-Known Member
Confession time: I didn't see the better Fantasmic!
People I was with........
Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
Elsa?Confession time: I didn't see the better Fantasmic!
Mike S
Well-Known Member
No, the reason I didn't see it is because of the people I went to Disneyland with.Elsa?
COProgressFan
Well-Known Member
You have perfectly described our situation as well. For the first time we're taking a really hard look at the value we're getting for the money and we are postponing a trip we probably would have taken this fall. And beyond the financial considerations, we're not sure, based on our more recent experiences, whether the aggravations you mention (dining reservations, MM+) are worth it.
I suspect there are lots of folks in the same boat. Management's answer to this? Raise prices. It's really sad.
Philharmagically
Active Member
A lot of you in this thread are looking at it from a more regular park-going crowd perspective who don't want to plan 180 days in advance...
It will be interesting to see how I go during my visit in late April as a fanatic, but an international guest (first trip to WDW was in 2011 at the same time of year). I had no problem booking Fastpasses at 60 days, because we started planning a trip to America (which WDW is only a small part of) six months ago. I was even able to get reservations for CRT about 80 days before. So as for MM+ doing it's job in the planning stages, it does work for international guests (which is probably the main demographic).
As for it working in the parks, that will be interesting to see.... I'm going at the same time of year (just after the end of Spring Break) as I did in 2011, so I'll be able to compare the crowds and also how well FP+ works in comparison to legacy fastpass.
It will be interesting to see how I go during my visit in late April as a fanatic, but an international guest (first trip to WDW was in 2011 at the same time of year). I had no problem booking Fastpasses at 60 days, because we started planning a trip to America (which WDW is only a small part of) six months ago. I was even able to get reservations for CRT about 80 days before. So as for MM+ doing it's job in the planning stages, it does work for international guests (which is probably the main demographic).
As for it working in the parks, that will be interesting to see.... I'm going at the same time of year (just after the end of Spring Break) as I did in 2011, so I'll be able to compare the crowds and also how well FP+ works in comparison to legacy fastpass.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
International or local does not matter, as long as you are one willing to plan six months in advance. Once you're boredom times are set the hope is you will spend money because Standby Waits are too long to risk missing your next reservation. That is goal. It was the goal of FastPass (which also promised increases in revenue) and it is still the goal of FastPass+.
Cousin Huet
Well-Known Member
The new system worked great when we went in the early testing period......it worked ok the next time but we saw an increase in the standby lines that was not use to. We use to be able to take our little one on the little Goofy coaster as many times as she wanted but we had to wait a little that trip. Now I see they are expanding the que area around this ride and the wait times seem to be going up on all the previous walk on rides (Little Mermaid is an exception). I am getting more and more skeptical with the management of this thing as time got and I am curious to see how this all goes on our trip this June. It will be our first June trip with her as she is in school now so I'm sure it will automatically be busier than the low crowds we had grown accustomed to in October and September. We deal with the crowds and wait times fine and roll with it but I like the previous leisure time we had to stroll and enjoy that seems to be getting sucked up more and more by waiting in lines for attractions that use to be walk on......might be time to change our approach.
Anyone know if they are experimenting with the ratios on these rides to find what works best for getting everyone through in the most efficient manner or is it basically just dedicate to Fastpass+ and let everyone else wait it out? Seems counterproductive to getting people in your shops and restaurants like the system was originally intended for. We will see I guess but I'm definitely more excited about experiencing the DCL for the first time than I am trying to deal with the FP+ system again.
Anyone know if they are experimenting with the ratios on these rides to find what works best for getting everyone through in the most efficient manner or is it basically just dedicate to Fastpass+ and let everyone else wait it out? Seems counterproductive to getting people in your shops and restaurants like the system was originally intended for. We will see I guess but I'm definitely more excited about experiencing the DCL for the first time than I am trying to deal with the FP+ system again.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
People will only resort to wondering in shops aimlessly if Standby waits jeopardize the next reservation, whose time is now enforced. That is the lesson of FastPass, where people just went to other attractions while they waited.
lincolnryan
Member
It's not the task of booking the FP 60 days in advance (that's the easy part), it's how it effects your time in the parks. Like others have mentioned, it seems like it has a huge impact on standby lines for the stuff you DON'T have FP+ for. I think we had 2 long waits while we were there and they were Star Tours and Peter Pan. With both rides, the standby line was moving incredibly slow due to the amount of FP+ riders they were taking in. Star Tours had to be at least 20:1 and Peter Pan seemed like it was 50:1.
I don't know what effect the FP actually have, but I suspect that (at best) it kinda evened my wait times out back to the average....average being what I would've waited had everyone been doing standby. So net/net, what value did it add in the end?