Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway - Disneyland

[RobWDW1971]

I just don’t think people really notice it. I think it sounded great on paper but I’m not sure the execution is there. I think that’s the WOW factor they were going for and if you lose that you’re kind of not getting the climax that was intended. I don’t think many people notice it which is why the climax falls short. It’s kind of blink and you miss it. They do it with the jungle to under water transformation too except it happens behind you when you are focused on the waterfall scene. I think they serve more as “practical” ways to get additional scenes in the same space than moments/ effects that truly wow us. I would have liked for it to happen in a more obvious in your face way head on as a zany quick cut to a new location.

Agree. I also think it is dependent on where you sit. I went on it twice and the first time I was the last car to enter the room and by the time we were able to process what was happening, it was already changing so it did nothing for us. The next time, we were the first car into the space and saw the (incredibly underwhelming) smasher "threat" up close, but then we were able to fully experience the switch to the park. Can't say it was a "wow" for our group, more of a "ah, fun".

Overall, to us the ride is a fine D ticket that could have been so much better. I waited until the next day and asked the group which they would imagine wanting to do more down the road MMRR or Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin - all said RRCS. YMMV.

 

[celluloid]

Depends on how many LL slots they are selling. If the demand is high enough that they are selling 100s per hour, you might have a good argument (but again, demand is king here). Otherwise we might be talking about a low number that only means keeping the attraction open another 30 mins at the end of the night.

Its even worse than that. They hold spots in case of sudden purchase of Individual Lightning Lanes and release the boarding groups further as it is apparent not many LLs that window are sold.

So it is wasted capacity time, thus causing the VQ folks to often wait longer before being told to return to the attraction. It cumulates to hours longer virtually waiting than just in line standby waiting. But Disney is ok with you waiting hours longer because you were hanging out in the park potentially spending money.

The scheme sucks.

 

[mickEblu]

.

It does not help that the first car has the most drama of being crushed near the machine stamping projection and the back almost notice the transformation more without much of the reason why.

The jungle to water one is a harder transformation as so much is the same shape, it is hard to appreciate that it is very different.

Exactly. On my first ride last Friday I had no idea we were getting pulled in by the conveyor belt. Yesterday as the first car in that room I noticed it. Pretty cool way to utilize the trackless system. But the transformation just kind of happens.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Since APs spend less money per visit to be in the park, shouldn't they have less access to more in-demand opportunities?

Where does that end? Let’s keep AP’s from riding dumbo when the line is past 45 minutes - only fair right?

And they CERTAINLY can’t meet Mickey Mouse on a busy day!

 

[Parteecia]

So I'm sitting at home occasionally ruminating on the ride I did yesterday and I get this alert a few minutes ago.

 

[celluloid]

I want a friend with a black mustang convertible.

 

[Parteecia]

I want a friend with a black mustang convertible.

No you don't.

 

[celluloid]

No you don't.

The funny thing is, I had one on the College Program. Ha. Cool guy. But I get the vibe from the message that friend could be a bit facetious.

 

[gerarar]

Yesterday, the 7am drop lasted for ~1 min, 1pm drop ~23 mins.
Today, 7am drop ~6 mins, 1pm drop ~3 mins.

It already seems to be following the pattern and trends as did GotG: Cosmic Rewind many months ago when it opened.

It's kinda messy to look at, but focus on the orange line which shows the 1pm drop already lasting for tens of mins after a week of opening, which I anticipate the same will happen for MMRR.
As long guests get in the park before that 1pm drop, they should able to grab a BG. And with DL's late closing time, the safe guaranteed threshold should be around BG 200.
View attachment 695893
(Above graph is mine and comes from data I track)

I track the VQ drops for CR, so it's interesting for me to compare how MMRR is doing.

To follow up on this..

7am drop lasted for ~18 mins today.
1pm drop lasted for ~7 mins today.

Definitely trending upwards as I predicted a couple days ago judging from the data and patterns so far.

The only surprise for me when I compare this to CR at Epcot is that the 7am drop is staying open longer than the afternoon 1pm drop more often! That was very rare over at WDW.

 

[No Name]

I like a system where "who gets to ride" isn't determined by a test of physical (and bladder) stamina.

I like a system where it is!

I really love that factory room and how it transforms, such a wow moment for me.

It’s a wow moment for me too. I’m like “Wow, this is the climax of the ride? This is kind of dumb.”

 

[mickEblu]

Just to play devils advocate couldn’t we argue that the climax of POTC at DL is the first drop or the battle ship scene? Or that Big Thunder is the second lift hill? Or the Yeti on the Matterhorn? The climax of IASW for me is from Load to entering the show building.

 

[Consumer]

Just to play devils advocate couldn’t we argue that the climax of POTC at DL is the first drop or the battle ship scene? Or that Big Thunder is the second lift hill? Or the Yeti on the Matterhorn? The climax of IASW for me is from Load to entering the show building.

I would definitely say the climax of POTC is the burning city and Big Thunder's climax is the dynamite hill.

 

[mickEblu]

I would definitely say the climax of POTC is the burning city and Big Thunder's climax is the dynamite hill.

I can respect those choices even if I disagree. Especially your choice on BMTRR. Now I would definitely disagree if it was still the teetering rocks. @Consumer the only issue I see with this choice is the effects are hit and miss on that 3rd lift hill and even when working are not as effective as when they first added it. In contrast, the goat effect and physical thrills following the second lift hill always deliver.

 

[mickEblu]

@Consumer seems to be kind of subjective though. Could be a good thread. I’d be interested to hear what people think is the climax of all the rides at DLR.

 

[Practical Pig]

The climax of IASW for me is from Load to entering the show building.

For me it's the thirteen-or-so minutes of air-conditioning after entering the show building. But I also enjoy this classic experience (I even have a high tolerance for the song).

 

[Consumer]

I can respect those choices even if I disagree. Especially your choice on BMTRR. Now I would definitely disagree if it was still the teetering rocks.

@Consumer seems to be kind of subjective though. Could be a good thread. I’d be interested to hear what people think is the climax of all the rides at DLR.

It's definitely interesting. I can see how the Wicked Wench could be seen as the climax of Pirates because it does pay off to what the grotto has been setting up, but I would argue the Wicked Wench is still setting up more (the pillaging of the city, which is paid off with the burning of the city) making it unqualified to be a true climax. In the same way, though the ballroom scene in the Haunted Mansion pays off the first half of the ride, it is still the graveyard that serves as the narrative's climax. Of course, both scenes are the most exciting portions of the ride, but neither offer the conclusive quality a climax requires.

Regardless, I agree, at least from what I've seen, that MMRR's feels like it should be the city scene. It is the most dynamic scene in the ride.

 

[mickEblu]

It's definitely interesting. I can see how the Wicked Wench could be seen as the climax of Pirates because it does pay off to what the grotto has been setting up, but I would argue the Wicked Wench is still setting up more (the pillaging of the city, which is paid off with the burning of the city) making it unqualified to be a true climax. In the same way, though the ballroom scene in the Haunted Mansion pays off the first half of the ride, it is still the graveyard that serves as the narrative's climax. Of course, both scenes are the most exciting portions of the ride, but neither offer the conclusive quality a climax requires.

Regardless, I agree, at least from what I've seen, that MMRR's feels like it should be the city scene. It is the most dynamic scene in the ride.

You bring up a good point. It depends what we mean by climax. Are we talking the narrative climax or physical and/or emotional climax. They don’t always line up even if ideally they should.

 

[MisterPenguin]

When you have more people wanting to ride a ride in one day than the ride can handle then there is going to be a group of people that can't ride. No matter how much they want to. No matter how much they planned their vacation around that ride. That is reality.

When everything is standby, you don't know if you'll ride that ride. Oh sure, you have a family that does Iron Man/Woman races and you're prepared for a four hour wait in line. But what if word gets out that the only way to insure the you get on the ride is by being at rope drop? And what if you've seen rope drop be mobbed? Well, you get there even earlier. But then so does everyone else. You show up 90 minutes before opening, but there are already several thousand people there waiting to get in.

That's what happens with a must-ride ride.

MMRR really isn't a must-ride ride except for right now when it's new and everyone feels like they must-ride it.

That's why I like the VQ. I wish it were a real lottery and not a pseudo lottery that relies on the vagaries of wifi, the internet, and servers. If it were a real lottery, you could do things like running the lottery the day before for the morning session, and another lottery in the morning for the afternoon session. Then people will know whether they're getting on or not and plan accordingly with a larger heads-up.

And no mobbing. No Survivor-type challenges of being in a four hour line in the sun with no place to sit. You get scheduled and you go.

There is no exclusion of the weak and telling them "tough for you that you can't handle a 2 hour line".

And some won't get in in the VQ system. Just like some won't get in even if there is only standby. The numbers don't lie.

And if you feel "IT'S MY CHOICE TO WAIT!" No. No it isn't. The proprietor can decide how to handle their customers' demand. And if they think more customers can be served with a VQ than those who demand the choice to wait; they'll chose the option that doesn't create operational nightmares and guests fainting in line.

There are guests like me who are telling Disney "I DON'T WANT TO SPEND HALF MY DAY IN A LINE, USE THE VQ!". And so Disney has to chose between competing requests.

One doesn't have to like the path Disney chooses. But painting this as a removal of choice is absurd. And soothing one's conscious by claiming no one likes (or at least tolerates it compared to a 2 hour line) the VQ is just as absurd.

 

[celluloid]

It is the removal of when and how you ride it. No one chooses their boarding group time.
When you know the wait time you at least have a better estimate of when to make that commitment from park opening to close on when you want to and the crowds virtually waiting will not be dispersed into other things you are looking to go do.

You can like it, but it does remove some of the choices.

 

[mickEblu]

Of course yesterday wasn’t without suspense. I did too well and got Group 26 which conflicted with my nephews birthday breakfast celebration at Storytellers. We were over an hour late but they didn’t really give us a hard time. I figured when the tickets/barcodes didn’t disappear after the “expiration time” that we were probably ok. But let’s also add this to the whole virtual Q debacle. Conflicting reservations with your boarding group time.