DHS Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway confirmed

[truecoat]

All signs point to "meh" attraction.

Edit: Falcon again.

Here you go from @Old Mouseketeer

Spoiler: MFSR review

The Ride
We rode twice and loved it. The queue is great. It was very well themed and second to FoP only because of the undecanted Avatar. The Hondo animatronic looks awesome--love the animation. An alien face really lends itself to an AA figure. The CMs are clearly learning their roles and lack a lot of the smoothness we are used to in places like Mansion and Pirates--but that's what testing and previews are for. The transition from Hondo's port into the Falcon isn't as momentous as I expected. But you still recognize so much of the surroundings, even with some of the cheats that were necessary. Between our two trips we boarded through both the "real" cockpit path and the "extra" path, which was well-executed. It seemed plausible that we were going around the back way of the curving corridor to board the cockpit. The Hondo instructional video just before entering the cockpit that I had heard about didn't seem to be working and the door just before the final turn in the hallway to the cockpit was open and you could hear the CM shutting the previous group in. This is different than I had heard described by friends who rode in the last two weeks.

It was interesting that at the beginning of the ride you feel yourself moving to the right or left (depending on which turntable you are on) and the visual of the spaceport matches the motion. The mission is pretty exciting--Hondo is narrating the whole thing, telling you what to do, keeping up a commentary. The projection is a little darker than I expected, but I really didn't notice the difference in resolution from Star Tours. I think the level of interactivity, while somewhat limited, does add to the experience. Each position gets points on its performance at the end (so, unlike Mission: Space, using the controls and pushing the buttons really does something). I look forward to riding it more and doing the pilots positions. I think there are trade-offs with Star Tours, but I enjoy them both and can ride either repeatedly. You definitely get off in a different position and because we banged up the ship there were sparks flashing in the hallway and comm chatter about how banged up it was. It's a long walk out, but the theming was great.

Is it the same as flying a commercial airplane simulator (or the Space Shuttle)? No. It's a theme park ride. The amount of training you need to pilot a real simulator requires hundreds of hours of training and small plane qualification. But I still found the "hands-on" aspect of it very entertaining. It's hard the first time, trying to take in the visuals and do your job. On our first mission, we were the Engineers and I was fine with that. It's the least challenging and provided a good introduction and a fun experience. The second time we were Gunners and based on what I had heard before, we both chose automatic instead of manual. This meant that we weren't aiming the guns, just hitting the firing button repeatedly. I think they need some pre-show video showing the various ways a control can light up and the different colors. Ideally there would have been three screens--one for each position explaining what we would be asked to do. I'm looking forward to being in the Pilot seat, but based on what I have heard it's not that much more fun than the others--you just get to be in the front.

All in all, I enjoyed it. It's a strong E-ticket. I would say there were some aspects of the FoP preshow I liked better, but this stands on its own. I'm going to be enjoying this ride for years to come, especially if there are more missions.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The ticket system was just a clever way of pricing each attraction based off demand. If the treehouse had a line to Main Street it would have been an E ticket.

Our Insider says that originally the E-Ticket was priced based on the cost of the attraction. It wasn't until later that they were also used to manage crowds discouraging long lines at the low-capacity Astro Orbiter by bumping that up to a D and demoting Alice from a D to B once she no longer had long lines.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The ticket system was just a clever way of pricing each attraction based off demand. If the treehouse had a line to Main Street it would have been an E ticket.

I'm sure they would have changed its status to an E-Ticket, but no one would ever argue it was designed as one. "Word of God" is that it's a B-Ticket.

 

[Hawg G]

Yeah... no. Tickets were not taken at load. They were taken at (arguably) the period’s equivalent of the FP touch-points.

If you were to tell Yale Gracey or Marc Davis that the Entrance Hall, Stretch Room, or Changing Portrait Gallery (DL) were not contributing element to the Haunted Mansion attraction they’d scoff at you. Hard.

Those crucial story telling elements are technically counted as queue features. The posted wait time is measured to load, not to entry of the building. But without that mood setting and queue storytelling (instead loading in daylight like a common carnival spook house)? That attraction is a solid C-D. Queue and other parts contribute.

I’d actually argue that some queue elements actually start to degrade an attraction’s experience - Buzz feet-smellin’ queue I’m looking at you. But that’s off topic for the thread.

Returning to the TOPIC OF THE THREAD, in the GMR the lobby with movie memorabilia and the Robert Osborn clip-show theatre were crucial parts of the attraction. Did they do as much to plus it as a Stretch Room or Changing Portraits? No. But they *were* part of the attraction. Wait time was again measured to vehicle load, not to the building’s doors.

In MMRR, the lobby and the Mickey short “premier” theatre along with its magic screen you step into will all be crucial parts of the scene setting and storytelling. I’ll wager that likewise, the wait time will still be measured to the vehicle load area.

All this is to say that these aren’t rides. They *are* attractions for a very good reason. I’d argue that WDW *does* have some rides and they’re the things we largely deride - Aladdin the first that swims to mind. But in general, the attractions at WDW are focused on storytelling, not cheap thrills. And that means the sum of the storytelling elements - including but not limited to the ride system and the attendant show elements - must be taken into account. A story is *precisely* the sum of all the parts.

You want to pack in a ton of easy and cheap thrill rides? Head to Six Flags Over Sheboygan or your local Fireman’s Carnival in the dead mall’s parking lot.

Of course they are attractions. But the true E tickets are E ticket rides AND queues. Haunted Mansion a C/D ticket ride only (Mr. Toad level)? That's preposterous.

Disney is more and more making massive themed queues, and then having simply serviceable rides. So many FoP reviews mention the AA in the queue. One that FP riders dont even see, and one that essentially does nothing. And Hondo. Disney gets that pass. Yet I read hardly any Kong reviews that rave how awesome the witch AA is. Universal is judged only on the rides.

It seems SR pushes this all to the limit where the queue is the biggest portion of the attraction, and the ride is a short video game with lights distracting you, and the experience heavily hinges on only 1 or two of your group of 6.

In hoping RotR is an E ticket ride and queue.

 

[mickEblu]

Of course they are attractions. But the true E tickets are E ticket rides AND queues. Haunted Mansion a C/D ticket ride only (Mr. Toad level)? That's preposterous.

Disney is more and more making massive themed queues, and then having simply serviceable rides. So many FoP reviews mention the AA in the queue. One that FP riders dont even see, and one that essentially does nothing. And Hondo. Disney gets that pass. Yet I read hardly any Kong reviews that rave how awesome the witch AA is. Universal is judged only on the rides.

It seems SR pushes this all to the limit where the queue is the biggest portion of the attraction, and the ride is a short video game with lights distracting you, and the experience heavily hinges on only 1 or two of your group of 6.

In hoping RotR is an E ticket ride and queue.

And I think they knew they could get away with it because people will still be buzzing off of everything they saw on their way to the cockpit. I wonder how much staying power the ride experience on its own will have when the awe of the other details wears off. I guess they re thinking that the interactivity of it is what will give the ride experience it’s staying power.

I think I liked E tickets more when the ride was better than the Queue. ie POTC, HM, Splash

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

I guess they were thinking that the interactivity of it is what will give the ride experience its staying power.

Yeah, I've been predicting that they were banking on an overestimation of how impressive the "real-time rendering of the visuals" would be to the average rider. It's a technical feat that requires a monumental amount of processing power to render such high-quality images in "real time" so that riders can actually effect what they're seeing and have it look high-quality. So, if you're a computer software engineer or video game fan, you might be blown away by that. But if you're not, it might not seem that special. But I'll reserve my own judgment until I ride!

 

[The Pho]

Universal is judged only on the rides.

Ya that’s definitely not true. I’ve seen plenty of talk about Universal having great queues, whether for Mummy, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, etc. Queues and the rides themselves are both very important parts of the experience of an attraction. In fact I’d say Universal may actually get more praise for its queues than Disney, who really only gets praised for Flight of Passage (at least at World)

For Kong, there was a witch animatronic in the line? I certainly didn’t see it when I rode, but that queue had great ambiance.

 

[mickEblu]

Yeah, I've been predicting that they were banking on an overestimation of how impressive the "real-time rendering of the visuals" would be to the average rider. It's a technical feat that requires a monumental amount of processing power to render such high-quality images in "real time" so that riders can actually effect what they're seeing and have it look high-quality. So, if you're a computer software engineer or video game fan, you might be blown away by that. But if you're not, it might not seem that special. But I'll reserve my own judgment until I ride!

Yeah personally I’d rather have something be less or non interactive and look like it’s “real.”

 

[No Name]

E Tickets are objectively the biggest and best they’ve got to offer despite personal opinions. I don’t know why this argument always pops back up.

Because you still inject your personal opinion. The majority opinion is that TSMM is the best ride in the park, yet if I recall correctly, you wouldn’t say it’s an E-ticket. Is the general public wrong and you are objectively correct?

 

[Hawg G]

Ya that’s definitely not true. I’ve seen plenty of talk about Universal having great queues, whether for Mummy, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, etc. Queues and the rides themselves are both very important parts of the experience of an attraction. In fact I’d say Universal may actually get more praise for its queues than Disney, who really only gets praised for Flight of Passage (at least at World)

For Kong, there was a witch animatronic in the line? I certainly didn’t see it when I rode, but that queue had great ambiance.

The rides you mention are all E on their own.

Because you still inject your personal opinion. The majority opinion is that TSMM is the best ride in the park, yet if I recall correctly, you wouldn’t say it’s an E-ticket. Is the general public wrong and you are objectively correct?

Well, it's a Wii game with simple ride vehicles and shooters, so....

 

[The Pho]

The rides you mention are all E on their own.

Which changes absolutely nothing about what I said...

 

[Steph15251]

I thought this was a topic for MMRR not a debate on what is an E and not everything is subjective and imo the best ride in Hollywood studios for me is TOT even though I no longer go on it ,and that for me is an E ticket .

Also I do not understand judging a ride you have not even gone on yet

 

[Mike S]

Because you still inject your personal opinion. The majority opinion is that TSMM is the best ride in the park, yet if I recall correctly, you wouldn’t say it’s an E-ticket. Is the general public wrong and you are objectively correct?

Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it an E Ticket. Funny you cut out the part of my post that dealt with that to make yourself look more correct. Also you must take into account TSMM’s low capacity for how long lines get.

 

[No Name]

Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it an E Ticket. Funny you cut out the part of my post that dealt with that to make yourself look more correct. Also you must take into account TSMM’s low capacity for how long lines get.

TSMM has the highest GSAT scores of any ride at DHS so I don’t need to use line length as an indicator of popularity. Slinky is quite popular and it pains me to likewise call it a high D-ticket, so I don’t see your point there. You may disagree but that’s what makes it subjective.

 

[Hawg G]

TSMM has the highest GSAT scores of any ride at DHS so I don’t need to use line length as an indicator of popularity. Slinky is quite popular and it pains me to likewise call it a high D-ticket, so I don’t see your point there. You may disagree but that’s what makes it subjective.

Peter Pan is quite popular too. Is it then not a C ticket?

 

[Rich Brownn]

Ya that’s definitely not true. I’ve seen plenty of talk about Universal having great queues, whether for Mummy, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, etc. Queues and the rides themselves are both very important parts of the experience of an attraction. In fact I’d say Universal may actually get more praise for its queues than Disney, who really only gets praised for Flight of Passage (at least at World)

For Kong, there was a witch animatronic in the line? I certainly didn’t see it when I rode, but that queue had great ambiance.

Yes, in the big room there is the animatronic. You only glimpse it if you're in the express lane.

 

[truecoat]

Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it an E Ticket. Funny you cut out the part of my post that dealt with that to make yourself look more correct. Also you must take into account TSMM’s low capacity for how long lines get.

True but if there were still ticket books, it would make popular rides E tickets. SDMT would probably still cost an E ticket.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Peter Pan is quite popular too. Is it then not a C ticket?

Low capacity doesn’t equate to popularity. The PeopleMover is popular.

 

[Mike S]

True but if there were still ticket books, it would make popular rides E tickets. SDMT would probably still cost an E ticket.

There aren’t though so the definition isn’t the same.

I think that Seven Dwarfs because of how well themed it is, is in fact an E-ticket. It’s essentially thunder mountain for kiddies but with great theming. It’s an E ticket all the way IMO.

One good scene and less coaster. It is not on the level of Thunder Mountain. Solid D.

 

[wdwperry]

the ride is a short video game with lights distracting you

Sorry, but no. If that's all you see the attraction as, then you really are missing the point. This ride is a creation of what one of the most iconic vehicles in film, the Millennium Falcon, would be like if you were the pilot, engineer or gunner. If you see it as anything else, you are missing the point in visiting a theme park like Disney or Universal and might as well go to Six Flags. The ride system doesn't have to be the most complicated or groundbreaking system to be an excellent ride / experience and rides like Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, and Splash Mountain prove it.