New Return Procedure at Soarin'

[xdan0920]

That sure is a different take on it from the drama in this thread.

That article focuses almost entirely on the account of someone who got a return card. So of course it's going to be a different take. Had it been written from the perspective of the guests being turned away, I doubt it would have such a cheerful outlook on the whole thing.

Also, and I had never even heard of that site before today. The article seems to be written by someone who is head over heels in love with Disney.

 

[marni1971]

Aside from Test Track and Soarin', what attractions in Futureworld are guaranteed long lines? Not including the farce of inflated waits generated by FP+?

None? If I can figure it out why can't the suits? Or rather why won't they admit it? Damn. That's it. People still come.

 

[Rinx]

It isn't the MB (you can always op for the RFID card instead)

Ah indeed, but much to their dismay. We check in at the Villas at WL in September. We've already been in contact with them stating we DO NOT want the magic bands and prefer the card. They said it is a very long process that must be done in person. They do not have many of the machines left to make the cards (so they say). I am sure they want to personally push the magic bands on us as much as possible and/or claim they can no longer make the cards.

 

[cw1982]

That's the way it works with Disney... because they don't trust or respect the front-line CMs.

Customer starts beating you up? Fight back? Fired. Customer tears into you.. and you get nasty back? Fired.

Oh I've heard that before. It just stunned me to hear someone on here say that a cm should be fired for being human. Saying it has happened is different from saying one hopes it will happen.

It didn't undermine the process, necessarily, because if this was a test to determine the number of passes to be given out, as someone opined, then they simply would only use the data from when the queue was 'pass only'.

So that makes the experience of all those guests who were stuck in that hot mess of a line acceptable? Sorry. I can't condone this.

 

[flynnibus]

That article focuses almost entirely on the account of someone who got a return card. So of course it's going to be a different take. Had it been written from the perspective of the guests being turned away, I doubt it would have such a cheerful outlook on the whole thing.

Well if anything.. both tales remind us that we need to be objective and critical of what version of the tale we hear. The write-up is also from day THREE (edit) of the test.. not day 1

 

[RSoxNo1]

Aside from Test Track and Soarin', what attractions in Futureworld are guaranteed long lines? Not including the farce of inflated waits generated by FP+?

None? If I can figure it out why can't the suits? Or rather why won't they admit it? Damn. That's it. People still come.

Spaceship Earth in the first hour of the morning. What's surprising is that Mission: SPACE Fastpass+ reservations are going away quicker than they should (sometimes not available same day).

 

[marni1971]

Spaceship Earth in the first hour of the morning. What's surprising is that Mission: SPACE Fastpass+ reservations are going away quicker than they should (sometimes not available same day).

Makes you wonder what the quota is for them.

 

[wdwgreek]

Welp, this sucks. I'm going to be at Epcot Sunday, testing of this magical return policy thing will be over then right?

 

[cw1982]

Spaceship Earth in the first hour of the morning. What's surprising is that Mission: SPACE Fastpass+ reservations are going away quicker than they should (sometimes not available same day).

Imo that has a lot to do with the available choices. Tier two is, what, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, Nemo, Imagination, and Maelstrom, right? Out of those options, I'd be choosing the first two every time.

 

[natatomic]

Actually there is more to it than dealing with guests.

If the attraction has a three hour line at closing and the attraction stays open the Attraction CMs must be available to operate it. For some attractions that means a minimum of ten CMs and they must be qualified on that attraction. They would get overtime pay and if they worked a certain amount of hours it could even be double-time. Then there is a rule that if two shifts have less than eight hours the entire time for both shifts double-time.

While this is all true, I've never heard of a Disney attraction having a 3 hour wait at closing. This isn't Gingotts we're talking about here. Maybe during NYE Soarin' might have a 60-90 minute wait at park closing, but that is just one day a year, and they can usually budget for days they know are gonna be madhouse. Even then, I think THAT'S not usually the case on NYE, only because I think (key word: think) Epcot has EMH at night on NYE, so the attendance (read: demand) is greatly reduced those last two hours the park is open.

Also, even if there is a long line when the park closes, it is almost never as long as a sign says. The reason for this is because once the park closes, no more fastpasses are coming through the line, so once the fastpass line is emptied, the standby line moves at four times the speed!

 

[Nick Wilde]

Sniff Sniff I just miss FastPass. FastPass+ makes sense, kinda, for out of towners, but for locals like me, we have to plan days in advance, reserve our tickets, have a schedule for the day, instead of just deciding to go today, pack the backpack, and go, without having to be at a certain ride at a certain time. Very Annoying.

 

[morningstar]

I'm trying to understand your post, but I'm failing. I think that it's because you misunderstood mine.

My point was that TPTB didn't open up FP+ reservations to allow an infinite number of FP+ reservations to be assigned. Rather, they have a hard limit on the number of FP+ available for any slot. Therefore, under the current system, they can keep both lines moving at a known rate. From a CM point of view, that basically means that they pull people from the two lines following a basic ration, say ten FP+ guests for every six SB guests. (This ratio is probably wildly incorrect, but it's just an example to help explain my post, so roll with it.) Maintaining this ratio allows the FP+ line to keep to the same basic wait time and it generally allows a steady number of SB guests to pass.

Yes I understand the system and no I don't think I misunderstood your post. They could change the policy to allow more than 3 fastpasses, without changing the allotment of fastpasses to any rides. But in order for there to actually be fastpasses available beyond the initial 3, the total of all the allotments to all the rides in the park must be greater than 3x the number of guests for the day. Unless it already had been (in which case they had a lot of unused allotments), then they must have increased the FP allotments to rides when they rolled out unlimited FP+. It's also possible that Soarin's ratio was already high, and wasn't changed, then again it's possible it did. It's all speculation anyway.

 

[dadddio]

Sorry but you are incorrect again.

Overtime rules are more than 8 hours in a day and/or more than 40 hours in a week. If I work more than 8 hours today I get overtime. If I then have my hours cut (which only rarely happens) and log 40 or fewer hours in the week I still get the overtime pay for the day I worked more than 8 hours.

The 'overtime after eight hours' thing is not federal law. Some states require this, but Florida does not.

 

[dadddio]

And yet the stupid execs who push this crap keep their jobs and people like you defend every decision as if your life depended on it. The world we live in.

Ain't America awesome?

 

[dadddio]

That's the way it works with Disney... because they don't trust or respect the front-line CMs.

Customer starts beating you up? Fight back? Fired. Customer tears into you.. and you get nasty back? Fired.

If, in the course of business, I were to trash talk my employer to a client, I would likely be canned. I suspect that this is true about just about every one of us.

 

[dadddio]

So that makes the experience of all those guests who were stuck in that hot mess of a line acceptable? Sorry. I can't condone this.

Do you mean the 45 minute wait time instead of the two hour SB line? Is that the 'hot mess' that you are referring to?

 

[wm49rs]

Makes you wonder what the quota is for them.

Or if things are that busy, why isn't the park open later....

 

[dadddio]

Welp, this sucks. I'm going to be at Epcot Sunday, testing of this magical return policy thing will be over then right?

It's over now.

 

[seahawk7]

Lost me at "bought some merchandise"

I read the whole thing. It roughly said that people who had advance fastpass+ or who could get fastpass at the park at the kiosk used the fastpass line. People who wanted to stand in line got a card telling them to return at a certain time. The return time people roughly waited a total of 45 minutes in line to ride Soarin. They reopened the line at 7pm to everyone but before that no one without a fastpass or return time card could wait in the standby line. The writer of the article said this was the only "wrinkle" they saw with this procedure.

 

[cw1982]

Do you mean the 45 minute wait time instead of the two hour SB line? Is that the 'hot mess' that you are referring to?

Did you not read my post?

I was talking about the hot mess that occurred after 7 pm when Disney gave up and allowed people into the standby queue with or without a return pass. The line quickly more than doubled, which further upset everyone in the line and probably anyone who found out later that if they had just waited until 7 they would have been let in.