News and observations from the past month

garagely

garagely

Active Member
loooong time lurker, first time poster here. i've read this entire thread, all 26 pages. and i just wanted to say that it's cool to have found like minded people who notice the same things i do. sometimes i feel like i'm a little bit nutty with my theme park observations. you all are my people XD

my mother and i were given the infamous Magic Bands during our stay at the beginning of the week. she disliked having to wear it. i thought it was convenient to have it around the wrist. i'm the sort of person who hates carrying around a purse and anything more than is necessary. i don't like the impact that FP+ appears to be having on the wait times. we were unaware that we were even going to be given Magic Bands on this trip and we were unable to make FP reservations in advance. Even though we arrived at Epcot early in the morning and beelined we were still unable to get Soarin' fastpasses until 7pm. The line was already at a 90 minute wait. we ended up giving the fastpasses away because we had dinner reservations elsewhere on property at 7. it was frustrating to do everything we were supposed to (arrive early, head straight for the ride) and still be unable to ride. it was my late father's favorite and my mother really wanted to ride it for him.

yes, i am aware that we could have waited in the Standby line. however, i find the Soarin' queue to be painfully dull, and the thought of being in it for an hour and a half was like punishment. no thanks.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
garagely said:
loooong time lurker, first time poster here. i've read this entire thread, all 26 pages. and i just wanted to say that it's cool to have found like minded people who notice the same things i do. sometimes i feel like i'm a little bit nutty with my theme park observations. you all are my people XD

my mother and i were given the infamous Magic Bands during our stay at the beginning of the week. she disliked having to wear it. i thought it was convenient to have it around the wrist. i'm the sort of person who hates carrying around a purse and anything more than is necessary. i don't like the impact that FP+ appears to be having on the wait times. we were unaware that we were even going to be given Magic Bands on this trip and we were unable to make FP reservations in advance. Even though we arrived at Epcot early in the morning and beelined we were still unable to get Soarin' fastpasses until 7pm. The line was already at a 90 minute wait. we ended up giving the fastpasses away because we had dinner reservations elsewhere on property at 7. it was frustrating to do everything we were supposed to (arrive early, head straight for the ride) and still be unable to ride. it was my late father's favorite and my mother really wanted to ride it for him.

yes, i am aware that we could have waited in the Standby line. however, i find the Soarin' queue to be painfully dull, and the thought of being in it for an hour and a half was like punishment. no thanks.
Click to expand...

Welcome aboard!

If it makes you feel any better, Soarin' is kind of a cruddy attraction right now anyway, compared to what it used to be.
The film they use has degraded quite badly and contamination means that if you're there on an unlucky day there will be giant black blotches of dirt whizzing around on the screen like beachball-sized UFOs.
Hopefully this can be corrected when/if they switch to digital projection.
 
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misterID

misterID

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
Being "herded" is an unfortunate necessity to be able to move and control masses of people efficiently. You may not enjoy it, but it does improve your overall experience.
Click to expand...

Anything to make the end of the night escape better is good for me.

Now, if they found a way to make getting to that monorail easier. You fight your way out of the park only to be faced with that madness.

@garagely welcome to the board :)
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Bairstow said:
If it makes you feel


Welcome aboard!

If it makes you feel any better, Soarin' is kind of a cruddy attraction right now anyway, compared to what it used to be.
The film they use has degraded quite badly and contamination means that if you're there on an unlucky day there will be giant black blotches of dirt whizzing around on the screen like beachball-sized UFOs.
Hopefully this can be corrected when/if they switch to digital projection.
Click to expand...
A crappy Soarin' still beats Ellen, the new boring-as-all-get-out Test Track, Imagination and EO.
The soundtrack and scent-track have not suffered.
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
garagely said:
loooong time lurker, first time poster here. i've read this entire thread, all 26 pages. and i just wanted to say that it's cool to have found like minded people who notice the same things i do. sometimes i feel like i'm a little bit nutty with my theme park observations. you all are my people XD

my mother and i were given the infamous Magic Bands during our stay at the beginning of the week. she disliked having to wear it. i thought it was convenient to have it around the wrist. i'm the sort of person who hates carrying around a purse and anything more than is necessary. i don't like the impact that FP+ appears to be having on the wait times. we were unaware that we were even going to be given Magic Bands on this trip and we were unable to make FP reservations in advance. Even though we arrived at Epcot early in the morning and beelined we were still unable to get Soarin' fastpasses until 7pm. The line was already at a 90 minute wait. we ended up giving the fastpasses away because we had dinner reservations elsewhere on property at 7. it was frustrating to do everything we were supposed to (arrive early, head straight for the ride) and still be unable to ride. it was my late father's favorite and my mother really wanted to ride it for him.

yes, i am aware that we could have waited in the Standby line. however, i find the Soarin' queue to be painfully dull, and the thought of being in it for an hour and a half was like punishment. no thanks.
Click to expand...
Welcome. I hope you enjoy your time with us.
 
ThemeParkJunkee

ThemeParkJunkee

Well-Known Member
Welcome garagly!

I was disappointed to hear that the usual "rope drop" strategies of my past are not as fool-proof as they once were due to FP+. I am not sure what Disney hopes to accomplish but I doubt it is frustration and disappointment. I like to travel during slow times and "make a bee-line" for Soarin' as well. I am not scheduled to return until October 2014 (a traditionally slow time). I expect I will be online at 60 days out to schedule a ride on Soarin' and everything else. Better figure out what days I'll be where.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
To be honest, I've never really understood the massive appeal of Soaring over California. Perhaps if I had seen it prior to last year, when it was already in its current condition I might have more love for it, but as-is I'm not that impressed with it. The coaster nut in me really likes the initial launch, watching the machine hoist all the racks of people into the air, but after that I'm a little bored.

ThemeParkJunkee said:
I was disappointed to hear that the usual "rope drop" strategies of my past are not as fool-proof as they once were due to FP+. I am not sure what Disney hopes to accomplish but I doubt it is frustration and disappointment.
Click to expand...

I would say one of their first priorities is to make having to have a rope drop strategy unnecessary. A person can relax a bit more on their day to EPCOT if they can let their family sleep in, knowing that they've got a reservation to ride the most popular rides later in the day rather than rush to be at the park earlier than they would like to secure this opportunity.
 
wdwtopten

wdwtopten

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
To be honest, I've never really understood the massive appeal of Soaring over California. Perhaps if I had seen it prior to last year, when it was already in its current condition I might have more love for it, but as-is I'm not that impressed with it. The coaster nut in me really likes the initial launch, watching the machine hoist all the racks of people into the air, but after that I'm a little bored.
Click to expand...
I like Soarin', but I think some of its popularity is due to the fact that there aren't that many great *rides* at EPCOT.
 
garagely

garagely

Active Member
Bairstow said:
To be honest, I've never really understood the massive appeal of Soaring over California. Perhaps if I had seen it prior to last year, when it was already in its current condition I might have more love for it, but as-is I'm not that impressed with it. The coaster nut in me really likes the initial launch, watching the machine hoist all the racks of people into the air, but after that I'm a little bored.
Click to expand...

i'm with you! i enjoy the ride, but i just don't understand why it's consistently the longest line. it doesn't matter what time of day or year i go, Soarin' is always at least an hour wait. as my Dad got older and developed some health issues Soarin' became a favorite of his because it was gentle, yet epic. i enjoy riding it at DCA but kind of roll my eyes at the one in the Land. i do agree the film needs a bit of tlc.

edit: oh gosh, how rude of me. thank you all for the warm welcomes :)
 
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