News and observations from the past month

JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
draybook said:
Everything was working on the other 3 days we were in MK but for some reason on Thurday (9/26) they said on it, let's just turn it off and see if anyone notices......
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We have ridden PotC 5 times so far this trip, and the mist projection has been off every single time.

As to the mermaids, the effect is so subtle, that even when I see it, I'm not sure that I am seeing it - if that makes any sense.

Not saying this hasn't always been the case, but yesterday was the first time I realized that they were not loading the sixth row of the boats. Previously, we had been in rows 2 or 3. Last night we were in row 5. The boat was clearly listing to the right - my side, lucky me! - and my right foot was totally submerged in water during numerous parts of the ride. There was no way to configure myself so that it was totally out of the water at any time. The only good thing is that I was wearing flip flops, unlike my SIL and nephew who were sporting socks and shoes. If I too, had been wearing socks and shoes, and were ankle deep in water, I would have been really ticked off. I did mention it to the CM at the end of the ride, and she apologized and asked in which row I had been seated.

New boats = epic fail.
 
muteki

muteki

Well-Known Member
As long as the projection is going to be mumbling Blackbeard, I'm happier with it off really.

I do think the mermaids are neat though, but didn't see them at all last trip either.
 
FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
Over at MiceChat's Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion thread, Passport2Dreams's FoxxFurr had this to say about interactive queues.
I walked through the interactive queue the other day and it's amazing how ratty it's gotten in... what? Two and a half years? The popping books are just plain off and a lot of the material the various setpieces are built out of has started to look crappy and weatherbeaten in the sun. The busts never came online, nor did the proposed decor additions to the ride (I know WDI commissioned a bunch of stuff that will apparently never be seen, including a painting of the Headless Horseman to appear in the library).

According to a friend of mine who is generally reliable, all of the WDW interactive queues have been cancelled. Pirates of the Caribbean, set for last October, quietly never happened. There's been no movement on Peter Pan's Flight or Small World. Supposedly a combination of poor reception to the Mansion queue, operational challenges at the Dumbo queue, cost overruns at the Big Thunder Queue (which I actually really like) and high maintenance costs put the kibosh on them. Disney's "NextGen" initiative is now 120% overbudget and still a disaster, and the interactive queues are the fat that was trimmed. At D23 Expo, Tom Staggs was doing an about-face on NextGen at Disneyland, where suddenly he was saying that it was not a "one size fits all solution".

Apparently WDW didn't expect the beating guests subject the queue-pieces to and is balking at the bills. I wouldn't be surprised to see most of these "enhancements" scrapped entirely in the next ten years. Golf claps for Disney all around, please.

The CGI hitch-hikers also look kinda cruddy right now. They're hazy and supposedly the effect never quite worked as well as intended. I wouldn't be surprised to see that effect replaced as well eventually. WDW has proven themselves to be the grand masters of throwing good money after bad these past few years.
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SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Tahu said:
Over at MiceChat's Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion thread, Passport2Dreams's FoxxFurr had this to say about interactive queues.
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I think Disney deserves a "Durr...." award. Now the next Disney "Durr...."award should be given when they realise people don't want to buy their Merch, because it isn't unique -once that happens we may be ready to make some change.
 
Radok Block

Radok Block

Well-Known Member
Tahu said:
Over at MiceChat's Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion thread, Passport2Dreams's FoxxFurr had this to say about interactive queues...Apparently WDW didn't expect the beating guests subject the queue-pieces to and is balking at the bills.
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Did WDI not talk to anybody who worked in a children's museum before they went full steam ahead on this? Hands-on anything takes a serious beating at the hands of kids. If you don't have a decent repair budget, don't bother.
 
aka_emilicious

aka_emilicious

Well-Known Member
draybook said:
Everything was working on the other 3 days we were in MK but for some reason on Thurday (9/26) they said on it, let's just turn it off and see if anyone notices......
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Even better, I just stepped off of PotC after it opened again from a temporary closure. The work lights are all on. When I asked a cast member, I was told they decided to leave them on because of whatever caused the earlier closure.
 
SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Radok Block said:
Did WDI not talk to anybody who worked in a children's museum before they went full steam ahead on this? Hands-on anything takes a serious beating at the hands of kids. If you don't have a decent repair budget, don't bother.
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WDI didn't green light the interactive queues, there were opportunities for others to say it was silly especially from the so called Strategic Planners but they didn't stop an question if it would be practical.
 
Figment2005

Figment2005

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
There are a LOT of factors that go into declining CM service, but MM+ / Nextgen has very little to do with it.

I'm glad more and more people are noticing and acknowledging the vastly improving service at Universal. My experience there is always better than at WDW lately. One thing that always irks me is how a lot of Disney CMs still have it in their heads and convince themselves that they are superior to Universal Team Members. Sorry, not anymore.
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As a cast member, I can name one big variable that the team members at Universal don't have to worry about... College Program. The department I currently work in has to be at least 75% CP and most of them have no incentive to go above and beyond. With Disney relying more on college interns and with Florida being a right to work state, they really can't be as choosy as they probably should be. Sadly, the departments that have the most face time with the guests are the ones with the least reliable cast members.

Most attractions CM's love their jobs but only encounter the typical guest for 30 seconds or so while loading or unloading from an attraction. Custodial, Out Door Vending, and Quick Service departments typically rely on the bottom rung of quality cast members because the requirements are rather simple. The good CM's typically leave those departments for better ones in the course of their time with Disney while the "just a job" and CP CM's stick it out because they are there only for a short time or don't have the skills to move up. These are the CM's that guests encounter for the longer experiences and the ones that make or break a vacation.

To sum it all up, it's easier to go above and beyond when you A. enjoy your job, and B. actually rely on your job to pay bills. Most CP's don't fit in either category.
 
Nubs70

Nubs70

Well-Known Member
Figment2005 said:
As a cast member, I can name one big variable that the team members at Universal don't have to worry about... College Program. The department I currently work in has to be at least 75% CP and most of them have no incentive to go above and beyond. With Disney relying more on college interns and with Florida being a right to work state, they really can't be as choosy as they probably should be. Sadly, the departments that have the most face time with the guests are the ones with the least reliable cast members.

Most attractions CM's love their jobs but only encounter the typical guest for 30 seconds or so while loading or unloading from an attraction. Custodial, Out Door Vending, and Quick Service departments typically rely on the bottom rung of quality cast members because the requirements are rather simple. The good CM's typically leave those departments for better ones in the course of their time with Disney while the "just a job" and CP CM's stick it out because they are there only for a short time or don't have the skills to move up. These are the CM's that guests encounter for the longer experiences and the ones that make or break a vacation.

To sum it all up, it's easier to go above and beyond when you A. enjoy your job, and B. actually rely on your job to pay bills. Most CP's don't fit in either category.
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Not to.start a Sprited™.explosion, how does right to.work.have anything to do with CM quality? It appears to me that Disney HR is failing in both the CP selection and onboarding.
 
Figment2005

Figment2005

Well-Known Member
Nubs70 said:
Not to.start a Sprited™.explosion, how does right to.work.have anything to do with CM quality? It appears to me that Disney HR is failing in both the CP selection and onboarding.
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Right to work affects CM quality because Disney is forced by law to hire people regardless of whether or not they are optimal for the job. Trust me, some of the CM's I have worked around have caused me to wonder how they put their shoes on in the morning. I'm not saying right to work is bad by any means, but it can potentially cause unwanted results in a customer service position.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Radok Block said:
Did WDI not talk to anybody who worked in a children's museum before they went full steam ahead on this? Hands-on anything takes a serious beating at the hands of kids. If you don't have a decent repair budget, don't bother.
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What gets me is that the Big Thunder interactive queue elements are actually fun and clever.
More importantly, with Thunder's capacity and queue area, they were needed, and weren't right before load.

I would like to have known what WDI had cooked up for Peter Pan. It would probably have been appreciated.

Disneyhead'71 said:
The mist screen was on this morning........on Harry potter and the Forbidden Journey.
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Wait, Forbidden Journey has a mist screen?
Where?
 
FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
FoxxFurr made a second post getting into more detail about the queue woes. Aside from ruining the vibe of the outside for the fans, regular guests hate the extended queue for coming right before you actually get through the door of the house and are confused about what to actually do once inside. Also, Disney can't sell those T-Shirts they made of the queue objects a couple years back.

I would describe the general public's reaction as "mixed". They're not upset for the reasons than fans are, though WDW is entirely aware of what fans think. The reason why the reaction has been mixed has a lot to do with placement. Many guests sense that they're basically at the attraction and resent being pushed through a "hidden" queue when the front door is right there. Once they're in the queue, they often can't figure out what to do. They make a beeline for the busts (something that disrupts the line, making it difficult to pass through this spot), and find that the busts, in fact, don't do anything. The music crypt is a big hit, although you do need to spend several minutes with it in order to get the most out of it. Unless the line is at a full stop, most people just kinda hit random spots on it. The crypt is designed so you have to hold your hand on any one spot for a beat or two before the music is heard, and most people simply will not invest the time into figuring this out - they walk by, touch it while walking, hear a half note, then continue walking, randomly hitting parts of the box with their hands.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone frolicking with King Squirty, something guests otherwise will do at any time for any reason. The Poetess crypt is a complete loss - nobody can figure out what to do with it. Guests will just stand there listening to her and watching the book until some kid finally figures it out and calls out a response. I have occasionally seen a group that will go into the queue and actually spend time at the effect playing the game, allowing the line to pass around them, but most of the time this corner of the queue is totally deserted. People bunch up at the busts and the music crypt then dash through the rest.

The ride operators, meanwhile, hate the thing, both as fans and professionals. It's hard to get in and out of there, and when you do get inside you are surrounded by guests - on busy days, it's a zoo. Many of them simply won't do anything to keep the lines moving, leading to disgrunted guests who complain that the effects are backing up the line. I've also often gone at night to see that the door at the end of the divider is simply left open, allowing you to bypass the queue. Many ride operators have set the thing up to fail, and it's failing.

Compare this to the Dumbo queue, which supposedly is what finally put the nail in the coffin for NGE queues. Dumbo is a playground for little kids that's supposed to double as a line - so if Dumbo would ordinarily have a 20 minute line, you would instead sit in the playground for 20 minutes until summoned to return and board the ride directly. However, in rebuilding Dumbo, WDW wanted to double the capacity by having two Dumbo rides next to each other, and furthermore moved the ride to an odd spot that many guests have trouble finding. The demand for the ride remained the same or slightly less than it always had, except now with two Dumbo rides, there was hardly ever a line. When the playground first opened, EVERYONE had to wait in the playground - kids or not - for at least ten minutes. This caused an apocalyptic reaction - would you want to sit and watch someone else's kids? Then the rule became if you had kids you had to wait, but parents didn't like this because now they were being penalized for bringing kids on a kids ride. Now they simply run the playground like a side attraction - groups with kids are given the option to run around in there and return when they like. Hardly anyone uses it, because people aren't conditioned to expect to bump into a playground on their way to a ride. Most of the time you'll see 3 or 4 kids running around in it, and that's it. WDW sees that as a complete loss - they may as well have not built it.

So the Mansion queue isn't a disaster on that scale but Ops is finding it more trouble than it's worth. The thing that really sent the message, however, wasn't forum posts for complainy blog posts like mine, but that 40th anniversary t-shirt that featured entirely HM Queue stuff. Mansion merch is expected to sell big, but people avoided this like the plague. Eventually they took the "limited edition" stickers off them and dropped the price and they still weren't selling. Last I saw they had sent them over to Disneyland, where they aren't selling either. But the recent line of coasters and the music box? Parks can't keep them in stock. Disney has seen their Mansion profits tainted by association with the queue.
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Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Tahu said:
FoxxFurr made a second post
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So the Mansion queue isn't a disaster on that scale but Ops is finding it more trouble than it's worth. The thing that really sent the message, however, wasn't forum posts for complainy blog posts like mine, but that 40th anniversary t-shirt that featured entirely HM Queue stuff. Mansion merch is expected to sell big, but people avoided this like the plague. Eventually they took the "limited edition" stickers off them and dropped the price and they still weren't selling. Last I saw they had sent them over to Disneyland, where they aren't selling either. But the recent line of coasters and the music box? Parks can't keep them in stock. Disney has seen their Mansion profits tainted by association with the queue.
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GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Bairstow said:
What gets me is that the Big Thunder interactive queue elements are actually fun and clever.
More importantly, with Thunder's capacity and queue area, they were needed, and weren't right before load.

I would like to have known what WDI had cooked up for Peter Pan. It would probably have been appreciated.
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Is the Pan queue definitely out? I thought they closed the bathrooms next to Peter Pan and walled them off. What are they building there?
 

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