Noticed a few new things this weekend at WDW

[JeffH]

At Animal Kingdom on Saturday...
You know those 4 signs they have up everywhere for each park for the Happiest Celebration...MGM with Action, Motors, Epcot with Sourin', Magic Kingdom with Cinderellabration, and Animal Kingdom with the tree and the shadow of Expedition Everest? Well, at the Animal Kingdom they've replaced all of the Animal Kingdom ones with new ones that have Lucky the Dinosaur on them (no EE)...guess they decided that the old AK sign had nothing and implied something that wouldn't open for many months.
There was a new percussion band playing to the right just before you cross the bridge to Dinoland.
During Lucky the Dinosaur's little scheduled walks through Dinoland he takes a picture of the crowd, asks a kid to pet him, steals someones hat, writes an autograph for someone in the crowd and buys a souvenier (and other things).
Most of the back of Conservation Station (building) was closed off (including the Mermaid Show).
The free game passes they were giving out for the carnival were being photocopied, so they've been discontinued (for now)...so we couldn't get any, thank you.
At Epcot on Sunday...
They were flying high speed kites in the lagoon...it was pretty neat. They had several different ones on the "beach" near China, but we only saw the multi-color set of kites during the 11:15am-1pm that we were in World Showcase (we spent the rest of the time riding Sourin' 4 time today.
I'm not sure what happened this afternoon at about 1:30pm at Sourin', but the Standby line said it was 75 minutes long, when it was almost non-existent. We noticed that there was barely a line when we came back with our FastPass after lunch with the Princesses, then after the ride we got right in (the 75 minute wait, NOT) standby line which was even shorter then when we saw it during our FS...BECAUSE NOBODY WANTED TO WAIT 75 MINUTES, SO NOBODY WENT INTO THE STANDBY LINE. There were only about a DOZEN people in the standby line (YES ONLY A DOZEN PEOPLE IN THE 75 MINUTE STANDBY LINE). Now, granted, there were a lot of people coming in in the FastPass line at this time, so we had to wait for them, but the wait was barely 10 minutes. Wonder how it got messed up?

 

[Brent]

Thanks for your update. I do find it odd about the 75min. wait post but I'm also not sure how this could be so wrong compared to the actual time.

 

[dxwwf3]

I had a similar experience on Test Track last year. The standby wait was posted at 120 minutes and there was not one single person in line. Not a soul. So I walked out of the singles line and walked in the standby and went right in. After I got in, they started letting singles so through because there was nobody else left. When I got back around they corrected the wait time and it was lined up outside the building.

Those things have been known to happen. It's always great when you can be in the right place at the right time.

 

[dave2822]

Thanks for the update

You know those 4 signs they have up everywhere for each park for the Happiest Celebration...MGM with Action, Motors, Epcot with Sourin', Magic Kingdom with Cinderellabration, and Animal Kingdom with the tree and the shadow of Expedition Everest? Well, at the Animal Kingdom they've replaced all of the Animal Kingdom ones with new ones that have Lucky the Dinosaur on them (no EE)...guess they decided that the old AK sign had nothing and implied something that wouldn't open for many months.

Very interesting. Having banners with Lucky certainly make more sense for AK to market right now, especially for the summer.
However, I wouldn't be surprised to see the EE banners circulate right after the summer, considering Lucky is shipped off and the opening of EE will be during the HCOE.

 

[*MichelleP*]

We were at Soarin' on Sunday, too. :wave:

At about 11 am, the posted wait time was 35 minutes. It seemed to drag on *forever*. We got FP's, and then rode in the StandBy entrance. If we liked it, we'd go again, if not, we'd give our FP's to someone else.

When we exited Soarin', the posted wait time was 90 minutes, but the line appeared shorter than we entered under the 35 minute wait time.
We ended up riding twice -- the second time with the FP. The FP line was backed up to just before the blue corridor.

 

[DisneySam]

Similar situation happened to us on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got our fast passes and then rode a couple other rides, came back and the fast pass line was over an hour long, the standby line was non-existant. Like you, not sure what happened.

Glad you had a great trip thanks for the report! Did you enjoy Soarin?

 

[inafog]

I'm going to vote for computer glitch. When we were at WDW in October '03, I was given the wait-time card five or six times (just lucky, I guess). I actually thought the results would be skewed toward the sign showing a shorter wait because every time the CMs saw me with the little white card, they would try to get me on the ride quickly. At GMR, the CM was just about to close the door, saw me and grabbed the card and said, "We have a little more room over here!" Same thing happened on the Jungle Cruise. Anyway, the CM who gave me the card scanned it, then it was scanned again when I got through the queue. So, if the computer skips a card in the middle, it *could* make the wait times inaccurate.

Or, if the CMs forget to send a card through, maybe the system does that by itself? Maybe it makes a calculation based on not getting a card for a certain amount of time?

 

[TiggersPooh]

we send a card through every 5-10 minutes...if you miss sending a card it will make a very annoying beep. If a card is missed its ok as there is another one right behind...people always take the flick cards.

I was at EPCOT last night and we didnt go on Soarin since the sign said 75 minutes...grrrr

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Thanks for the updates - I'm also a little puzzled by the 75 minute wait :veryconfu

 

[tinkerbella]

I was at soarin yesterday and the wait time was 80 min with all the fastpasses gone by 5:30 in the afternoon. the line may not have LOOKED long...but to 'sell out' of fastpasses so early must say something. i think the wait time may have been pretty accurate.

 

[WDWBro]

Back from a day at MGM at EPCOT. Soarin' is awesome, it's up with TT and M:S in what i would consider as close a three-way tie as the top three at any park. make sure that when you go to EPCOT, get a fastpass and then wait in the standby line, b/c you'll definitely want to use you FP to go again.

 

[Tinkrbell]

I was at soarin yesterday and the wait time was 80 min with all the fastpasses gone by 5:30 in the afternoon. the line may not have LOOKED long...but to 'sell out' of fastpasses so early must say something.

Being out of fastpasses by 5:30 isn't that early. The past 2 times I've been there, some of the rides were out of fastpasses by noon or earlier.

 

[Magicot]

inafog, that avatar's creepin' me out. :lookaroun

 

[inafog]

inafog, that avatar's creepin' me out. :lookaroun

Sorry--it isn't meant to. It's my older child at AK in the free-flight area on the Pangani Trail. A bird flew over him, and we managed to catch his "wonder" face. I admit it's at a funny angle but it's really hard to get those momentary expressions at all.

 

[joshwill]

At Animal Kingdom on Saturday...
You know those 4 signs they have up everywhere for each park for the Happiest Celebration...MGM with Action, Motors, Epcot with Sourin', Magic Kingdom with Cinderellabration, and Animal Kingdom with the tree and the shadow of Expedition Everest? Well, at the Animal Kingdom they've replaced all of the Animal Kingdom ones with new ones that have Lucky the Dinosaur on them (no EE)...guess they decided that the old AK sign had nothing and implied something that wouldn't open for many months.
There was a new percussion band playing to the right just before you cross the bridge to Dinoland.
During Lucky the Dinosaur's little scheduled walks through Dinoland he takes a picture of the crowd, asks a kid to pet him, steals someones hat, writes an autograph for someone in the crowd and buys a souvenier (and other things).
Most of the back of Conservation Station (building) was closed off (including the Mermaid Show).
The free game passes they were giving out for the carnival were being photocopied, so they've been discontinued (for now)...so we couldn't get any, thank you.
At Epcot on Sunday...
They were flying high speed kites in the lagoon...it was pretty neat. They had several different ones on the "beach" near China, but we only saw the multi-color set of kites during the 11:15am-1pm that we were in World Showcase (we spent the rest of the time riding Sourin' 4 time today.
I'm not sure what happened this afternoon at about 1:30pm at Sourin', but the Standby line said it was 75 minutes long, when it was almost non-existent. We noticed that there was barely a line when we came back with our FastPass after lunch with the Princesses, then after the ride we got right in (the 75 minute wait, NOT) standby line which was even shorter then when we saw it during our FS...BECAUSE NOBODY WANTED TO WAIT 75 MINUTES, SO NOBODY WENT INTO THE STANDBY LINE. There were only about a DOZEN people in the standby line (YES ONLY A DOZEN PEOPLE IN THE 75 MINUTE STANDBY LINE). Now, granted, there were a lot of people coming in in the FastPass line at this time, so we had to wait for them, but the wait was barely 10 minutes. Wonder how it got messed up?

mermaid show at conservation station?

where is that, i dont recall ever seeing it ?

 

[Magicot]

Sorry--it isn't meant to. It's my older child at AK in the free-flight area on the Pangani Trail. A bird flew over him, and we managed to catch his "wonder" face. I admit it's at a funny angle but it's really hard to get those momentary expressions at all.

Oh, no worries- now I know the story behind the picture. Anyway, that's probably what my face looks like everytime I enter the Magic Kingdom. haha

 

[JeffH]

Mermaid show at Conservation Station

For ever, they've had a "Little" Mermaid show at back of the building in front of the exhibits. There is a wall blocking the little automated puppet show that kids can sit on the floor and watch.
It is not THE Little Mermaid, just A little mermaid (with red hair, like THE Little Mermaid). Disney will probably accidentally sue themselves over this someday
It would be opposite the grandmother willow forest "sound-effects" show.
---------
I've noticed that once the Sourin' Standby time reaches about 55 minutes, that's when people tend to divert straight to fastpass.
---------
Last Sunday (and 2 Sunday's before that) we've managed to do at least 3 Sourin's with little or no wait before we had to go home by 2.
Arriving at about 10pm, we 1st get a Fastpass, then hit the still short (and fast moving) standby line. We'd get through so fast that we still had to wait until about 10:35 for our FastPass to be active, and yesterday, since a 2nd fastpass would have been for 11:30-12:30 (our princess lunch time), we waited until AFTER our FastPass ride at which point the FastPass time was increasing about 3 minutes for every minute and waiting until 11:15am, we then were able to pick up FastPasses that guaranteed us an unrushed lunch (12:45-1:45) with Ariel and friends in Norway. And then with the empty standby line, we got to ride it twice more

Hope this helps you plan for multiple trips...

 

[dave2822]

Also, as far as the psuedo 75 minute wait is concerned, a few options to consider,

First, as many have mentioned, could have very well been a computer glitch, or something along those lines, dealing with the operators or attendants

However, perhaps that Soarin' is a brand new attraction, they are merely trying to figure out how guests react to long lines, even if they come to figure out they really don't have to wait. Seeing people react to a posted 75 minute wait can answer questions like:

Do they value the attraction to their experience at EPCOT enough to withstand the wait?
Do they grab a fastpass or skip it?
If they do grab a fastpass, do they hang around The Land, travel back to the TT area, etc., considering traffic flow could be a concern around The Land

Again, this may be overthinking, it could have very well been a mistake.

 

[DisneyJill]

Every time I rode Soarin' last week, the wait time posted was way over the actual time that I waited. The most it said was 75 minutes, but we only waited about 30 that time.