Originally posted by CTXRover
It does kind of make sense for them to announce it because, like you said, if they didn't and as soon as it opened "we" would all know about it because of the internet.
However, announcing it almost 3 months ahead of time gives people the opportunity to plan/move trips to this date to ride it. This is where problems could arise with guests if the ride does not work quite right.
I'm sure there was a reason for announcing a "soft open", but even on the official MS site (updated today 
) it says it will open its doors Aug 15th. It doesn't say anything about it being a preview period when problems could happen. Perhaps they have a lot of confidence in the ride and don't expect problems and thus aren't worried about announcing a specific day for the start of previews.
The fact that Disney has announced this 3 months in advance and has released an official press release (it is a press release now--check the official Mission: SPACE site) stating that it will open August 15th leads me to believe that this is, perhaps, not a soft opening in the usual sense, but a "preview", as in it will be open like it would on a normal day, with the disclaimer that it could shut down--sort of like Test Track on a normal day. They are obviously confident enough that it will be running at full capacity at that point to announce it as the opening date. An official grand opening during the off season makes sense as crowds will naturally be lower in October. I see this as a buffer period so that there will never be 4 hour lines for this attraction, which makes further sense with the date they chose--the last weekend of Disney World's summer season, when crowds suddenly drop off. Therefore, being that it is three months down the road, if they still decide to have an unnannounced soft opening, which is always a possibility--certainly nothing to bet on, but always a possibility, they could have it during the summer season, yet unannounced, keeping lines down. Just because we would know about such a soft opening does not mean EVERYONE would. Keep in mind, most Disney guests do not pay the same close attention to daily Disney news as we do. This is how soft openings have always been run, and they have not run into a problem with this system yet. Therefore, I still believe this ride could open before the 15th, but I won't disguise this as fact--take that as your disclaimer. The fact that Disney sent this message to travel agents and Cast Members first leads me to believe they want Cast Members to tell their families to come down and enjoy this ride, and they want travel agents to start booking trips for the FALL for guests to see this attraction. Again, they picked the last weekend of the summer season to open this attraction--they already know the summer season will be busy, which would make sense based on current crowds, so they want guests to come in the traditionally light fall season. Just my thoughts, though--I could see why they would cloak this buffer period as a "preview", in case things do break down, while feeling that SPACE will not be broken most of the time--therefore announcing this date to the public. It would just give them an extra few months to work any bugs out. I am still hopeful that it will open before the 15th--anything is possible, so how you can assign percent chances for each individual date is beyond me. Disney has never done this before. None of us know anything about this, nor will we know anything until the first guests ride. But, the fact that Steve has seen videos of this attraction working, I am certainly encouraged--that and if you go to Screamscape today, you can see some AMAZING pictures of the post-show area--clearly nearing completion. I am encouraged by such pictures, in addition to the release of our first SPACE pins, the testing of signage outdoors, word that three of the four centrifuges are now complete (we know for sure that two are finished, as Marty Sklar announced, but I have heard from several cast members that word is the third is complete, as well), the installation of Fastpass kiosks, and the overall tone of the new press release tells me the ride is near completion. I realize this has been an extremely long thread, but I just wanted to get these ideas out. They are simply that--ideas, not fact, so don't start PMing me for a percent chance that you can ride the attraction at 1:03 pm on July 29th. No one knows the answer, and I will not and no one else should pretend to know. All we can do at this point is, as always, speculate. Need I remind you that over the weekend a Disney spokesperson told a news station in Florida that the ride would not open until the fall, so things are clearly changing rapidly here, and there doesn't even seem to be concensus between the various departments of Disney--management, Imagineering, attractions cast members. Do not be fooled by anyone, myself included, attempting to present themselves as an expert.
MicBat--yes, the Tower of Terror currently has the largest drop. Including the break run, you are talking roughly 150 feet.
