Soarin......a little figuring

graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So the ride just ended and I'm walking out. I happened to notice just how many people were there and did a little figuring. Here goes: In each row there are 12 seats, multiply by three per section = 36, multiply that by 3 sections = 108 seats per theater. There are, I believe two theaters per side which would = 216 seats. There are two sides so multiply that by 2 = 432 total seats. I was told by the CM at the beginning of the ride it takes 20 minutes from the front of the line until you get off so that = 3 shows per hr, which = a possible 1,296 people going through per hr.

So why is therre ever a long line?

My theory; they want the line to absorb (for lack of a better word) the crowd and try to spread the people out throughout the park.
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
graphite1326 said:
That would be over 10,000 people per day. How many people go through the park per day?
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Sometimes as many as 6-8 times that. The average daily attendance is between 25k-30k.

Given that Soarin is an incredibly accessible "Disney thrill" ride, it is not surprising that nearly 100% of the people walking into the park want to ride it. Even my mother in law who will not go on SSE because of the backwards section loves it.
 
Travel Junkie

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
A little clarification: Soarin seats 87 per theater and has 2 theaters. 3 shows per hour also seems a little light to me but that is a pure guess. The show is 5 minutes. I doubt it takes 15 minutes to load and unload the theater. They can probably get a least 4 shows a theater per hour.
Based on TEA attendance figures Epcot gets about 30,000 people per day (11 Mil divided by 365). Of course there are days that are way over and way under, but you get the idea. A majority of people that enter Epcot don’t ride Soarin.
The primary reason Soarin has such a long line is that there are so few rides at Epcot. It's pretty astonishing how few rides there are actually.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
4 theaters?? There are two pre-show staging areas on both sides.. but because they fill the theater from two points. Two stacks of 3 vehicles per theater. It's commonly listed as 87 seats per theater.

It has very low capacity.. and is family accessible.. and insanely popular.. in a park with few rides = insane waits
 
FerretAfros

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Your math is off some. There are only 2 theaters, not 4. Additionally, the 20 minutes it takes for guests to get from the "front of the line" (FP merge point?) to the exit isn't the ride's cycle time: during that period, guests still need to get sent to their side, grouped, and watch the safety video, ride, and exit. The film itself is about 4.5 minutes long, and the load/unload cycle ideally takes about 4 minutes, so the entire ride cycle takes about 8.5 minutes, or about 7 cycles per theater per hour

Multiply the 7 cycles X 2 theaters X 108 seats (though I think the lower rows in A and C have fewer seats than the rest), which gives us 1,512 riders per hour. This number doesn't account for empty seats (really now, why is there no single rider option, like in DCA?), slower-than-ideal load cycles, or maintenance issues. In reality, the number is usually somewhere in the 1,100-1,200 range (similar to DL's Splash Mountain)

But getting back to the original point, the queue is long because the demand outpaces capacity. Additionally, it's a cycle loader, so the queue only moves every few minutes, making it feel like a much longer wait than it really is. Factor in the FP/standby ratio, and it makes the slow-moving line even worse. There are other attractions out there with lower capacity and shorter waits (think Triceratops Spin, Main Street Vehicles, resort launches/Friendship Boats), but they also have less demand
 
graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
flynnibus said:
4 theaters?? There are two pre-show staging areas on both sides.. but because they fill the theater from two points. Two stacks of 3 vehicles per theater. It's commonly listed as 87 seats per theater.

It has very low capacity.. and is family accessible.. and insanely popular.. in a park with few rides = insane waits
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I was just trying to figure in my head. I guess I have to go down and look at it again. I will call my DW right now and book a trip.

What we will do to come up with a reason to go? LOL

However, I really don't think my hourly figure is off that much if BOTH theaters are running. The last time I was there they only had one going.
 
graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
One point I was trying to make is, like they do with SM, they don't always have both theaters going and I was theorizing that they did this for crowd control.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
graphite1326 said:
One point I was trying to make is, like they do with SM, they don't always have both theaters going and I was theorizing that they did this for crowd control.
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They do this when demand dictates that they can get by with just running one side. This saves them on labor dollars, power consumption, maintenance, etc.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
I think there is only one theater on each side.

Soarin is very popular and almost anyone can ride it. It takes a while to get each group in and going, too. I think that accounts for the long waits. They don't always run both sides, but they do run both a lot, I think (never took notes, though!)
 

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