Soarin's Single Flyers Line

[ScrapIron]

What I don't understand is how they have it working fine at DCA but they can't do it here....

Most DL regulars don't think it works fine. I've never used the SR line, but I saw someone a while back making a statement similar to mine and was dubious. However, after doing a search at the mouseplanet boards, it was clear that the majority feel SR doesn't work very well on Soarin' because there are so many seats and rows that, as mentioned above, they are generally able to fill them without it.

For the record, I have seen a standby wait of 180 minutes posted at Soarin' in Disney's Catastrophic Adventure in August at noon the year it opened.

Cheers.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I won't go on Mission Space but I didn't realize it could handle more people. It just seemed like the whole centrifuge thing would limit the amount of guests per ride. I know Disney doesn't usually release attendance figures, but I wonder when all is said and done for a busy day, whether TT, M:S, or Soaring has higher numbers?

Mission:Space can take a lot of people in at different times because of the various loading points and the multiple centrifuges. There are three stages that you are put in to, so you aren't waiting in line as long, and this also keeps people moving and not just standing. First is the pre show, from there you go to what I call the safety pre show, and then you go in to the actual ride. There are three points that keep people moving through the building. Not to mention that each centrifuge can accomodate 40 people. With a 4 minute ride, that is a pretty good amount of people. So the line is moving and you are doing something, even if it isn't riding...but the attraction can handle people very well.

 

[TTATraveler]

Mission:Space can take a lot of people in at different times because of the various loading points and the multiple centrifuges. There are three stages that you are put in to, so you aren't waiting in line as long, and this also keeps people moving and not just standing. First is the pre show, from there you go to what I call the safety pre show, and then you go in to the actual ride. There are three points that keep people moving through the building. Not to mention that each centrifuge can accomodate 40 people. With a 4 minute ride, that is a pretty good amount of people. So the line is moving and you are doing something, even if it isn't riding...but the attraction can handle people very well.

Cool, thanks for sharing that info. That explains why the wait times seem to be more managable at Mission Space.

 

[Tim G]

M:S 2000 people an hour

 

[ToTBellHop]

Why exactly would it be a problem for the Single Flyer line to have a 40 minute wait? That makes absolutely no sense to me. The point of the Single Rider line is to decrease wait times, and if the posted wait is 110 minutes, I would certainly take the 40 minute wait over that...so what is the problem? This could really never be a problem if they posted accurate weight times, as most guests are not stupid and will not get in the Single Flyer line if the wait time is similar to that of Stand By.

I have never had a problem w/ the line at DCA--they don't load Single Flyers very often, but they also don't need to. You never wait ALL that long to board (maybe 20 minutes), which is a helluva lot better than the wait in Stand-by, which will approach two hours in the summer.

I think it's pretty trashy for Epcot not to have the Single Flyer line open. I have no idea how it can be too complicated to work, as it would work much like it does for Test Track, only instead of trying to add up to the magic number 6, you try to add up to...12? I would think anyone who passed 3rd grade could handle that.

 

[se8472]

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the single line will become longer then the stand-by line while you are in line. That is when the problems start.

 

[snoopi_grl]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's because Epcot has twice as many visitors as DCA.

I definitely think you're right.
DCA isn't that popular, even though I think it's a fun park. Not the best out of all the Disney parks though...

 

[Robfasto]

Why exactly would it be a problem for the Single Flyer line to have a 40 minute wait? That makes absolutely no sense to me. The point of the Single Rider line is to decrease wait times, and if the posted wait is 110 minutes, I would certainly take the 40 minute wait over that...so what is the problem? This could really never be a problem if they posted accurate weight times, as most guests are not stupid and will not get in the Single Flyer line if the wait time is similar to that of Stand By.

I have never had a problem w/ the line at DCA--they don't load Single Flyers very often, but they also don't need to. You never wait ALL that long to board (maybe 20 minutes), which is a helluva lot better than the wait in Stand-by, which will approach two hours in the summer.

I think it's pretty trashy for Epcot not to have the Single Flyer line open. I have no idea how it can be too complicated to work, as it would work much like it does for Test Track, only instead of trying to add up to the magic number 6, you try to add up to...12? I would think anyone who passed 3rd grade could handle that.

I think the problem is that the single rider line is SO long that if it was to file up then it would be nearly 3-4 hours long. Instead of having someone at the entrance monitoring the number of guest who enter they just close it down.

Below are links to 3 pictures of the queue that also shows the single flyer line, in each picture you CAN NOT see the location where the next picture was taken.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

 

[donsullivan]

I wonder if this might not be caused by a pattern of abuse of the single rider line brought on by the consistently long lines for the ride. And remember this is just a theory based on my own observations.

Please understand going forward here that my definition of abuse of Single Rider as groups of 3 or more people moving into the Single Rider line to avoid the delay of Standby.

I have seen a pattern of abuse that crops up on TT during really busy days, where large groups of people load up the Single Rider line since the Standby line is so insanely long. Since the Single Rider line inherently moves very slowly that line slows to an absolute crawl and in some cases the standby line actually moves faster. But with the nature of the loading pattern of TT with only 6 riders per vehicle the single riders move reasonably quickly through the cycle once you get through the line.

With the length of the lines nearly all the time for Soarin now, I can see a situation where the Single Rider line would be abused by groups not wanting to wait in the standby line and pushing the SR line to be even longer than the standby line. The result is a whole bunch of really unahappy guests; especially those actual single riders who are caught up in this.

I'm only guessing here but I can't imagine more than 9-10 people from a single rider line making it through for each showing of Soarin. If that theory is accurate can you imagine how slowly a SR line would move if it was not actually true single riders, but groups willing to ride separately?

 

[unkadug]

It hasn't ever opened, which makes no sense to me. You would figure that during construction, they can figure out if the single rider queue would be able to work in a ride like this one. Personally, I think it could. Every time I have been on this ride, there are always empty seats everywhere.

On the flip side - the ride exiting before mine had several empty seats (atleast 5) and my ride itself had 3 just in section B alone. This was with a standby wait time nearing an hour and a half.

Sounds like there could be a loading problem that hasn't been worked out yet.

The way to solve this problem would be to have a turnstyle at the entrance and to allow x number of guest in every 10-15 minutes so the line doesn't get out of hand.

Seems like that could work.

 

[mousermerf]

I definitely think you're right.
DCA isn't that popular, even though I think it's a fun park. Not the best out of all the Disney parks though...

On a moderate/normal day, Epcot will have 3x as many guests at DCA. On peak days, like Holidays, Epcot having such a huge amount of space will have 3-4x as many folks as a busy DCA (6x as many as a "normal" DCA day) if not more.

Epcot is #3 in the Disney theme park parks for the US right behind Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom with a sizeable gap between it and MGM/AK, which are both far ahead of DCA.

 

[kiawahman]

I got in the singles line the second day it opened and seemed to work fine. Don't really understand why they closed the line. I got to ride twice within an hour.

 

[ToTBellHop]

On a moderate/normal day, Epcot will have 3x as many guests at DCA. On peak days, like Holidays, Epcot having such a huge amount of space will have 3-4x as many folks as a busy DCA (6x as many as a "normal" DCA day) if not more.

Epcot is #3 in the Disney theme park parks for the US right behind Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom with a sizeable gap between it and MGM/AK, which are both far ahead of DCA.

Um...no. Epcot saw 9.4 million guests in 2004, while DCA saw 5.6 million guests, so on a "normal" day, Epcot has 1.7x as many guests as DCA, but it is also a MUCH larger park, well more than 1.7x as big as DCA, so DCA can feel more crowded during the summer. Let's not be ridiculous about DCA's possible lack of success (6x as many guests at Epcot is absolutely laughable).

 

[DisneyMarg]

I wonder if this might not be caused by a pattern of abuse of the single rider line brought on by the consistently long lines for the ride. And remember this is just a theory based on my own observations.

Please understand going forward here that my definition of abuse of Single Rider as groups of 3 or more people moving into the Single Rider line to avoid the delay of Standby.

I have seen a pattern of abuse that crops up on TT during really busy days, where large groups of people load up the Single Rider line since the Standby line is so insanely long. Since the Single Rider line inherently moves very slowly that line slows to an absolute crawl and in some cases the standby line actually moves faster. But with the nature of the loading pattern of TT with only 6 riders per vehicle the single riders move reasonably quickly through the cycle once you get through the line.

With the length of the lines nearly all the time for Soarin now, I can see a situation where the Single Rider line would be abused by groups not wanting to wait in the standby line and pushing the SR line to be even longer than the standby line. The result is a whole bunch of really unahappy guests; especially those actual single riders who are caught up in this.

I'm only guessing here but I can't imagine more than 9-10 people from a single rider line making it through for each showing of Soarin. If that theory is accurate can you imagine how slowly a SR line would move if it was not actually true single riders, but groups willing to ride separately?

Whoa! Groups who are willing to ride separately abuse the privelege of singles line? I really honestly thought that was what it was for. Was the singles line designed to be like the express line at the supermarket - 3 items or less? And you're really supposed to be visiting the park as a single person to ride? I am not being sarcastic. I had no idea.

Other than learning that, your idea makes sense. The length of the ride, combined with how many single people you can get on the ride, is a determining factor in whether or not a singles line will work well.

 

[Chape19714]

Single Rider works fine at DCA, in my opinion. You have to ask for a pass to get in (via the fastpass line) and it does not say you will board without a line. It worked well for me, but it also was not advertised other than the logo on the map. If you don't see the logo and ask the CM, you would never know it exists. The same goes with Screamin at DCA. So, if it wasn't Advertised, it might work. I didn't notice a big difference in boarding procedures from the 2 soarin's. there were some minor differences, so the only thing I can think of is the line design.

 

[mousermerf]

edit

 

[patsfan24]

in my last trip to wdw i went on mission space multiple times and got on in under ten minutes every time, maybe the lines were moving quickly that week but test track was about 45-50 minutes. About average

 

[Number_6]

in my last trip to wdw i went on mission space multiple times and got on in under ten minutes every time, maybe the lines were moving quickly that week but test track was about 45-50 minutes. About average

That's actually fairly normal from what I've seen. The queue for Mission:Space is generally fairly short, unless it is peak time, then it might get longer. But Test Track and Soarin' have been getting fairly packed.

I will also say that I have to agree about the abuse of single rider line by large groups. When I went on Mission:Space for the first time, it was to get an idea of what it was like before I allowed anyone in my family to ride it. Since it was just me, I got into the single rider line and found a family of 12 in front of me. They were all travelling together and figured that some of them would at least ride together, so they didn't care.

As far as having a single rider line, it really does depend upon the crowds that day. I can work, but there has to be much less of a crowd to really work efficiently. If you already have a 120 minute Stand-By wait time, then here's what happens. First you load a set number of Fast Pass Holders. Then you load some Stand-By people. In order to ensure that the Single Rider doesn't back up worse, then you have to go and load a few from there. That means that you have now had less from Stand-By and made the wait time longer for that line. With the queue being what it is, and the way that wait times are measured(those little cards they hand to people to turn in before boarding) by the time the updated wait time goes through, it's no longer accurate. It's not really the fault of the CMs there. It's just that they have to wait for those cards in order to know and then the system updates itself. So when the guest got the card, it may have read 50 minutes, but there could be a card that hasn't made it up to the front yet who has been in line for 70 minutes already.

Right now, the only way I could see a Single Rider line working, and this would just cause confusion so it likely won't happen, is to have a dedicated Fast Pass that was just for Single Riders. It would only distribute so many per hour, and then that would be it for Single Riders. But since it would cause problems of its own(He got to be in the single rider line. I got a fast pass but I'm riding by myself, why can't I just go in that line?) I just don't see it happening. I'll try asking the CMs over there what the challenges would be for having a Single Rider line since I might head over to Epcot tomorrow. I work attractions for Disney Quest, so they might be receptive to going into some detail if one of the CMs has a minute.

 

[bigorangeandy]

I was able to ride Soarin 3 times last tuesday, and only saw 1 empty seat, (they got scared and did not ride). I could not see all the rows any time, but they seemed to have all the spots full in the staging area. The max wait time posted was 125 min.

 

[dxwwf3]

I will also say that I have to agree about the abuse of single rider line by large groups.

But I don't think this is abuse. Now if they expect some of them to ride together and they get upset if they don't, then that's tough luck and they have no right to complain. But my family of 4 always uses the SRL at Test Track because we don't care if we ride together or not. If there is some rule saying that groups of 2 or less were the only ones allowed to use the SRL then that might change things, but that would be absolutely ridiclious to try and say that.