Tom
Beta Return
Yep. Or they could take the approach of testing in the middle of the day which will tick off paying customers. Why does it have to be tested during hours the park is open to public? Do you think McDonalds would introduce a new sandwich, put it on the menu, and then invite only employees to come to the store while they are off work and eat it while other paying customers watched. Of course not because they realize that is bad business just like the other parks realize employee only previews during regular hours is bad business. I would even be okay with a bunch of folks in fantasyland uniforms were riding to test it but off duty CM in street cloths laughing at the folks that pay their salary is quite different.
This attraction has more visibility than any they've built in a long time. Everest was the last one you could see, but you couldn't actually get close enough to tell who was riding, if anyone. This attraction is surrounded by guest paths.
Also, it's the best way to generate excitement. Case in point: this thread...and the thousands of tweets, FB posts, blogs and other forum discussions about the ride. By the time it opens, the amount of free "media" coverage they will have gotten will be immeasurable.
Disney has clearly said that it will be open to guests on May 28. It says it on the sign hanging in front of the ride. The only reason guests get disappointed is because they read the internet and think they're owed an early ride.
There are a million reasons why running it during the day is better than night. This is an extremely important phase of testing, adjusting and training. Everyone involved needs to be on their A game, and for most people that doesn't happen at 3am. They need test riders, but they don't want swarms of CMs coming to the park while they're trying to clean and prep for the next day....especially since the ride goes down during these tests, and there's no point having a bunch of test dummies loitering in the park. Not to mention, it's much better to inspect the track and address issues in natural daylight, as opposed to night lights. The list goes on.