TSM Troubles

[captainkidd]

I was in the right place at the right time yesterday and overheard some CMs saying that since the refurb, things have been slower loading and unloading and numbers have been down because of those new gates, resulting in crazy long lines (150 minutes--two and a half hours--yesterday) and fewer fastpasses distributed in an attempt to keep the FP line short, which would also keep the standby line moving.
But it didn't work. 150 minutes is too long for a child to wait in line. A poor little boy got all the way to the front of the line and peed his pants just beside us because his parents didn't want to get out of line and I overheard another CM say that it was the second one that day. Management needs to suck it up and get rid of fastpass. Most people won't understand, but it'll be for their own good. People are not meant to wait in a line for two hours+.
Thoughts?

So, get rid of fastpass because 2 kids peed their pants?

What good will getting rid of fastpass do for a ride like this? The line will be just as long. Any way you slice it, if 30,000 people want to ride it in a 10 hour business day, you gotta get 30,000 people on.

 

[captainkidd]

We were just at WDW/DHS a month ago and didn't even attempt to get near TSM. Luckily we got to experience it June '08, so maybe by next time (01/12) it will all be worked out. We like DHS but are considering not going there at all on our next visit. It could definitely use another popular attraction to buffer the mess at TSM.

I actually agree with you on this. That whole Pixar area is an absolute disaster. I used to love ToT, but every time they "plus" it, it gets harder for me to ride. My stomach ain't what it used to be.

 

[captainkidd]

Toy Story Mania is a very popular attraction.... I have seen waits at Soarin exceed 600 minutes...I kind of miss the old days of no fast passes.... Things seemed to go along just fine... Of course we used to get along fine with out cell phones... I rarely if ever get a fastpass... Because if its a long wait I know I can always come back.. One of the advantages of working for a mouse

That doesn't even seem possible. How could anyone get in a line with a 10 hour wait? Talk about needing your head examined.

I for one love fastpass. I think it's all a question of knowing how to use it effectively.

 

[Mark_E]

I was at Hollywood studios on Thursday and there wasn't any gates when exiting the ride? There was gates to get into the ride, but getting off was clear so im struggling to see what the problem is? It seemed to be loading pretty quickly.

The wait did get to 2 hours + later in the day, we waited 25 minutes just after rope drop.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I was in the right place at the right time yesterday and overheard some CMs saying that since the refurb, things have been slower loading and unloading and numbers have been down because of those new gates, resulting in crazy long lines (150 minutes--two and a half hours--yesterday) and fewer fastpasses distributed in an attempt to keep the FP line short, which would also keep the standby line moving.
But it didn't work. 150 minutes is too long for a child to wait in line. A poor little boy got all the way to the front of the line and peed his pants just beside us because his parents didn't want to get out of line and I overheard another CM say that it was the second one that day. Management needs to suck it up and get rid of fastpass. Most people won't understand, but it'll be for their own good. People are not meant to wait in a line for two hours+.
Thoughts?

Getting rid of FP is not an answer to shorter lines. Capacity per hour doesn't change and people will continue to enter the stand-by line till the wait times reach a point where the person doesn't feel the wait is worth the ride.

Before FP I had unfortunately waited in lines that were 2+ hour waits. Popular rides will always have long lines with or without FP. Now with FP I never wait more than 30 minutes. I personally refuse to stand in long stand-by lines.


I hope they can get the load times down on TSMM. Does anyone know what TSMM's hourly capacity numbers are?

 

[parkgoer]

What if they made it strictly Fast Pass only, and if you miss your time, your SOL. No allowing late arrivals. Maybe a 5 min grace period. Make it like taking a number at the deli. Maybe if that wouldn't work, open the stand by line only allowing a certain amount of people every 5-10 minutes. Or, like others proposed, build some new attractions to split up the guests.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I hope they can get the load times down on TSMM. Does anyone know what TSMM's hourly capacity numbers are?

I was on this the first full day it was open (and posted something similar in another thread). The operational capacity of TSM prior to the refurb was 1175, but they were regularly reaching 1200-1300. After the refurb they were getting around 800 per hour. The air gates are part of the problem, but it seems they also reduced staffing.

I posted this earlier.

 

[Heart_Disney]

My intention in posting that was to say that 2.5 hours is too long for anyone, much less a kid, to wait in line. If FP was gone, the standby line would continue moving instead of waiting for all the FP people to get through. So, the standby doesn't move at all, which results in loooooong wait times. The wait times was linger between 40-50 minutes.
It seems a like a drastic move, but it may be something they're already leaning toward. They stopped giving out FP for times after 5pm today and the park closed at 7. I guess it's so that the CMs don't have to wait so long after park closing to get all the last guests off the ride (because it's entirely standby with only a few leftover FP from the day).

 

[G-bone]

Do people who hate FP really never use them? I find that hard to believe. Since this is the only attraction that is crowded why not just use fastpass once for this.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I posted this earlier.

Missed you post. Thanks for the info.

 

[PhilharMagician]

My intention in posting that was to say that 2.5 hours is too long for anyone, much less a kid, to wait in line. If FP was gone, the standby line would continue moving instead of waiting for all the FP people to get through. So, the standby doesn't move at all, which results in loooooong wait times. The wait times was linger between 40-50 minutes.
It seems a like a drastic move, but it may be something they're already leaning toward. They stopped giving out FP for times after 5pm today and the park closed at 7. I guess it's so that the CMs don't have to wait so long after park closing to get all the last guests off the ride (because it's entirely standby with only a few leftover FP from the day).

You are correct that the line will move quicker, but the line will be much longer. The queue's have to be longer to accomodate everyone which can be seen in rides that were developed prior to FP like PotC, HM, Splash. I am not sure what would be done for rides like Soarin' or TSMM. Niether have much room outside their respective entrances to set up external queues. Disney has to have capacity data, merch sales and food sales, customer satisfaction and anything else that would effect any decision to remove FP.

One thing that would help would be not allowing FP's to be excepted after it's effective window. It would keep a move even flow of FP's through out the day. This is probably why FP's are stopped 2 hours prior to closing for TSMM.

From my personal experiences FP is needed. I can now do many more things now during my day than I was able to do prior to FP's when I had to wait in lines for hours.

 

[toetheline29]

Could the next-generation queue system they've tested at RnR and HM be applied to TSMM? I haven't followed the next-gen queue stuff too closely, but might it alleviate some of these queuing-related problems (although it would do nothing for capacity issues)?

 

[jt04]

Could the next-generation queue system they've tested at RnR and HM be applied to TSMM? I haven't followed the next-gen queue stuff too closely, but might it alleviate some of these queuing-related problems (although it would do nothing for capacity issues)?

It is a temporary problem until ST2 opens.

Obviously they will need to tweak some stuff such as possibly fewer fast passes. But I doubt any big changes will happen before Star Tours reopens. IMO

 

[The Crickets]

Fast Passes

My time is valuable & I get a Fastpass, then do other things till it's time to go on the ride.....Fastpasses work for us!!!!!!!!!!!:wave:

 

[RSoxNo1]

Star Tours 2.0 will help ease congestion at Toy Story, but it's not the only issue. If capacity stays at 800-900 per hour, that's going to be hell for the operations crew. They can't keep running a ride with a 2+ hour long wait at all times.

 

[NX2I85]

It is a temporary problem until ST2 opens.

Obviously they will need to tweak some stuff such as possibly fewer fast passes. But I doubt any big changes will happen before Star Tours reopens. IMO

I don't think ST2 will have a dramatic effect on TSM wait times. Until TDO comes up with an attraction with equally wide appeal not much is going to slow down the TSM goliath.

I wonder if they have given thought to duplicating TSMM -adding a second track in the same building. Or if that is feasible. Of course this should not be done in lieu of adding other new attractions.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't think ST2 will have a dramatic effect on TSM wait times. Until TDO comes up with an attraction with equally wide appeal not much is going to slow down the TSM goliath.

I wonder if they have given thought to duplicating TSMM -adding a second track in the same building. Or if that is feasible. Of course this should not be done in lieu of adding other new attractions.

There are already two tracks. The other thought would be increasing the capacity of the vehicles, but that would mean larger video screens.

The "problem" with TSMM is that it has mass appeal. Soarin' faces the same issues, but at least has a height requirement. Everyone in the family can go on TSMM for the most part, and it's the only "quality" ride in the park where that's the case. GMR needs a serious refurbishment to bring it back up to E-Ticket status, but that would be a help.

That's not to say that Star Tours 2.0 won't hurt. While not everyone will be able to go on Star Tours, there will obviously be cross over. As of right now, my typical day at DHS includes 2 rides on TSMM and no rides on Star Tours. With Star Tours re-opening that could easily change to 1 and 1. Star Tours does not increase the capacity for the park, but it will help spread it out. The capacity for Star Tours exceeds the demand on many days, but for Star Tours 2.0, the expectation is that won't be the case.

 

[PirateFrank]

To anyone claiming it's the parents fault is CLEARLY removed from parenting sufficiently and at the same time ignorant enough to make such an acusation.

Anyone here with small children knows that a kid never says he has to go to the bathroom until its pretty much an emergency. In addition, most small children will refuse going to the bathroom before a long wait, arguing they don't need to. Moreover, even if the parent takes the prudent step, says "I dont care, you need to go before we get on a 2 hour line" and drags the kid to the bathroom....there is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING to prevent the same child from having to urinate in emergency fashion 45 minutes later.

I've taken my kids to the bathroom before long car rides, feeling that they were sufficiently emptied....and less than 70 minutes later, they're crying for the bathroom.


Really....to the folks that want to dismiss this as the parents not being smart, you clearly didn't think before you typed.



Perhaps it's a desperate attempt to defend either TSM's initial construction or fastpass.....which are both utter Disney failures in trying to address capacity.


The fact of the matter is that TSM was poorly planned and then placed in a park that is poorly planned. I don't know what TSM's stated capacity is, but they needed an attraction that's 2-3X larger. Not one with such reduced capacity and poorly planned fastpass ratios to slow the lines further.

Im not sure a monsters inc coaster will solve TSM's problem.....but I am sure that putting another huge draw attraction into the right side of that park will *not* solve the right-side-of-the-hat gridlock problem that park has after 5pm.

 

[Dayma]

Really....to the folks that want to dismiss this as the parents not being smart, you clearly didn't think before you typed.

My point was I would not make my kid stand there to the point that they wet themselves. I've never done that to my child and never will. She is smart enough to tell me when she gets to the point.

I do think that Star Tour 2.0 will help with some of the wait times on this ride but not much. The problem with DHS is that they need more ride like this for the younger ones and parents alike to really spread the load.

 

[sshindel]

Really....to the folks that want to dismiss this as the parents not being smart, you clearly didn't think before you typed.

To those of use blaming the parents, we were just reading the OP. It said:

"A poor little boy got all the way to the front of the line and peed his pants just beside us because his parents didn't want to get out of line..."

To me, that makes me blame the parents a bit. I agree that the issue is the capacity and throughput of TSM, which is what we should be discussing, so try not to be so nasty in your reply. I think on the most part on here, people do think before they type.