Testa was right...

[goofy kc]

Just back from the World and noticed wait times being impacted by manipulation of ride capacity. Worst experience was EMH at HS where we waited 45 minutes for ToT. Once inside the pre-show room with the video our group was only 12 people - while the line outside snaked through the standby line out past the FP check in. In the 'basement' area we had to wait for more people in order to fill the elevator and it still went on with empty seats.
We asked why they weren't letting more people through and didn't get an answer.

SO...we only got ONE ride in for EMH. To add insult to injury, it was the first day of Daylight Savings Time and we were already an hour ahead because of our travels and completely groggy.

Saw similar issues on Soarin' where only two screens were running with a 80 minute stand-by wait. Made the FP wait 35 minutes. Again, I asked and didn't get an answer.

We were on a light-park trip but if we had been going commando this all would have been beyond infuriating.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I saw someone post on FP today that Jungle Cruise was a a 130 minutes standby wait and the FP line was backed up to the Magic Carpets - unless there were major technical problems, that just doesn't seem right

 

[SorcererHeidi]

@goofy kc - Wow - miserable experience, sorry you had to go trough that.

 

[OKW Lover]

Color me disappointed. I thought this thread was going to be about Nicola Tesla.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Color me disappointed. I thought this thread was going to be about Nicola Tesla.

GMTA.

 

[jcb]

Color me disappointed. I thought this thread was going to be about Nicola Tesla.

So, are you AC or DC?

 

[SorcererHeidi]

So, are you AC or DC?

 

[KingLlama]

I thought it was gonna be about the rock group Tesla.

You haven’t lived until you’ve heard me belt out “Love Song” and “Signs”.

 

[jcb]

I thought it was gonna be about the rock group Tesla.

You haven’t lived until you’ve heard me belt out “Love Song” and “Signs”.

I can think of better uses for a belt....

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I can think of better uses for a belt....

You, Mr. Burgin (hope I spelled that right) are an interesting man.

 

[bluecruiser]

I thought it was going to about the Tesla car company.

 

[goofy kc]

Sorry!!! Spell check! Fixed title to Testa.

 

[OKW Lover]

Sorry!!! Spell check! Fixed title to Testa.

Where's the fun in that?

 

[Mickeymouseisking]

Just back from the World and noticed wait times being impacted by manipulation of ride capacity. Worst experience was EMH at HS where we waited 45 minutes for ToT. Once inside the pre-show room with the video our group was only 12 people - while the line outside snaked through the standby line out past the FP check in. In the 'basement' area we had to wait for more people in order to fill the elevator and it still went on with empty seats.
We asked why they weren't letting more people through and didn't get an answer.

SO...we only got ONE ride in for EMH. To add insult to injury, it was the first day of Daylight Savings Time and we were already an hour ahead because of our travels and completely groggy.

Saw similar issues on Soarin' where only two screens were running with a 80 minute stand-by wait. Made the FP wait 35 minutes. Again, I asked and didn't get an answer.

We were on a light-park trip but if we had been going commando this all would have been beyond infuriating.

We had an extremely annoying experience at TL this past summer. We rope dropped Crush n Gusher, like we always do. This usually allows us to ride it about ten times with virtually no line. We were the first riders of the day. Got off the slide to an ENORMOUS line. We couldn’t understand why there was such a long line a few minutes after RD. We stood in line to find at the end that the CM wasn’t allowing people to take inner tubes from the huge pile, but instead making each guest wait until someone came down one of slides and handed off their inner tube. Meaning, this was a completely artificial line. We went down the slide a second time and then the line was just so long there was no way we were going to do it again (and still most of the inner tubes were sitting there in a pile, unused).
Why Disney would want to discourage people from rope dropping their parks is beyond me. And artificially creating long lines at RD is a great way to create irritated guests.

 

[WDW_Ding]

Just back from the World and noticed wait times being impacted by manipulation of ride capacity. Worst experience was EMH at HS where we waited 45 minutes for ToT. Once inside the pre-show room with the video our group was only 12 people - while the line outside snaked through the standby line out past the FP check in. In the 'basement' area we had to wait for more people in order to fill the elevator and it still went on with empty seats.
We asked why they weren't letting more people through and didn't get an answer.

That is crazy. I have never seen them load rides at less than capacity. That's why they shout down the line for "single riders", even on rides tat don't have a single riders line.

Saw similar issues on Soarin' where only two screens were running with a 80 minute stand-by wait. Made the FP wait 35 minutes. Again, I asked and didn't get an answer.

Very strange.

 

[beastlyprince]

I fail to see the reasoning behind manipulating ride capacity.

Longer waits in line for attractions mean that person is not spending money on a meal or
on souvenirs.

It's simply the antithesis of what FP+ is supposed to be all about.

I've seen this ride capacity manipulation happen at my local Six Flags. It's infuriating to try
to ride the most popular coaster only to find that they're running only one train instead of two.
What should be at most a half hour wait becomes an hour to two hour wait.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

I fail to see the reasoning behind manipulating ride capacity.

Longer waits in line for attractions mean that person is not spending money on a meal or
on souvenirs.

It's simply the antithesis of what FP+ is supposed to be all about.

I've seen this ride capacity manipulation happen at my local Six Flags. It's infuriating to try
to ride the most popular coaster only to find that they're running only one train instead of two.
What should be at most a half hour wait becomes an hour to two hour wait.

Disney may have figured out they save more money by having less staff on hand than what people may be spending on meals and souvenirs. Right now with FP+, if you know how to use it, you can potentially go from ride to ride, especially in MK. So you are not spending any money. I know for us if we don't have an FP for a time, we walk around and look to see if we can find a short line, we aren't necessarily looking to go spend money.

 

[Clare Voince]

If they are doing it to save on staffing costs, it is very short-sighted. If the guests have a bad experience with waits, they will go someplace else on their next vacation. I've had several friends and family members tell me that they didn't enjoy their trip due to long waits, and that was before they started this. Only the hard core fans like us will put up with it, and they need normal people to make the parks a success.

 

[bwbuddy5]

Make sure you listen to the Dish podcast this week. Len re-tested his theory during college Spring Break and determined that rides were back up to full capacity. He also discussed the wear and tear on the rides when that happens, noting that Pirates, Splash, and Thunder were all down at the same time.

Also, very interesting discussion of back when the movie ET was being shopped to different studios.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

If they are doing it to save on staffing costs, it is very short-sighted. If the guests have a bad experience with waits, they will go someplace else on their next vacation. I've had several friends and family members tell me that they didn't enjoy their trip due to long waits, and that was before they started this. Only the hard core fans like us will put up with it, and they need normal people to make the parks a success.

True but apparently the majority of guests at Disney parks are first timers or very causal visitors, go every 5 years or so, so they can cut costs and have long lines because the first time visitor has nothing to compare it to. They may not go back again because of the long lines, but then there is another first time family that will go to fill their place.