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Theme Parks & Roller Coasters |OT| The Happiest Place on GAF

T

The Xtortionist

Member
JediMasterMatt said:
I think it was Confucius that said - "If everything is FastPass, then nothing is".

Team Disney Orlando just doesn't care.

Since FP+ was added to most everything at the resort, no line is fast moving anymore. Attractions like Omnimovers have no need for any virtual queuing.

WDW has become a chore. At least Anaheim is still enjoyable. Just show up and have fun. No waking up in the middle of the night months out to plan everything down to the last minute.

*BTW - I'm saying this as a Disney Parks Premier passholder that visits both coasts many times a year. Although, in recent times, we spend more time in Anaheim and when in Orlando - increasingly more time at Universal. There is nothing quite like Universal's Unlimited Express Pass.
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Well said.
 
J

Jailer of Hope

Member
JediMasterMatt said:
I think it was Confucius that said - "If everything is FastPass, then nothing is".

Team Disney Orlando just doesn't care.

Since FP+ was added to most everything at the resort, no line is fast moving anymore. Attractions like Omnimovers have no need for any virtual queuing.

WDW has become a chore. At least Anaheim is still enjoyable. Just show up and have fun. No waking up in the middle of the night months out to plan everything down to the last minute.

*BTW - I'm saying this as a Disney Parks Premier passholder that visits both coasts many times a year. Although, in recent times, we spend more time in Anaheim and when in Orlando - increasingly more time at Universal. There is nothing quite like Universal's Unlimited Express Pass.
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I used to think that but I've since come to like FP+. The idea is that you can pull a fastpass as soon as 5 mins out and in the case of omnimovers, it's very possible. You lose the ability to do that if you reserve farther out in the day but that's the normal FP trade-off. In a lot of cases I'm able to ride attractions I wouldn't normally ride otherwise because I just didn't feel like the wait was worth it. Peter Pan is a good example of this. A couple of months ago I grabbed a last minute cancelled FP for Soarin' just 10 minutes out and that's not something I've ever bothered with at Epcot. Rolling FP+ is the new "commando". For the kind of resorts both DLR and WDW are, I think they have the FP system to match.
 
P

peteykirch

Member
The fact rides like Pirates and Haunted Mansion now have waits of 30+ minutes when they always were 15 or less shows FP+ is a pretty big failure.
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
Jailer of Hope said:
I used to think that but I've since come to like FP+. The idea is that you can pull a fastpass as soon as 5 mins out and in the case of omnimovers, it's very possible. You lose the ability to do that if you reserve farther out in the day but that's the normal FP trade-off. In a lot of cases I'm able to ride attractions I wouldn't normally ride otherwise because I just didn't feel like the wait was worth it. Peter Pan is a good example of this. A couple of months ago I grabbed a last minute cancelled FP for Soarin' just 10 minutes out and that's not something I've ever bothered with at Epcot. Rolling FP+ is the new "commando". For the kind of resorts both DLR and WDW are, I think they have the FP system to match.
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I don't doubt that there are ways to optimize your plan for a better experience, but IMO it adds an unnecessary hoop to jump through. The cynic in me thinks it's all for data tracking purposes anyway, rather than a smoother vacation.

brerwolfe said:
They used to tell people that they likely wouldn't get to ride together in the single rider line. That not the case anymore?
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Some people still either don't understand or don't care. Last week I hit Transformers single rider. There was a family of three in front of me at the station and the kid was too small to ride alone. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
 
B

bucknuticus

Member
So GF and i were invited to a condo in early December to Fort Myers. Were thinking of flying into Orlando and doing 1 day at both universals and thinking of staying at an onsite hotel to get the line jumper pass. We both havent been in probably close to 10 years so going to want to ride at least all the new things. Do you think its worth staying onsite for 1 day or just go to a cheaper place, and do you think we can do both parks in a day?
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
bucknuticus said:
So GF and i were invited to a condo in early December to Fort Myers. Were thinking of flying into Orlando and doing 1 day at both universals and thinking of staying at an onsite hotel to get the line jumper pass. We both havent been in probably close to 10 years so going to want to ride at least all the new things. Do you think its worth staying onsite for 1 day or just go to a cheaper place, and do you think we can do both parks in a day?
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Universal has added A LOT over the past few years. I'd definitely recommend two days to see everything comfortably. One night in either Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, or Portofino Bay will get you the express pass for two days (check-in through check-out). I'm sure you'll have an amazing time ;)
 
J

Jailer of Hope

Member
peteykirch said:
The fact rides like Pirates and Haunted Mansion now have waits of 30+ minutes when they always were 15 or less shows FP+ is a pretty big failure.
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Yes but in all the times I've visited since the implementation of FP+ I've never used regular stand-by for those attractions because the FP distribution is aplenty. We don't dare think to use FP for these kind of attractions but if it's your 6th, 7th, 10th etc FP of the day why not wait 5 minutes instead if 15? Heck, if you make them one of your early FPs that means you can start rolling your extra FPs sooner.

The Xtortionist said:
I don't doubt that there are ways to optimize your plan for a better experience, but IMO it adds an unnecessary hoop to jump through. The cynic in me thinks it's all for data tracking purposes anyway, rather than a smoother vacation.
Click to expand...
All I'm doing is getting one FP after the other. For me, my vacations have been smoother by not having to be in a park within the first two hours to get a chance at that Toy Story FP, or not having to walk to each attraction to pull out a little piece of paper, or not needing to commit to a return time that doesn't fit my schedule or even my mood.
 
P

peteykirch

Member
Jailer of Hope said:
Yes but in all the times I've visited since the implementation of FP+ I've never used regular stand-by for those attractions because the FP distribution is aplenty. We don't dare think to use FP for these kind of attractions but if it's your 6th, 7th, 10th etc FP of the day why not wait 5 minutes instead if 15? Heck, if you make them one of your early FPs that means you can start rolling your extra FPs sooner.


All I'm doing is getting one FP after the other. For me, my vacations have been smoother by not having to be in a park within the first two hours to get a chance at that Toy Story FP, or not having to walk to each attraction to pull out a little piece of paper, or not needing to commit to a return time that doesn't fit my schedule or even my mood.
Click to expand...

What if you have people in your party who aren't into the thrill rides? That then makes the classics much longer to enjoy than before.
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
Jailer of Hope said:
All I'm doing is getting one FP after the other. For me, my vacations have been smoother by not having to be in a park within the first two hours to get a chance at that Toy Story FP, or not having to walk to each attraction to pull out a little piece of paper, or not needing to commit to a return time that doesn't fit my schedule or even my mood.
Click to expand...

Being able to schedule Fastpasses remotely is a good idea; I just don't like that it's in play for the majority of attractions. So, if I was heading to Magic Kingdom, I would probably book some combination of Seven Dwarves' Mine Train, Space, Splash, and Thunder for my first three Fastpasses. After that, I would need to run back and forth to the kiosk for every ride that I want to use Fastpass on after that because the standby lines are unreasonable in most cases: Pirates and Mansion because standby is artificially inflated for them, Peter Pan's Flight because it's Peter Pan's Flight, and whatever else I feel like doing. It sounds better than the paper system earlier in the day, but seems to falter once the first three reservations are used.

Maybe I have it all wrong. I haven't used Fastpass+ myself, but I've read up on it a fair bit and I'm just not convinced.
 
P

peteykirch

Member
Jailer of Hope said:
Makes it easier actually, because all the classics have more FP times to choose from during windows not too far from present.
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Not always.

When I went down in the end of January, both pirates and Haunted Mansion didn't have many open slots after using my 3fp+ selections.

There's no reason why always loading rides should have 30+ minute waits during supposed slow times.

FP+ has put out more tickets for rides than during the old FP days thus making standby lines inflate to get those returning onto the ride.
 
J

Jailer of Hope

Member
peteykirch said:
Not always.

When I went down in the end of January, both pirates and Haunted Mansion didn't have many open slots after using my 3fp+ selections.

There's no reason why always loading rides should have 30+ minute waits during supposed slow times.

FP+ has put out more tickets for rides than during the old FP days thus making standby lines inflate to get those returning onto the ride.
Click to expand...

I already agreed that secondary attractions have longer stand-by as a result of FP+ but not finding FP simply hasn't been my experience. I haven't used stand-by for those attractions since FP+ started unless the lines were pre-FP+ short. I've never not been able to get a decent time for secondary attractions.

It's kind of a poor example because it's a year old, and I park-hopped with a huge gap in between but it wouldn't take much more effort to get a better outcome:

zF09Bpo.png
HLg3ipF.png
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EDIT:*I didn't edit the two images together, to show the single date.

That's not counting attractions that I did wait in stand-by for, since legacy FP attractions are certainly feasible in comparison to the old days. The argument is for the secondary attractions after all. Had I not taken a huge break or even stayed in one park, it sure would of been a rather impressive day, I would think.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
Knotts announced a few of their mazes this year, as well as a kids' version of knotts scary farm. And Trapped is out so they put more mazes in in its place. I'm gonna be hype for this Halloween
 
P

ph1l0z0ph3r

Member
What are the impressions on the Wicked Cyclone so far? (Six Flags NE). Have my season pass but haven't been able to go recently outside of the water park.
 
I

ito007

Member
It's crazy to think how integral the fast pass system is for the Disney World experience. You can go without it, but if it is at all decently crowded, you better be ready to do some scheduling
 
X

Xun

Member
Exterminieren said:
Are there any respectable rumours for theme park announcements at D23 this weekend?

Please show off Hollywood Studios' facelift. Please.
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Star Wars should be shown for Disneyland at the very least.

I am hoping they go all out and reveal the DHS plans however, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I'm intrigued to see what the Magic Kingdom Frontierland expansion will be like as well, but the chances of that getting talked about is incredibly slim.
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
Xun said:
Star Wars should be shown for Disneyland at the very least.

I am hoping they go all out and reveal the DHS plans however, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I'm intrigued to see what the Magic Kingdom Frontierland expansion will be like as well, but the chances of that getting talked about is incredibly slim.
Click to expand...

Imminent disappointment
 
F

flyover

Member
Exterminieren said:
Are there any respectable rumours for theme park announcements at D23 this weekend?
Click to expand...

Also, any good sources for following any announcements that are going on (kind of like how tech sites liveblog Apple keynotes)? I don't frequent any theme park or Disney sites, forums, or Twitter accounts, so I wouldn't know what's the best source.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
flyover said:
Also, any good sources for following any announcements that are going on (kind of like how tech sites liveblog Apple keynotes)? I don't frequent any theme park or Disney sites, forums, or Twitter accounts, so I wouldn't know what's the best source.
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I'm going but I'm not a reliable source. If anything is going on tomorrow or Sunday I'll try my best to stay on top of it.
 
B

B-Dex

Member
Is Dollywood worth a trip? After the new coaster is up and running of course. It seems like an odd vacation but then again Dolly Parton owning an amusement park named after her is also odd.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
Jailer of Hope said:
I'm sitting in my hotel room until later lol. My big to-do for today is the animation presentation with John Lasseter. Park stuff is not until tomorrow at 3pm.
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If you pass by a pile of ashes with a keyblade necklace, please scoop them into the nearest trash bin. I don't want to litter.
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
Rode Ripsaw Falls for the first time in forever a while and goddamn! Such a different sensation being in a low, narrow log than any other ride vehicle, and that last drop is bonkers. Ride has theming issues but it more than delivers everything else.

Edit - I've been trapped in the Three Broomsticks for 2 hours because of rain

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