TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[JanaDee]

We were at DHS yesterday.
We had gone to EMH there on Sunday evening, expecting to ride TSM a few times. It was broken down basically all of EMH, every time we checked. I don't know why.
So I told the kids, if we get up early today and make rope drop, we will be able to ride TSMM at least once, probably twice, and then we have FP for around noon....

We did miss rope drop thanks to missing a bus, but still got there well before ten. The park was not crowded and we were denied SB, of course. But told we could come back during our FP time. Or, cancel ALL of our FP to try for an earlier one. I was speaking with one of the manager types and trying to wrap my head around this.

I did all of my homework. I spent HOURS trying to understand the FP system, booking my rides sixty days out, staying on property for seven nights to make sure we could get it all done. What in the wide world of sports have you done? My kids think I lied to them, that I tricked them into waking up at the crack of dawn to come over here and now the one stupid ride they want to ride in your whole stupid park, we can't ride it?

I made the cast member talk to my kids. No way will I be the bad guy when this is not my decision. My nine year old called him out when he started to explain this was a test. "You didn't tell us you were testing anyone. It's like you're changing the rules in the middle of the game. That's not fair."

And that's the bottom line. IT IS NOT FAIR. Yeah, I'm whining like a nine year old. If you don't want people waiting in line, plan that out ahead of time. Warn us that we are spending thousands of dollars on a vacation to play guinea pig for you.

I was punished because I played by their rules. I scheduled FP, and would have had to release them and risk the rest of my day there to ride that one stupid ride.

Did it ruin our whole vacation? No. Of course not. We are having lots of fun.

But, man, I love Disney world. It should be more than fun. When I was a little kid in Jacksonville, before Epcot was born, I wanted to be Cinderella in the MSEP when I grew up. It's one of those places that sings to me. And you made my kids sad, and they don't trust you anymore. All afternoon yesterday and this morning, when were on our way to ohana. "Is Mickey still at ohana? What if he's not? What if that changed and they didn't tell you? What if they do another test tonight and we don't see Belle?"

I'm not sure this place will sing to them like it sings to me. And that is sad.

The worst part is they did nothing. The cast member said he couldn't help us, or he'd just have to give extra FP to everyone. To which I replied, yeah, or you could just let us WAIT IN LINE which is what we were expecting to do. They did offer to put the day back on our tickets if we wanted to leave. Which meant nothing because we have park hoppers. It was a really bad experience. And when our window did open, walking back through their cadre of CMS shouting, "fast pass only!" Did not help. We got to ride once, then the FP were (allegedly) done for the day.

We spent eight total hours in DHS. Between the EMH and yesterday. Rode TSMM once. ONCE. That stinks. We were supposed to do another half day at DHS before we go, and the kids have already said they won't go back. They love Star Tours but we've ridden it nine times already. What else is there for them? RNRC and ToT are too much for them, they are too old for the Disney Jr junk. You have a barn full of snow. We live in COLORADO. Not interested.

I hate that we got stuck here during this time. We will absolutely not come back until they figure out how to make this system work for their guests, and not just their pocket books.

I am so sorry for your terrible experience. Poor kids.

 

[wilkeliza]

We were at DHS yesterday. We had gone to EMH there on Sunday evening, expecting to ride TSM a few times. It was broken down basically all of EMH, every time we checked. I don't know why. So I told the kids, if we get up early today and make rope drop, we will be able to ride TSMM at least once, probably twice, and then we have FP for around noon.... We did miss rope drop thanks to missing a bus, but still got there well before ten. The park was not crowded and we were denied SB, of course. But told we could come back during our FP time. Or, cancel ALL of our FP to try for an earlier one. I was speaking with one of the manager types and trying to wrap my head around this. I did all of my homework. I spent HOURS trying to understand the FP system, booking my rides sixty days out, staying on property for seven nights to make sure we could get it all done. What in the wide world of sports have you done? My kids think I lied to them, that I tricked them into waking up at the crack of dawn to come over here and now the one stupid ride they want to ride in your whole stupid park, we can't ride it? I made the cast member talk to my kids. No way will I be the bad guy when this is not my decision. My nine year old called him out when he started to explain this was a test. "You didn't tell us you were testing anyone. It's like you're changing the rules in the middle of the game. That's not fair." And that's the bottom line. IT IS NOT FAIR. Yeah, I'm whining like a nine year old. If you don't want people waiting in line, plan that out ahead of time. Warn us that we are spending thousands of dollars on a vacation to play guinea pig for you. I was punished because I played by their rules. I scheduled FP, and would have had to release them and risk the rest of my day there to ride that one stupid ride. Did it ruin our whole vacation? No. Of course not. We are having lots of fun. But, man, I love Disney world. It should be more than fun. When I was a little kid in Jacksonville, before Epcot was born, I wanted to be Cinderella in the MSEP when I grew up. It's one of those places that sings to me. And you made my kids sad, and they don't trust you anymore. All afternoon yesterday and this morning, when were on our way to ohana. "Is Mickey still at ohana? What if he's not? What if that changed and they didn't tell you? What if they do another test tonight and we don't see Belle?" I'm not sure this place will sing to them like it sings to me. And that is sad. The worst part is they did nothing. The cast member said he couldn't help us, or he'd just have to give extra FP to everyone. To which I replied, yeah, or you could just let us WAIT IN LINE which is what we were expecting to do. They did offer to put the day back on our tickets if we wanted to leave. Which meant nothing because we have park hoppers. It was a really bad experience. And when our window did open, walking back through their cadre of CMS shouting, "fast pass only!" Did not help. We got to ride once, then the FP were (allegedly) done for the day. We spent eight total hours in DHS. Between the EMH and yesterday. Rode TSMM once. ONCE. That stinks. We were supposed to do another half day at DHS before we go, and the kids have already said they won't go back. They love Star Tours but we've ridden it nine times already. What else is there for them? RNRC and ToT are too much for them, they are too old for the Disney Jr junk. You have a barn full of snow. We live in COLORADO. Not interested. I hate that we got stuck here during this time. We will absolutely not come back until they figure out how to make this system work for their guests, and not just their pocket books.

I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I'm normally on Disney's side but for these stupid no standbye test I just can't be. Who ever came up with this idea should be the one to look every little one in the face and say I don't care you were willing to wait 3 hours and behave nicely to get to ride we decided you can't.

at least with Soarin and Anna and Elsa there were other cool rides or meet and greets.

 

[JanaDee]

I seriously have no idea what your point is, but no I didn't.

Someone, posted this:



I've never commented on whether or not Disney would've made more guests happy building rides vs the fp+ system until I answered that post. If you want to hunt and see if you can find where I did, feel free.


From the other thread you pulled over to this thread I responded:



That was my response in regards to building new rides-And I still think that, word for word. But even then I'm not talking about making more guests happy. And, I don't see anything in that statement about the new fp+ system.


Again, what the hell is your point?

I'm not going to bother answering you anymore. Have a great day.

 

[cakebaker]

I'm not going to bother answering you anymore. Have a great day.

Thank God. Just don't say I've said things I haven't. It's infuriating.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

DD was just in line (reserved TSM FP+ this am from offsite-loved that as she never gets up early) BUT

Just went down for technical dif-she sent me the video of them explaining that, anyway the line was growing quickly. Just after filming she did say a guy got super pissed he could not wait SB-mad she missed filming it.

Anyway-will see what else she can observe.

 

[TheBacklot]

All afternoon yesterday and this morning, when were on our way to ohana. "Is Mickey still at ohana? What if he's not? What if that changed and they didn't tell you? What if they do another test tonight and we don't see Belle?"

Did they really.

 

[cakebaker]

DD was just in line (reserved TSM FP+ this am from offsite-loved that as she never gets up early) BUT

Just went down for technical dif-she sent me the video of them explaining that, anyway the line was growing quickly. Just after filming she did say a guy got super pissed he could not wait SB-mad she missed filming it.

Anyway-will see what else she can observe.

Seems people wanting to ride TSMM can't win- first a test, now down for tech problems.

 

[vacationer1954]

It is so complex to now plan a Disney Vacation. You can just book a room, buy tickets, and show up, but you won't get to do nearly as much as you should be able to.

Then that is probably what Disney should be working on before everything else. And MDE should help with that.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

We were at DHS yesterday.
We had gone to EMH there on Sunday evening, expecting to ride TSM a few times. It was broken down basically all of EMH, every time we checked. I don't know why.
So I told the kids, if we get up early today and make rope drop, we will be able to ride TSMM at least once, probably twice, and then we have FP for around noon....

We did miss rope drop thanks to missing a bus, but still got there well before ten. The park was not crowded and we were denied SB, of course. But told we could come back during our FP time. Or, cancel ALL of our FP to try for an earlier one. I was speaking with one of the manager types and trying to wrap my head around this.

I did all of my homework. I spent HOURS trying to understand the FP system, booking my rides sixty days out, staying on property for seven nights to make sure we could get it all done. What in the wide world of sports have you done? My kids think I lied to them, that I tricked them into waking up at the crack of dawn to come over here and now the one stupid ride they want to ride in your whole stupid park, we can't ride it?

I made the cast member talk to my kids. No way will I be the bad guy when this is not my decision. My nine year old called him out when he started to explain this was a test. "You didn't tell us you were testing anyone. It's like you're changing the rules in the middle of the game. That's not fair."

And that's the bottom line. IT IS NOT FAIR. Yeah, I'm whining like a nine year old. If you don't want people waiting in line, plan that out ahead of time. Warn us that we are spending thousands of dollars on a vacation to play guinea pig for you.

I was punished because I played by their rules. I scheduled FP, and would have had to release them and risk the rest of my day there to ride that one stupid ride.

Did it ruin our whole vacation? No. Of course not. We are having lots of fun.

But, man, I love Disney world. It should be more than fun. When I was a little kid in Jacksonville, before Epcot was born, I wanted to be Cinderella in the MSEP when I grew up. It's one of those places that sings to me. And you made my kids sad, and they don't trust you anymore. All afternoon yesterday and this morning, when were on our way to ohana. "Is Mickey still at ohana? What if he's not? What if that changed and they didn't tell you? What if they do another test tonight and we don't see Belle?"

I'm not sure this place will sing to them like it sings to me. And that is sad.

The worst part is they did nothing. The cast member said he couldn't help us, or he'd just have to give extra FP to everyone. To which I replied, yeah, or you could just let us WAIT IN LINE which is what we were expecting to do. They did offer to put the day back on our tickets if we wanted to leave. Which meant nothing because we have park hoppers. It was a really bad experience. And when our window did open, walking back through their cadre of CMS shouting, "fast pass only!" Did not help. We got to ride once, then the FP were (allegedly) done for the day.

We spent eight total hours in DHS. Between the EMH and yesterday. Rode TSMM once. ONCE. That stinks. We were supposed to do another half day at DHS before we go, and the kids have already said they won't go back. They love Star Tours but we've ridden it nine times already. What else is there for them? RNRC and ToT are too much for them, they are too old for the Disney Jr junk. You have a barn full of snow. We live in COLORADO. Not interested.

I hate that we got stuck here during this time. We will absolutely not come back until they figure out how to make this system work for their guests, and not just their pocket books.

You have one smart nine year old. Sorry about your day yesterday.

 

[xipetotec]

*snooty cast meme*
"Do you have a reservation?"
"Do I need one?"
"I am afraid so, next!"


No but seriously, I know it's just a test for now, but this could set a terrible precedence. If I didn't book my attraction, I can't get on ? Even if I'm willing to wait two hours? Ridiculous.

 

[ghtx]

*snooty cast meme*
"Do you have a reservation?"
"Do I need one?"
"I am afraid so, next!"


No but seriously, I know it's just a test for now, but this could set a terrible precedence. If I didn't book my attraction, I can't get on ? Even if I'm willing to wait two hours? Ridiculous.

That's already how it works for many restaurants, and no one seems to mind too much.

 

[decoy7375]

That's already how it works for many restaurants, and no one seems to mind too much.

Plenty of people mind...have spent the last 20 years going to Chicago for their largest conference of the year...the attendees are not happy about not getting into restaurants.

Restaurants just done have the numerous social media platforms with dedicated fans to discuss it.

As for the Disney restaurants...see the people clamoring for spots at 180+ and everyday after...I don't think they are happy either.

 

[ghtx]

Plenty of people mind...have spent the last 20 years going to Chicago for their largest conference of the year...the attendees are not happy about not getting into restaurants.

Restaurants just done have the numerous social media platforms with dedicated fans to discuss it.

As for the Disney restaurants...see the people clamoring for spots at 180+ and everyday after...I don't think they are happy either.

Fair enough - people are certainly upset if they can't get a reservation at a restaurant and it's booked.

But, is anyone suggesting that a BETTER alternative would be for the restaurant to leave a certain fraction of its tables available everyday for walk-up/standby guests? That doesn't seem like an improvement to me.

 

[Ellwood970]

In response to indimom when she said " And when our window did open, walking back through their cadre of CMS shouting, "fast pass only!" Did not help. We got to ride once, then the FP were (allegedly) done for the day. "

I have been three times this year and i have heard a lot of shouting instructions to guests all over the parks. Its just proof to me they don't know what to do with this new system.

 

[ghtx]

I have been three times this year and i have heard a lot of shouting instructions to guests all over the parks. Its just proof to me they don't know what to do with this new system.

Or, it's the guests who don't know what they're doing, and that's why they need to be shouted at.

 

[xipetotec]

Plenty of people mind...have spent the last 20 years going to Chicago for their largest conference of the year...the attendees are not happy about not getting into restaurants.

Restaurants just done have the numerous social media platforms with dedicated fans to discuss it.

As for the Disney restaurants...see the people clamoring for spots at 180+ and everyday after...I don't think they are happy either.

True, but also, Restaurants are *almost* a given anywhere in the world. Maybe it's no fun, but at least it's a norm we are all familiar with.

I was a little unsure about "booking my fastpasses", but it wasn't that much of a stretch from how fastpass worked in the first place. ( even the paper ticket was a "booking" of sorts ). But if in some dystopian Disney future, I will need to book my Counter Services, my Attractions, AND my dinners... forget that... I already work pretty hard to make sure we have everything planned that *needs* planning and allow for some "vactiony flow".

 

[JoshuaShaw]

That's already how it works for many restaurants, and no one seems to mind too much.

That's because I don't pay for my meal before I book a reservation.

 

[cakebaker]

There's a couple of things in your post I wanted to comment on

Originally Posted by indimom3-

They did offer to put the day back on our tickets if we wanted to leave.

While I understand a 1 day park ticket wouldn't do you much good, it is pretty decent compensation for missing 1 ride in a park. It isn't something you'd have to use on this trip.

We did miss rope drop thanks to missing a bus, but still got there well before ten. The park was not crowded and we were denied SB, of course. But told we could come back during our FP time. Or, cancel ALL of our FP to try for an earlier one.

If you aren't interested in the big rides like TOT or RNC, none of the other fp's you had were really at risk- especially at that time of the morning. If it had been me, I would've cancelled fp's and rescheduled. The chances of losing any of the others was quite small and TSMM seems to have been extremely important.

We spent eight total hours in DHS. Between the EMH and yesterday. Rode TSMM once. ONCE. That stinks. We were supposed to do another half day at DHS before we go, and the kids have already said they won't go back. They love Star Tours but we've ridden it nine times already. What else is there for them? RNRC and ToT are too much for them, they are too old for the Disney Jr junk. You have a barn full of snow. We live in COLORADO.

Honestly, if RNC and TOT are too much for your kids, and they don't like Disney Jr, Muppets, Great Movie Ride, the build a snowman, Stunt Show, or any of the character meet n greets along with the other shows that are there- I'm not sure just being able to ride TSMM multiple times really gives you enough to do at HS for 8 hrs or more.

You did get to ride it once, that's more than some from what I understand.

 

[slzer0]

Seems people wanting to ride TSMM can't win- first a test, now down for tech problems.

So just for the sake of argument.. If a ride is down during your entire FP window, do you get dibs when it comes back online or what?

 

[slzer0]

Is anyone picturing theme parks of the future advertising "freestyle queueing"? LOL