Test Track 2012 Update

[nicholas]

Umm... when were they taken? I mean it had to be after I left because I saw nothing like that.

[HauntedGabe]

The week between Christmas and New Years. You actually went at a slower time. These were from New Years Eve.

[HauntedGabe]

[ohiodisneydad]

OK, I love WDW but there's nothing on property that I would wait 280 minutes in line for.

[Mo Noyz]

When we went between Christmas and New Years in 2006 we saw similar crowds. Not quite that extreme, but it was nearly impossible to go anywhere or do anything. Better get in line at the nearest counter service about a half hour before you get hungry, and be prepared to eat standing up...

Yet another reason why we decided to avoid that time frame this trip.

And agreed on the wait time.

One of the reasons why we didn't get to ride the new Test Track last month.

[prickle]

I went on Soarin with a wait time of 60 min, which was my limit. Me and many other guest waited close to 3hrs. People were getting angry and were getting ready to storm the exit doors, since they were not letting anyone leave through the exits.

[Mo Noyz]

They were showing a wait time for Test Track of 90 minutes our last night there. We had tried to ride it the previous morning but they had it closed due to ice on the track.

So we got in line. Our line moved a very short distance twice while hundreds of people funneled through the FP line. We finally got to one spot where we didn't move for over 8 minutes and we called it quits and exited to go catch Illuminations.

The 90:1 ratio they use for FP grates on the nerves. I have often thought about writing Disney about it, but most people seem to like the system.

[doconeill]

My experience has been that Test Track's queues just don't work well at any ratio. For some reason it seems that Fastpass returns at times are higher than the capacity of the attraction in general, and the Fastpass return line can actually go all the way outside - which means if you are in the standby line...get comfortable. Bring a pillow and earplugs.

Haven't seen the new one to know if anything has improved. My hope is that they've at least solved the operational issues so there is no downtime and operational efficiency is closer to theoretical efficiency.

Otherwise they need to reduce the number of FPs issued.

Perhaps Fastpass+ will take care of all that when people have to choose between Soarin' and Test Track...

[clj2]

All of these pictures and this discussion make me glad I always go in March or August now...I think I'd have to pass it up with those crowds

[HauntedGabe]

They were showing a wait time for Test Track of 90 minutes our last night there. We had tried to ride it the previous morning but they had it closed due to ice on the track.

So we got in line. Our line moved a very short distance twice while hundreds of people funneled through the FP line. We finally got to one spot where we didn't move for over 8 minutes and we called it quits and exited to go catch Illuminations.

The 90:1 ratio they use for FP grates on the nerves. I have often thought about writing Disney about it, but most people seem to like the system.

Annoying that you couldn't ride TT. The reason I am not a fan of FP in general and beyond guarded about NextGen FP+ That 90 1 ratio really flattens the argument of 'if you don't like FP don't use it' that is such an obnoxious retort.

[Mo Noyz]

Yeah, something that was really hammered home on this last trip is that Disney is really forcing your hand when it comes to FastPass.

On Peter Pan's Flight they'd let a boatload of FP's through and then take a party of three from the standby line. I was irritated to the point where I nearly lost my cool and jumped a cast member. I didn't, but I was very close to it. Just kept telling myself, they're simply doing what they're told...

I have hated FP since the day they introduced it, and it's simply getting more and more obnoxious as time goes by. Add in ADR's and the new My Magic+...oy.

Perhaps they'll create a hard ticket event for those of us who just want to spend a leisurely, unscheduled day in the park...

[HauntedGabe]

Yeah, something that was really hammered home on this last trip is that Disney is really forcing your hand when it comes to FastPass.

It was moderately busy when I went down to see my son in the spring. FP still played into the stand by queues in some attractions. Nobody seemed to be aware that TT was shutting down the next day and we were able to practically walk right on but it was 5pm so that likely played into it too. Rock'n was a nightmare for those in stand by as was Soarin.

Same with ADR's.

On Peter Pan's Flight they'd let a boatload of FP's through and then take a party of three from the standby line. I was irritated to the point where I nearly lost my cool and jumped a cast member. I didn't, but I was very close to it. Just kept telling myself, they're simply doing what they're told...

Toy Story was the same way for Stand by and guests in that queue really get uptight and I didn't blame them.
CMs are held to the ratio and their leads and supervisors are near by so they don't really have wiggle room. When a hissy fit is war rented, head to guest relations.

I have hated FP since the day they introduced it, and it's simply getting more and more obnoxious as time goes by. Add in ADR's and the new My Magic+...oy.

What seems to make the future of My Magic+ appear worse is most attractions are going to be included. I does seem that it will now create stand by queues for even the normal walk on attractions like Presidents, Tiki and CoP. With Disney's continued problems with crashing websites, slower than slow WiFi, plus loosing connectivity, it makes me wonder how the heck Disney is going to pull this off without the majority of guests going into meltdown. They have so much invested they might just shove it down the throats of all trying to save face much like they tried to defend the Disney Institute and racing events at the speedway. They have made some very costly blunders in the past.

Perhaps they'll create a hard ticket event for those of us who just want to spend a leisurely, unscheduled day in the park...

Giggle. You will be allowed to wander and observe others on attractions and only eat off free standing carts.

[Mo Noyz]

The Wi-Fi was smoking right along while we were there. My son and I both used it in multiple parks.

[JNota0005DakMC]

Yeah, something that was really hammered home on this last trip is that Disney is really forcing your hand when it comes to FastPass.

On Peter Pan's Flight they'd let a boatload of FP's through and then take a party of three from the standby line. I was irritated to the point where I nearly lost my cool and jumped a cast member. I didn't, but I was very close to it. Just kept telling myself, they're simply doing what they're told...

I have hated FP since the day they introduced it, and it's simply getting more and more obnoxious as time goes by. Add in ADR's and the new My Magic+...oy.

Perhaps they'll create a hard ticket event for those of us who just want to spend a leisurely, unscheduled day in the park...

This is my gripe with PPF and Soarin' among others... The point of the stricter Fastpasses was to keep these lines down a bit... From what I heard, they have a mandate to keep the Fastpass lines flowing, no matter what the cost to the star-by line... though this seems logical because the only thing worse than standing on line for an hour in a 30 minute labeled attraction is standing online for a half hour while holding a fastpass... The way I see it the most logical solution is simple... Cut the amount of fastpasses down... Even if they take 20% of the Fastpasses out, people may not notice it (besides the distribution ending sooner) and the stand-by lines can continue to move...

[doconeill]

I guess it depends on what you think the point of Fastpass was.

It wasn't going to make wait times significantly shorter for those in the standby line. It was simply to get people physically out of the line altogether, with the hopes that they'd spend that extra time buying stuff. In a lot of cases, all they did was get in another line, which ended up making some lines longer, since in effect they were in two lines at once.

Even if it operated at theoretical efficiency (guests got a Fastpass and then went shopping), the standby line would be shorter wait-time wise by the number of people who deferred getting in the line in favor of a later fastpass, but then it slowly restores to normal by the end of the day. The line was certainly physically shorter, but it moved slower than before.

The benefit was really for those with the Fastpasses. The standby line basically exists to "fill in the gaps", and they have "planned gaps" in the sense that only a percentage of the ride capacity is allocated to Fastpass. The problem comes when a large number of FP holders hit the return at the same time, greater than the actual capacity, which happens naturally since there is a flexible return time. But as long as there are no operational issues that reduce the capacity, it should all even out.

But then, Test Track was the poster child for reduced capacity...