Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Do they still herd you off to the side if your trying to get a FP to RS Racers first thing in the a.m.?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros They've actually taken the space near the ride originally intended for FP, and annexed it into the shop there, so it seems like they will be using the FP machines by ITTBAB for the forseeable future. I would assume at some point in the eventual future, they'll want to move it closer to the ride, but it will be hard to get that space back from the merchandise team. Then again, with the NextGen 'enhancements' coming late next year, having a physical FP machine next to a ride may be obsolete by that point, so it won't be an issue anyway. We'll have to keep an eye on how it all plays out in WDW in coming months to predict what impact it will have when they roll it out at DLR.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Yes, it sounds like physical machines spitting out paper tickets will become a relic of the past once NextGen kicks in to high gear. They'll have quite a few old Fastpass machine areas that can be repurposed as queues or other areas eventually. Splash Mt., Screamin', Soarin', Space Mt., Star Tours, Indy, etc. all come to mind as areas where removing the Fastpass machines will free up needed space.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I think it's cute that they ever thought It's Tough to be a Bug would need a fastpass machine.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Haha, Constance, that's so true. For some reason, they've kept it running for ITTBAB in WDW, but I don't think anybody there uses it either. For a while, they were using it to test a centralized FP distribution location for the entire park, but I think they've switched it back to the film only. It seemed like they were putting FP everywhere for a few years, and have since scaled it back significantly; I think that MuppetVision also had it when DCA opened (as well at POTC, it's a small world holiday, Haunted Mansion yearround, Pooh, and Buzz at DL)
Originally Posted By Disney Joy Thanks for the info. I needed to know if I needed a plan to find the FP machine.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Let me see if I can remember all the things that had Fastpass at DCA when it opened in 2001... It's Tough To Be A Bug MuppetVision Soarin' Over California Grizzly River Run Mulholland Madness California Screamin' I think that's it, but that's still about four too many. Only Soarin' and maybe Screamin' needed it, and Grizzly on a 80 degree day or warmer. But even Screamin' rarely needed it with very high capacity and rarely more than a 15 minute wait. I would have LOVED to have been in the TDA conference room in 2000 when Cynthia Harriss and her executive brain trust approved the plan to have Fastpass at MuppetVision and the Bugs show. Those people were truly clueless when it came to running a theme park.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Pooh with a fastpass? lol In case you don't want to wait the 30 seconds or so it'll take to get on the ride. As it turns out most people don't want to wait the 30 seconds which is why it only takes 30 seconds to begin with. Even my daughter who has never ridden on or watched anything in her entire life she doesn't like, doesn't like the Pooh ride.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance **I** still like the Pooh ride though. Yeah, I'm not hard to please.
Originally Posted By believe >>>Pooh with a fastpass? lol In case you don't want to wait the 30 seconds or so it'll take to get on the ride.<<< Just so you'll know, the Hong Kong DL Pooh (very similar to DL pooh) had one of the longest wait times, and yes, it has a fastpass. The standby for it throughout the day was around 45 to 60 minutes. Compare that with the standby of Space Mt 30mins. For non FP rides, Jungle Cruise was 10mins, the new Grizzly Gulch 10 mins, Buzz was 10 minutes, electric Autopia 60 mins.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Just so you'll know, the Hong Kong DL Pooh (very similar to DL pooh) had one of the longest wait times, and yes, it has a fastpass*** Well, considering it was the only dark ride in the park, and with very little else to do in all of Fantasyland, that kinda makes sense. A little. As for why it was a longer wait than Space, I tend to imagine throughput comes into play. Space Mountain seems to eat people pretty voraciously for a coaster (I dunno the actual figures).
Originally Posted By phruby What amazes me is the long queue they built for both Muppets and ITTBAB. I was there during previews and still didn't have to wait in those lines.
Originally Posted By ksargen I actually remember having to wait in a fairly long line for ITTBAB in the early days. I don't remember ever using a fast pass, but the long queue DID get used - the stroller crowd takes up more room! *LOL* Thank goodness we're not waiting in line for THAT anymore. Least favorite of mine EVER. Even TOT and my fear of heights get along better than I do with the bug stink and the stinging benches...
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I think ITTBAB is a good show, but... This once again shows how Disney at the time didn't take the vastly different WDW and DLR demographics into account when planning DCA. ITTBAB at DAK was located right at their central icon, in a park with lots of real animals to look at, but not a lot of "Disney-type" attractions when it first opened, so of course it drew big crowds. Also, many families do a WDW vacation every few years if they can; it's very different from the DLR locals/AP-heavy demographic, with whom films (even with an AA component) don't wear as well. So while I think ITTBAB is well done, the DLR demographic isn't going to repeat it time and again, and fp was never really necessary for it at DCA, even if it was at WDW in its early days.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Like I said, Cynthia Harriss and her executives simply didn't know how to run a theme park. Even a mediocre theme park.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I think ITTBAB is a good show too, for the record. But all that que space and a fast pass machine? Overkill.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think that part of the reason the queue is so big is that they wanted to try and replicate the feeling of the DAK queue, where you're under the enormous Tree of Life and really do feel like you're shrinking down to the size of a bug. Obviously, DCA didn't have the space (or 13 story tree) to do that, but they did put a lot of thought into that space, and it's one of the nicest areas of the original park; sadly you can only watch that movie so many times, so it's often passed by. Plus, with the theater being below grade, they needed some extensive ramps to get everybody down that far without using stairs. Yes, they probably could have made it work with a shorter set of ramps (I don't think the exit ramps are nearly as long), but it's not the worst thing in the world. And I think that including FPs on it was a political move as much as anything. If guests looked at the park map and only saw a couple attractions with FP, they'd think that there were only a few big things worth doing. But with more FP attractions, the park appears more attractive from outside, since people think that there are more worthwhile attractions (whether or not that mentality is valid, plenty of people use it). A similar approach is used in WDW, where each park has fewer attractions, so there are several of them with FP that don't really need it, just to keep up appearances and stay 'competitive' with each other.
