Boarding groups - Any thoughts/rumors on when this might end?

[hertamaniac]

This. There were rumors from reliable sources that this ride was NOT ready. It wasn't running well during trials. Maybe they should have tried to figure out why, then. We all know Disney opened it for one reason and one reason only - $. The whole "We needed to open it to test it further" is just to appease the masses for an unreliable ride, awesome as it may be.

Plus the mysterious shift from Disneyland's version being built ~6 months earlier to a sudden shift to WDW's version taking the lead. I still don't have a clue how that really happened. Red flag for sure.

 

[hertamaniac]

But not with the frequency of this ride. No one is arguing that new rides, all rides, for that matter, are prone to quirks that need to be worked out or minor glitches and breakdowns. But rather, that this one is definitely experiecing more than is normal.

I don't think Hagrid's has BG's and the associated procedures. The BG's is a damage control mechanism due to rushing the ride to open prematurely.

 

[hertamaniac]

Sure, they could have continued testing for longer. Maybe they would have found all the issues, maybe not. I do believe there are some things caused by human elements that would not have been found using test dummies, but of course I have no way to prove that. But regardless they obviously got it to a point where they thought it was reliable enough to open and had to make a call. I was there in October when just MFSR was open. Given the choice between having ROTR open with a CHANCE to ride it or not having it open at all, I would have picked having it open. I don’t know why anyone wouldn't want to at least have the opportunity to ride.

I agree that humans MUST be a part of the testing, but not the ONLY way to test; it's a matter of how it was phrased...that's all.

I understand your position and respect it. I just feel the ride should have gone through more rigorous testing before a public opening without SB or FP. In technical projects that I managed, the more unknown or new the technology, the longer I made our testing phase. I just get the sense that the testing phase for this attraction wasn't given sufficient time when they drafted the schedule; I think they pressed for a hard date opening which almost always ends up costing more and with a scaled back project.

 

[rteetz]

This. There were rumors from reliable sources that this ride was NOT ready. It wasn't running well during trials. Maybe they should have tried to figure out why, then. We all know Disney opened it for one reason and one reason only - $. The whole "We needed to open it to test it further" is just to appease the masses for an unreliable ride, awesome as it may be.

Even the more ready Disneyland version of this attraction hasn’t been working well. Your comment about appeasing the masses is not correct either. They could have waited a year and this ride still wouldn’t have opened without interruption.

 

[rteetz]

I don't think Hagrid's has BG's and the associated procedures. The BG's is a damage control mechanism due to rushing the ride to open prematurely.

There was some rush but even if they waited to open they still would be having issues.

 

[rteetz]

Plus the mysterious shift from Disneyland's version being built ~6 months earlier to a sudden shift to WDW's version taking the lead. I still don't have a clue how that really happened. Red flag for sure.

They put all their focus on opening one of them before the other that’s how. They don’t have infinite imagineers to work on these things. Each imagineer has a specialty too.

 

[disneyannie]

So maybe to counter the 60 day FB bonus for those with longer onsite stays, they only let us have 1 of each tier 1 at 60 days, then any more at 30 days with the mases?? I'd way prefer that than the BG lottery. I'm quite obsessive so wouldn't want the wish to ride this one ride to overtake my complete trip;

 

[virk4]

I rode the attraction last December under the old system. I got there at 5am and was rewarded for my wait.

I will be there again in a few weeks and I'm confident that I'll get a boarding group in the new lottery system. My complaint is that the current system, by design, brings many '000s of people to DHS, who have nowhere to turn but to the other attractions. So, immediately we have 2 hour waits for Slinkey, ToT and R&R. The park is jammed full from the opening minute, with no reward to early risers, like in every other park. I predicted this two years ago---I hate being right.
My favorite park is now quite different.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I don't think Hagrid's has BG's and the associated procedures. The BG's is a damage control mechanism due to rushing the ride to open prematurely.

Hagrid's doesn't have BGs, just standing queue that people get stuck in for hours, sometimes with no moving for hours, eventually to get dumped. The BG process is to avoid that so you know early if you have a chance or not and so you can go off and do other things rather than just standing in line for hours

Both have had technical issues - personally I prefer the BG process vs just standing in line but I know others have differing views

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I rode the attraction last December under the old system. I got there at 5am and was rewarded for my wait.

I will be there again in a few weeks and I'm confident that I'll get a boarding group in the new lottery system. My complaint is that the current system, by design, brings many '000s of people to DHS, who have nowhere to turn but to the other attractions. So, immediately we have 2 hour waits for Slinkey, ToT and R&R. The park is jammed full from the opening minute, with no reward to early risers, like in every other park. I predicted this two years ago---I hate being right.
My favorite park is now quite different.

It definitely has an impact to "rope drop" - especially when DHS opens earlier than the other parks so you can't go to another park really. Flip side is near park closing saw lower waits (at least before FP got added to MFSR that was great before park closing with very short waits)

 

[hertamaniac]

[QUOTE="TheMaxRebo, post: 61593313, member: 174177] Both have had technical issues - personally I prefer the BG process vs just standing in line but I know others have differing views [/QUOTE]

I prefer a ride to open without the need for a recovery system knows as BG. Seems to me like a predetermined mindset that they knew the ride wasn't ready for a holistic opening.

 

[hertamaniac]

They put all their focus on opening one of them before the other that’s how. They don’t have infinite imagineers to work on these things. Each imagineer has a specialty too.

No, but they shifted the focus from one coast to another after the first got a 6 month head stsrt. That tells me there was a technical issue that the Imagineers didn't capture during a scope review of the project. Poor planning and PM implementation.

 

[hertamaniac]

There was some rush but even if they waited to open they still would be having issues.

What they should have done is more accurately predict the testing phase to not have substantial operational issues like we've been seeing. There should have been zero rush if planned properly.

 

[rteetz]

No, but they shifted the focus from one coast to another after the first got a 6 month head stsrt. That tells me there was a technical issue that the Imagineers didn't capture during a scope review of the project. Poor planning and PM implementation.

Per what’s been said they knew going into it there would be issues. But the land was underperforming and the anticipation for this ride was through the roof. I don’t think they had any other choice. The ride was ready to go just not without any downtime.

 

[rteetz]

What they should have done is more accurately predict the testing phase to not have substantial operational issues like we've been seeing. There should have been zero rush if planned properly.

They did see the operational issues in testing. I’m not quite sure what your point is here.

 

[hertamaniac]

Per what’s been said they knew going into it there would be issues. But the land was underperforming and the anticipation for this ride was through the roof. I don’t think they had any other choice. The ride was ready to go just not without any downtime.

For sure. They had a cutthroat decision to make and it is one I would have done in that exact scenario. My point is that I would have done everything I could to avoid that scenario.

 

[rteetz]

For sure. They had a cutthroat decision to make and it is one I would have done in that exact scenario. My point is that I would have done everything I could to avoid that scenario.

I’m sure disney would’ve loved to avoid any delay and any downtime but that’s not what happened.

 

[hertamaniac]

They did see the operational issues in testing. I’m not quite sure what your point is here.

Sure...I'll expand. Since this project was never-before-done and high-risk, they should have inflated the testing phase not by a factor of 2X, but by more. A seasoned PM with a technical background, would have probably applied an over-factor of 3-5X for the testing phase to capture the anomalies. In my technical PM opinion, the team was likely lead by vertical managers and fundamental discipline leads and not seasoned technical PM's. That lead to a substantial difference to the implementation timelines which we have now seen for almost 3 months. If I had the time and go back to my posts about 3-6 months before RotR was scheduled to open at HS, I think I predicted this exact scenario (not trying to pat myself on the back, but use my experience in project failures to a prediction). The problem is that you have Marketing and CEO's pounding the desk for a release date regardless of operational efficiency. And who gets caught in the middle? The PM team saying the didn't do their schedule correctly. Off that soapbox.

I'm convinced the egg on the face for Disney with the RotR rollout is a major data point for future attractions and more accurate release dates.

 

[hertamaniac]

I’m sure disney would’ve loved to avoid any delay and any downtime but that’s not what happened.

OK....I'm not sure I see your point with this. Can you please expand this part? Maybe that ties into my other statement about insufficient testing and schedule build-outs.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We were able to do the boarding group twice in December. First time we arrived 3 hours before park opening. Second time, 15 minutes before opening. We were glad to have got to ride but it made the park crazy crowded with everyone there at opening. I would prefer a FP+ option and lighter morning crowds. I remember back in October we arrived early for MF:SR and were able to walk on TSMM and SDD. And though we didn't ride it, AS2 looked like a walk on for at least an hour. Those days are gone with boarding groups.