Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (DHS)

[Alicia]

Lol, that doesn’t happen these days. They try to avoid paying turnaround time as much as possible so even if you left at 12 or whenever HHN ended, you couldn’t work until 8am the way the company does things today.

Plus, HHN has *kinda* turned into a full time job itself. 5-6 day weeks at 45-52 hours. I’ve noticed less and less people actually work a second job while doing HHN now.

Yea there were times back then they actually even approved overtime pay. Work all day, work into HHN. 12+ hour days. For some reason they were desperate to staff BttF that year at HHN. Worked out well for me, willing to pick up shifts on a whim. That was around 2000 I believe. Fun times.

 

[bob albert]

So opening officially earlier just jams the crowds only to fill the ride to capacity even earlier? Shocking!

 

[Nick]

So opening officially earlier just jams the crowds only to fill the ride to capacity even earlier? Shocking!

Means they can get those capacity signs out earlier too so people are warned before entering the park.

 

[Alicia]

So opening officially earlier just jams the crowds only to fill the ride to capacity even earlier? Shocking!

I think that was pretty clear. If anything, this will end up just upsetting more people now. If you announce it, they will come:

Maybe they’re afraid admitting they’re willing to open early will attract more early visitors? :shrug:

 

[UNIrd]

When I've shared with friends that the only way for their family to get on ROTR is to be at DHS by 6am, the most common response I've gotten is... "With kids??"

 

[rhino4evr]

When I've shared with friends that the only way for their family to get on ROTR is to be at DHS by 6am, the most common response I've gotten is... "With kids??"

Exactly...and may I add..with your significant other? The look I got when I told my wife we may need to get to Animal Kingdom at 5:30am to ride Flight of Passage was pretty severe. Thank goodness I got a fast pass.

 

[UNIrd]

Exactly...and may I add..with your significant other? The look I got when I told my wife we may need to get to Animal Kingdom at 5:30am to ride Flight of Passage was pretty severe. Thank goodness I got a fast pass.

That too.. when I text my friend 'good morning sunshine' at 5:30am and to get going, his response was... "My wife is going to punch me in the face."

 

[OLSinFLA]

Yea there were times back then they actually even approved overtime pay. Work all day, work into HHN. 12+ hour days. For some reason they were desperate to staff BttF that year at HHN. Worked out well for me, willing to pick up shifts on a whim. That was around 2000 I believe. Fun times.

The worst for me was in the 70s at Pirates. We were desperately short staffed. I literally opened and closed for 5 straight days -- getting done at 2am and back in at 7am. I slept on the couch in the control tower

 

[bob albert]

When I've shared with friends that the only way for their family to get on ROTR is to be at DHS by 6am, the most common response I've gotten is... "With kids??"

Kids make life an upcharge event.

 

[Nick]

When I've shared with friends that the only way for their family to get on ROTR is to be at DHS by 6am, the most common response I've gotten is... "With kids??"

Having to be there so early means that it's the best park to do at the top of your vacation. Go to bed around 8-9pm on arrival day and everyone will have gotten good sleep to wake up early and be excited to go to the park. Otherwise though, you have to be pretty dedicated.

 

[Andysol]

Disney made the changes to the parking lot for the long game. The park may not be fully ready for the stress everyday though, which is why they need to get started on the Pixar version of Fantasyland in Animation Courtyard (and backstage) that I want. I don't mean like a Pixar land, but like a town like area where all of the different movies sort of clash, allowing for DHS to add in a lot of smaller rides and lots of rides in close proximity to each other. The park needs the expansion ASAP.

I agree completely. This would make DHS incredible. ASS and SR were great for DHS, a park full of almost only Es and shows. But they could use some more B-D. The entire animation courtyard Pixar area honestly wouldn’t need a single E and it would still be a raging success in my eyes.

And as long as they connected the walkway to sunset Boulevard (either to RnRC or Rosie’s), then you’ve completely fixed the layout of the park all in one swoop.

I remember back in the day working HHN, getting home around 2am, just to turn around and come back at 6am to clock in by 7 and clean boats at Jaws before opening. Good times good times.

The worst for me was in the 70s at Pirates. We were desperately short staffed. I literally opened and closed for 5 straight days -- getting done at 2am and back in at 7am. I slept on the couch in the control tower

And you know what’s funny, you remember times like that, and know it built character. It was likely some of the most enjoyable time of your life.

As long as its not a permanent situation, I think not only is its good these CMs have to work these crazy hours for the opening of RotR, but that they’ll remember them fondly. Or at least in a “can you believe I did that?” Way. Anytime you push your body and mind beyond what you think it can handle, it moves your threshold that much further. Which, psychologically, is actually a great thing. And, not to go completely into it, but something we’ve moved away from with our youth, which have had negative effects. (Read: The Coddling of the American Mind if that stuff intrigues you and definitely if you’re a parent of small kids).

So I don’t feel sorry for them and actually am happy for them for creating these memories. The young ones, of course. If there’s a 40 year old parent with 3 kids doing it, that’s a different story. Them I feel sorry for.

 

[Nick]

I agree completely. This would make DHS incredible. ASS and SR were great for DHS, a park full of almost only Es and shows. But they could use some more B-D. The entire animation courtyard Pixar area honestly wouldn’t need a single E and it would still be a raging success in my eyes.

And as long as they connected the walkway to sunset Boulevard (either to RnRC or Rosie’s), then you’ve completely fixed the layout of the park all in one swoop.

The problem is lots of offices need to be moved in order to expand beyond animation and towards RNRC. So beyond the fact that there isn't even rumor of any of this happening right now (although at some point it will happen), one of the things they need to factor into an expansion is where to move offices and how backstage needs to be rearranged for any potential expansion.

For example, the main Cast Cafeteria sits right in the middle of a potential path to RNRC from animation, so that would either need to be worked around or demolished and moved somewhere. Moving it isn't out of the question, but there's limited places to move it so you run into quite a few obstacles depending on how large the scope of the project is.

All of this is obvious stuff WDI can figure out rather easily, but it's also not like DHS is bursting with available land.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Heads up on what yesterday was like.

 

[brianlo]

FEA says hi. The capacity for FEA is under 1200 I believe and yet the lines have gotten to a pretty stable 45-60 minute average when I pass by, which I don't consider do be too bad all things considered. If the ride had real capacity it'd be a walk on at all times.

FEA admittedly is a head scratcher.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Well the VQ did not go smoothly today. A large number of guests (including me) could not get the MDE to recognize my being in the park/couldn’t load. Even after restarting several times. So guest experience cast members suddenly got a rush of tons of people trying to book a boarding pass.

 

[Tbad556]

Passes are gone for the day and the ride is down as of 10 or so minutes ago it appears.

 

[rastuso]

Heads up on what yesterday was like.

I assume nothing is being given to those with unused boarding passes anymore. Especially with those numbers.

Well the VQ did not go smoothly today. A large number of guests (including me) could not get the MDE to recognize my being in the park/couldn’t load. Even after restarting several times. So guest experience cast members suddenly got a rush of tons of people trying to book a boarding pass.

This is why I HATE having to have your phone for entry or anything important. Last night I went to a concert. There wasn’t even an option to get a hard ticket. Then I forgot my charger in the car. Luckily nothing happened, but a cell phone just isn’t dependable enough to make it the only option. Especially somewhere where you have 20,000 people trying to get on in a few hundred foot radius. Like a concert, or theme park entrance.

 

[Nick]

FEA admittedly is a head scratcher.

It's in a park that already is struggling crowd-wise and it's all the way back in World Showcase, where it typically doesn't get truly busy until closer to late afternoon.

 

[Mad Dog]

It's in a park that already is struggling crowd-wise and it's all the way back in World Showcase, where it typically doesn't get truly busy until closer to late afternoon.

Yes, plus FEA's line is really short if you hit it in the first hour or so of opening.

 

[Nick]

In the final episode of The Imagineering Story that was just released, there's a good look at how some of the effects are done on RotR.