Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic - General Discussion Thread

[Mad Dog]

No need for panic observations for long lines. It should have been expected. The attraction has been down a lot, or not running at all, for a few weeks now. Subsequently there's a lot of pent up demand. Plus its running significantly under capacity for a number of issues. Once the park has been officially open for a few weeks, and ride ops are running normal capacity, we'll get a better picture of what the stand by lines wait will be. Since this is a new park with all new attractions, I doubt lines will remain as super long that they still are for Hagrid, since Hagrid was a new E ticket in parks IOA/USF that have had a drought of good D/E attractions in the past seven years. (only Hagrid/Velocicoaster and maybe Bourne).....Epic is still on Preview status. Attractions that aren't running fully might be down for reasons other than ride reliability. Stuff is still being worked on in conjunction of the Media preview and Grand Opening.

 

[saint.piss]

 

[OrlandoGuy]

No need for panic observations for long lines. It should have been expected. The attraction has been down a lot, or not running at all, for a few weeks now. Subsequently there's a lot of pent up demand.

You’re probably right but since we don’t have APs yet, is pent up demand really going to get any better? In theory, the vast majority of people there today are there for the first time, as will presumably be the case the rest of this summer.

Added capacity/reliability will definitely help though. Wouldn’t be surprised if a four hour line actually has 2.5-3 hours worth of people with the posted time being a built-in buffer for downtime.

 

[Mad Dog]

You’re probably right but since we don’t have APs yet, is pent up demand really going to get any better? In theory, the vast majority of people there today are there for the first time, as will presumably be the case the rest of this summer.

Added capacity/reliability will definitely help though. Wouldn’t be surprised if a four hour line actually has 2.5-3 hours worth of people with the posted time being a built-in buffer for downtime.

Once the park is officially open for a few weeks, I would suspect most attractions will be open all day instead of the present situation where they're often taken offline for various park operational reasons. That alone should spread demand around. But, I've always said, since Day One, that Ministry will be the most popular ride with the GP, so I'd expect Ministry and DK (DK because of very low capacity) to always have the longest lines in Epic. Potter is Potter. The theme park super fans might be tired of it, but the GP isn't, and they always want more.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Once the park is officially open for a few weeks, I would suspect most attractions will be open all day instead of the present situation where they're often taken offline for various park operational reasons. That alone should spread demand around. But, I've always said, since Day One, that Ministry will be the most popular ride with the GP, so I'd expect Ministry and DK (DK because of very low capacity) to always have the longest lines in Epic. Potter is Potter. The theme park super fans might be tired of it, but the GP isn't, and they always want more.

Maybe not in terms of GSATs but in terms of ridership I would expect Mario Kart to be most popular. Yes it already exists elsewhere but so does Forbidden Journey.

(I feel like for a few of the FL parks it's a no-brainer as to what the most popular/profitable attraction is at each [IoA and AK], while others it's not so clear cut.)

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Everyone panicked and hated Virtual Queues

Now everyone is freaking out because of long wait times

Truly astounding lol

 

[saint.piss]

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I remember when Hagrid's reached a 10 hour wait

 

[belloq87]

Yeah I’m sorry I’ll never be convinced this is better than a Virtual Line.

For super fans who have the flexibility/intention to come to a park multiple days, or know the ins and outs of each attraction ahead of time and can prioritize their visit accordingly, sure.

But I’ve got to imagine the disappointment of a five hour queue’s worth of people when they are spending half their day in a building is outweighed by the disappointment of people who aren’t able to access it but at least can enjoy the rest of the park at their pace. Keep in mind that long lines are THE number one complaint and common denominator among lower NPS and satisfaction scores.

Not to mention that at least with a Virtual Queue, the complaints from those not able to ride get outweighed by the satisfaction of folks who get to get on so much quicker. With standby, best case scenario is you got to ride a single ride in five hours…

I just don’t get the resistance to virtual.

I'm in favor of letting guests have the most direct control over their day on as equal a playing field as possible, and allowing them to make as many cost-benefit determinations for themselves, knowing everyone is in the same boat.

It's your choice whether or not to enter a 300-minute posted wait queue, knowing you're sacrificing a big chunk of your day. It is not your choice whether or not you'll snag a Virtual Queue spot in an atrociously-run lottery (with random drop times, tech bugs, a wait in the queue even after your time has been called, and the like).

I’d even go a step farther…if I want to ride it, let me pay for it. No matter how you slice it, getting on this ride in its current state requires an exchange of some sort of capital (your time or your luck). Why not add money to the equation?

Front-of-line or premium access (whether paid or free) is one of the worst things to happen to theme parks.

These things throw off the equilibrium of how crowds are supposed to behave in a queue-based system with a finite capacity.

Everyone panicked and hated Virtual Queues

Now everyone is freaking out because of long wait times

Truly astounding lol

Hey, I'm being consistent, here!

There is no perfect answer. I just favor the one that puts the most guests on the most-equal footing.

 

[saint.piss]

These memes are so funny

 

[Disneyhead]

I'm in favor of letting guests have the most direct control over their day on as equal a playing field as possible, and allowing them to make as many cost-benefit determinations for themselves, knowing everyone is in the same boat.

It's your choice whether or not to enter a 300-minute posted wait queue, knowing you're sacrificing a big chunk of your day. It is not your choice whether or not you'll snag a Virtual Queue spot in an atrociously-run lottery (with random drop times, tech bugs, a wait in the queue even after your time has been called, and the like).


Front-of-line or premium access (whether paid or free) is one of the worst things to happen to theme parks.

These things throw off the equilibrium of how crowds are supposed to behave in a queue-based system with a finite capacity.


Hey, I'm being consistent, here!

There is no perfect answer. I just favor the one that puts the most guests on the most-equal footing.

The only paid front-of-line premium access should be the VIP tours.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

The only paid front-of-line premium access should be the VIP tours.

Uh, yeah, totally!

(Hides my Epic Express and HHN Express passes)

 

[Wesker69]

Forget virtual queue... give me back the old FREE return time distribution machines. *sigh* those were the days

 

[devinp267]

Just wanna say I did not get a chance to ride this and I felt completely satisfied my two days there. Like anything that bothered me I just ate through it , and not much was a problem that day. I can only imagine if we got to ride Batm on top of the day we had!

 

[Evan]

Benefits of an attraction like this eating up people in a never ending queue without virtual queue, it takes them away from the other rides, and walkways, benefiting everyone else in the park.

Virtual Queue is technically better for the company, as people are more inclined to dine, and shop when they’d otherwise be stuck in a 4 hour line.

 

[Mad Dog]

Benefits of an attraction like this eating up people in a never ending queue without virtual queue, it takes them away from the other rides, and walkways, benefiting everyone else in the park.

Virtual Queue is technically better for the company, as people are more inclined to dine, and shop when they’d otherwise be stuck in a 4 hour line.

Yes. a very important point. All VQ does is make the other popular rides standby times longer.

 

[ZachPL]

I assume the ride is operating with just a couple of vehicles to keep the errors down

 

[Evan]

Yes. a very important point. All VQ does is make the other popular rides standby times longer.

I’d love to not see a VQ ever again. Just let people wait, like the old days. (Yells at cloud)

 

[rhino4evr]

I’d rather book another $$ vacation then wait in line for 3 hours in 90+ heat. People are crazy!!!

 

[devinp267]

I assume the ride is operating with just a couple of vehicles to keep the errors down

There’s no way it’s just a couple and it held at 190 a good part of yesterday. Something has to have improved