No more soft openings???

[Garrett240]

Back before the internet and so many Disney fan websites, a soft opening was truely a soft opening. A few days or weeks before the announced opening date of a new attraction, Disney would open the ride ride and not advertise it. People who happened to be at the park those days got to ride it before the general masses.

However, with the explosion of the Disney websites, there are no more "secret" soft openings. Once a ride is going to be opened (even if before Disney's official "opening day" for the ride) the secret is out and thousands of people show up to ride it. Somebody on anther thread spoke about how long the line was for Space Mt on it's "soft opening" date. People came to the park just to ride that one ride because they knew it was to be a soft opening date. I'm sure you who live closer to DL can tell other similar stories about other rides.

So, does the "soft opening" still exist? I'm not asking of Disney still does them, but rather, how are they different then an "official opening"? (but it sounds like they might not having a soft opening for the PotC.

[TheDude]

soft openings still work.

For monsters they had 20 minute waits on the saturday before the offical opening. On the day of and for every daturday after that, forget about it. Any any given saturday now yo will have to wait longer then 20minutes for it.

[Darkbeer]

^Last Sunday, Monsters, Inc. was only a 10 minute wait.

As for soft openings, I think you will have a better chance with a New attraction, such as Monsters, Inc. that needed to be tested and crews trained.

Things like the Haunted Mansion Holiday, more than likely no, even if the maintenance folks get done early, the ride CM's would need to be re-scheduled, and it usually doesn't make sense since it is only a day or two early.

Pirates is a special case, since Jerry Bruckheimer carries a lot of weight with the company, and wants the ride to "premiere" the same time as his movie premiere party. The General Public will just have to wait, even if the park management would like to have a few days of dry runs.

Also, the park management does NOT want to try and hold soft openings the week before the premiere due to the traffic control problems due to the bleachers and other related stuff. They want as FEW folks over on the west side as possible during the setup and removal.

Now if they build Midway Mania, I would expect about the same schedule as Monsters, Inc., a month or two of soft openings prior to the official Media Grand Opening.

[XCLIPSE129]

^
Pirates is a special case, since Jerry Bruckheimer carries a lot of weight with the company, and wants the ride to "premiere" the same time as his movie premiere party. The General Public will just have to wait, even if the park management would like to have a few days of dry runs.

Now if they build Midway Mania, I would expect about the same schedule as Monsters, Inc., a month or two of soft openings prior to the official Media Grand Opening.

Does Mr Bruckheimer have that much pull with Disney. I know he makes awesome shows/movies/ television shows but man DIsney is goliath compared to him. and doesnt Disney own the rights to POTC franchise? Sorry im jsut one of those dudes that like to ask how can one person have so much power.

I hope midway mania is built quickly. PP is so sad looking.. no one ever goes past CA Screamin anymore.. its sad.. Even the kids rides are sad.. my daughter says theyre boring she has more fun riding my back. hahaha
Thanks tho DB for the insight

[tloolgb]

and doesnt Disney own the rights to POTC franchise? Sorry im jsut one of those dudes that like to ask how can one person have so much power.

Yes...but Jerry's signing onto PoTC: 1 started the motions of Gore Verbinski coming on, and Johnny Depp...he had a lot of weight to convince talent PoTC 1 was worth making...so he's got some clought with the PoTC franchise.

[Experiment626]

I went on Monster's Inc. January 1st with no wait in line. Surprise actually since it was pouring rain all that day in CA. But I know what you mean about Space Mountain. I went on the ride about a week prior to the grand re-opening and I was in line for over an hour. Normally, I wouldn't have went on the ride with the line being that long but it was Space Mountain and I hadn't went on the ride in a couple of years. And I guess with Space, it was being opened up again in the middle of the busy summer season, especially with the massive crowds celebrating the upcoming anniversary.

[sediment]

Does Mr Bruckheimer have that much pull with Disney.

It's possible he created the name of the movie, and so he owns the rights of the use of the words, "The Black Pearl." And that he put it in writing.
He's also an idiot for not letting DL use the words on the boat, since it is likely that people will remember the movie if they see the boat with its name on it. And perhaps purchase the DVD.

[daddyb]

Back on the topic of soft-openings, they've done them for Buzz and even the opening of the whole pixar "Bug's Land" so it's really only for "Pirates" that they're NOT having them.

I don't think that the Disney internet community has that large of an influence on what Disney says or does. They acknowledge it's existance, but really don't do much other than throw us bones every once in a while.

[Experiment626]

Back on the topic of soft-openings, they've done them for Buzz and even the opening of the whole pixar "Bug's Land" so it's really only for "Pirates" that they're NOT having them.

Ahh yes...I went on Buzz before it opened too.

[Laura678]

But I know what you mean about Space Mountain. I went on the ride about a week prior to the grand re-opening and I was in line for over an hour.

Same here...when i was in Disnyland last year i thought that Space Mountain was closed but i saw the queue so we joined it....we were there for over 40 mins...it was worth it though!

[lazyboy97O]

The OP is asking if Disney will continue to do soft openings. He is asking whether the concept of secretly opening the attractions early is still effective with how soon word spreads.

I think the soft opening still works, especially with Disney nerds knowing days in advance. A soft opening allows Disney to simply shrug their shoulders and say "Sorry, but Attraction A is still not open." The crowds allow Disney to give Cast Members a real world experience. Keep openings limited and as the CMs become more familiar with the attraction let more and more people on. Crowds also allow any last minute crowd control that may be needed.

I'm going to say Bruckheimer gets his way with the Pirates of the Caribbean reopening because he is making Disney some serious money at the time being. Disney will want to keep him so long as he continues to make money for Disney, even if this includes waiting to open an attraction for him.

[RobotMirror]

^Last Sunday, Monsters, Inc. was only a 10 minute wait.

...I sometimes go in the mornings, and during the first hour or two of the park's opening, you can walk right onto Monster's Inc.

[Darkbeer]

...I sometimes go in the mornings, and during the first hour or two of the park's opening, you can walk right onto Monster's Inc.

I was referring to 6 PM, after Block Party Bash was over, and all the guests had access to the attractions.....

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Same here...when i was in Disnyland last year i thought that Space Mountain was closed but i saw the queue so we joined it....we were there for over 40 mins...it was worth it though!

HAH. 40 minutes? Try 120!!! >_<

Disneyland does have a host of us freaks who know everything going on with the parks, so a certain percentage is likely to show up to the parks when something happens.

However, there are certain things we need to take into account and factor in. First of all, what ride is it? Monster's Inc. wasn't a hassle because it was new, and those that knew about soft openings for it knew that it was a C or D-ticket ride. It also started soft opening before many people on message boards had made plans for...and it started just after the holiday crowds had left.

Space Mountain was on very much a different track from Monster's Inc. soft openings. The very popular E-ticket had been gone for about 2 years (if memory serves correctly), and it began to soft open July 1st. Okay, 4th of July weekend...one of the worst times you could possibly go to the park. Mix that with all these So-Cal people that haven't seen their beloved E-ticket for several years, APs or not, plus people vacationing and wanting to do all of the best rides. On top of that, the 50th anniversary has just kicked off into high gear. Of course it's going to be bad!

It's just a lot of variables that one must piece together. They very well can be sucessful. You just got to play your cards right.

[aerinpegadrak]

Yeah, I remember when we hopped in line for Space Mountain around 10:30pm or so on July 1st, the posted wait was 90 minutes.