Riddle me this Batman: When is 46 greater than 47?
Disney may own Marvel but the DC universe queries us with an interesting quandary: is less ever more? Can 46 be greater than 47?
The answer is most assuredly yes. Though it may seem paradoxical experiencing the 46 operating rides at WDW today is in fact more difficult than riding the 47 that were up and running last year… but how can this be?
The simple answer is that the one new ride (Seven Dwarves Mine Train) has longer lines than the two now closed rides (Maelstrom and the Backlot Tour) combined. We also have FastPass Plus to contend with.
Lets break it down: Seven Dwarves is routinely packing 90-minute standby waits. You cannot get fast passes for it unless you pre-order 60 days in advance (at midnight) and if you think you are going to make some mad dash for it in the morning, think again. Disney cast members calmly escort the early bird throngs to the attraction, building lines instantly.
In terms of wait times combined with ride times the Seven Dwarves Mine Train more than makes up for an aging Norwegian travelogue and a trip past some rusted cars once used in the filming of Dick Tracy. But there is a bigger problem; the 800-pound gorilla of a problem, the billion dollar plus baby of Bob Iger known as FastPass Plus. This system was specifically designed and built to make guests ride fewer rides per day (therefore spending more time shopping and dining; something that Shane and I will have precious little time for).
Every possible angle has been calculated, checked and double checked. Has our researched paid off?
FastPass Plus wants to spread guests more evenly among the parks and it wants to spread the crowds evenly among the rides at each park. It does this by greatly limiting how many FastPasses each guest can pre-order (three and only three), by limiting the FastPasses to one park and even limiting which rides a guest can hold a FastPass for (you can have Soarin’ or Test Track but not both).
Basically FastPass Plus is just a whole mess of limits. It may be nice if you want to ride an attraction or two in the morning, head to the pool in the afternoon (which BTW is a Disney insider top-tip) and then hit another couple rides in the evening. However it is an absolute back-breaker if you are bold (or foolish) enough to attempt to ride EVERY ride in one day.
What may be the biggest unknown is how FastPass Plus affects smaller scale rides that used to have no lines at all. Suddenly the Imagination Institute is packing 20 or 30 minute waits as the masses mill around waiting for their Soarin’ FastPass window to open up. Spaceship Earth is amassing wait times it has not seen in years when it becomes the default third FastPass you get stuck with instead of the Test Track one you really wanted.
FastPass plus is the ultimate WDW46(47) killer. It is our kryptonite. It is to Parkeology what clear cutting and strip mining is to Famed Naturalist John Muir. Or put another way we just call it a challenge.
Shane and I have spent many late nights studying the ideal routes and crafting a plan we hope has cracked the nut. A master plan that will allow us to beat the system, a bold initiative that will either have us cruising to victory with time to spare, or bitterly tasting defeat with a score of attractions yet to go. We are confident and once again we will trust the plan.
Oh, and one more thing…
WDW46 is going down this Saturday November 8th!
We cannot reveal where or when the quest will begin but follow us on twitter and if you happen to be in the park say hello as you see two frantic dudes in orange hats fly on by.
We have learned a lot since WDW47 and we are about to prove that no fancy computerized reservations system can contain us.
One Day: EVERY Ride.
I’m going to be up in Orlando on Saturday and may try my own attempt to see if it is still possible to do all 46 rides with no prior planning. Fun is in the attempt. I will be following your twitter account to see how close our strategies are.
Say hello! Give us a high five as we stumble on by.
Yeah!!! I’ll be at MK on Saturday morning! I never go on Twitter but you better believe I’ll be following you to see if I can cheer you on! Then, that night it’ll be time for me to run my race… The wine and dine half marathon! Best of luck, guys!
PS I loved the John Muir reference! Haha
It’s tempting to book a flight, head down, meet you guys for the opening bell (like we don’t know where you’ll be… please!), and race you to glory!
My wife and I have mapped out how WE would do it, so we’ll be following you all day with great interest to see how you guys have chosen to attack it.
….I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Mickey, the Kingdom, and Saint Walt!’
King Henry references.. I always knew we had an educated reader base.
You may be surprised which park we are starting at… the obvious is seldom the best…we are starting at Sea World.
That is the funniest thing ever.
Good luck, you glorious crazy bastards!
I’ve always thought it would have been both simpler and more enjoyable for everyone if they’d just spread the attractions out better*, and build some more second-string ones to ride while you wait for lines at the headliners to go down. But what do I know? You don’t see me with a degree in Fungineering.
(For instance, it’s a small world could be moved to World Showcase. Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor would be a better fit in Hollywood Studios. one of the bear-based attractions (Pooh or the Jamboree) could go to Animal Kingdom.)
This seems so much harder than last time for the reasons you mentioned. When I was in Epcot the first time after Fastpass+, there was a line for standby on Spaceship Earth – when really there shouldn’t ever be considering how quickly that ride loads.
I love speculating on how this would be done. I’m going to go with using the Fastpass+ for Soarin and having the Dwarves Mine Train takes Space Mountain’s spot as the ride to get in line for with the park closing. Do they ever shut down that line? I can’t wait to find out the actual plan!
Many ways to attack it… our plan will either work like a charm or crash in horrible flames… there is likely not a lot of middle ground.
Best of luck guys!
Good luck! I just showed my daughter (9) and son (6) the video from WDW47, and they loved it and are amazed by what you accomplished. We’ll be following along on Twitter on Saturday, and we will be waiting patiently for the new video. Have fun! 😉
Cool! My 9 year old daughter also enjoys the video very much… Thanks for the support.
Beat us to the punch! I’m not sure when the refurb schedule changed, but we scheduled our attempt for Nov 22, which was the first available (feasible) date at the time. We will anxiously befollowing your quest Saturday and hope we’ll have people following us. Good luck!
Thanks Jimmy… we took out the link you posted because we do not allow links in comments.
Sorry about that, I didn’t realize I was posting a link, just wanted to post my twitter handle. My apologies for violating your site rules!
no worries!
We have been planning this for a long time and monitoring the best possible time… the 22nd was considered but for various reasons we feel this is the better choice. We had other dates previously picked but had to change them last minute as refurbs came out.
I agree, I think the 8th is a better choice. We had a day picked out in September and then in October… when those windows closed because of refurbs, we looked and the railroad wasn’t supposed to open until the 9th, which was impossible due to the shorter hours. If we weren’t already planning on flying into Florida for Thanksgiving we would’ve considered the 8th, but it’s too late now.
I think you guys have a great shot at it. I’m anxious to find out how our plans are similar or differ. I’d imagine our plans for tackling the big problems are pretty similar based on the days chosen, but I’m curious to see what clever ideas you’ve come up with to shave off the minute or two here or there.
Good luck guys! I’ll be following you live on Twitter!
Our past experience inventing and completing the challenge gives us some unique insight.
Now we know that it is attainable, last year it seemed impossible.
Fast pass plus changes the game as does Seven Dwarves… Still it is now more about execution since the pioneering has been done.
I will be at MK on Saturday. I hope to see you guys! GO SHANE AND TEEVTEE!!!
Looks for us Dan… we will be wearing matching orange hats, likely very tired and moving fast.
I cannot wait for this Saturday! I will be tweeting with you the whole way!@saremcd Good luck! #BeatTheSystem #WDW46