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View Full Version : Some TOT soft opening news



ToursbabeC3po
03-25-2004, 07:17 AM
I posted this below in the TOT/AP reopening question post but I thought maybe it may get lost in there so I am going to repost it. There was some rumors going around that there would be a soft opening for guest during cast previews for TOT. This is not true. When
I picked up my Tickets For cast preview I asked alot of questions to find out if the cast member days will be soft openings for guest. The answer is no. Which is a bummer because I thought I could sneak in a few more days and rides :-( It says in big bold letters on the info flyer they gave us.

"You may NOT sign in (or bring) additional guest to ride the attraction. Cast members and there dependants and/or guest MUST have a preview ticket. Guest signed in on main gate passes will not be able to ride the attraction. You must show your preview ticket and your cast I.D. to board the attraction.

Cast preview dates:
4/16, 4/17, 4/18, 4/19, 4/20, 4/24, and 4/25
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DonaldDuck14
03-25-2004, 11:03 AM
yeah, i got my tickets yesterday...me and my friends are going on the 16th. And i liked that lil' luggage nametag they gave to us along with our tickets.

MonorailMan
03-25-2004, 02:53 PM
I wish they would just let us ride allready! :)

RStar
03-26-2004, 10:22 AM
Thank you ToursbabeCP30. And may your sig line happen as rarely as possible..........

Irish Badger
03-26-2004, 10:29 AM
I got my tickets yesterday and all they had left were for the 19th and 20th. They may get more on Monday but they are not sure. Also they were out of the luggage tag so we have to check back on that later as well. :rolleyes:

AVP
03-26-2004, 11:14 AM
I don't want to get into a "no they aren't!" - "yes they are!" argument here. I will relay exactly the information I was given by someone who is closely involved with the workings of ToT, and let readers make their own plans based on it:

The Tower of Terror will open on April 16 for cast previews, and will remain open every day until the grand opening in May, assuming there are no mechanical issues.

There are cast previews scheduled for April 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, and 25. May 4 is the press event. During the cast previews, day guests *may* be allowed to ride based on 1) ride operation (are all three shafts running?), 2) wait time (have all the CMs with tickets shown up, is the line pretty short?) and 3) the whim of management.

The decision to allow day guests to ride during cast previews will be made on an hour-to-hour basis by the managers in charge. It's not a free-for-all, but there is a *chance* you will be allowed to ride is the lines are short and the ride is running at full capacity.

There are no cast previews / special events scheduled for April 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, May 1, 2, or 3. Based on this, I would assume that the ride will be open to day guests on these days.

And that's all I know.

AVP

Polar33
03-26-2004, 07:29 PM
Cast tickets were "out" for all preview days as of this afternoon. I went to pick up my tickets only to find a sign telling me to try back again on Monday. Honestly, I'm rather un-impressed that someone failed to expect this kind of demand. Afterall, this is the biggest thing to open at either park since DCA opened...and it's not like they don't know how many CMs (and dependents) that more than less likely will be wanting tickets. I've yet to actually talk to anyone who has tickets...everybody I talked to today was planning on picking them up either today or tomorrow, so who knows where all the tickets may have gone too.

That being siad, unless they were attempting to run the CM preview days at minimum capacity, I wouldn't hold out too much hope to attempt a standby line those days.

JenGood008
03-26-2004, 09:30 PM
Cast tickets were "out" for all preview days as of this afternoon. I went to pick up my tickets only to find a sign telling me to try back again on Monday. Honestly, I'm rather un-impressed that someone failed to expect this kind of demand. Afterall, this is the biggest thing to open at either park since DCA opened...and it's not like they don't know how many CMs (and dependents) that more than less likely will be wanting tickets. I've yet to actually talk to anyone who has tickets...everybody I talked to today was planning on picking them up either today or tomorrow, so who knows where all the tickets may have gone too.

That being siad, unless they were attempting to run the CM preview days at minimum capacity, I wouldn't hold out too much hope to attempt a standby line those days.

Yes, I had the same thing happen to me yesterday afternoon and I thought I would have no trouble getting them then (WRONG! :p ) I am new, though and didn't really have a clue how much demand there would be! Live and learn, right? I agree with what you said about underestimating the huge demand that they would have for this preview...hopefully they are able to work things out so a WHOLE BUNCH more CM's can go. Does anyone have any idea what the capacity is going to be like for TOT? If they can't fit 22,000 (give or take, with dependants) through it in 7 days, it makes me wonder.

nyck
03-26-2004, 10:25 PM
Do they ever open these new rides before the preveiw dates just for a few hours for testing etc.I only ask as i'm over from england 2nd-12th April and would hate to miss the ride.Is it worth just take a peek at the ride each day i'm at the park to see if they will let you on.

nyck

DCAWhites
03-26-2004, 10:44 PM
Yes, I had the same thing happen to me yesterday afternoon and I thought I would have no trouble getting them then (WRONG! :p ) I am new, though and didn't really have a clue how much demand there would be! Live and learn, right? I agree with what you said about underestimating the huge demand that they would have for this preview...hopefully they are able to work things out so a WHOLE BUNCH more CM's can go. Does anyone have any idea what the capacity is going to be like for TOT? If they can't fit 22,000 (give or take, with dependants) through it in 7 days, it makes me wonder.

Yeah, its certaintly weird. I guess I'll just pick up some hollywood shifts and ask my manager if I can ride ToT during my break (I mean after all, we'll be cleaning up in there) or whatever if worse comes to worse. Seriously though, all Disneyland cast members and their dependents/guests is less than 50,000. Tower of Terror's full operating capacity is somewhere between 1400 and 1700 (you do the math to figure out 1 or 2 shaft operational capacity). I don't see why they wouldn't be able to fit all of them in within the 7 days at full capacity, as that would work out to only about 8,000 riders per day. Hell with full capacity and 8,000 riders for the day there would be very little line if only one ride was allowed.

Seriously though, I don't think Matt Ouimet would let his cast members down like this, I mean obviously there is some external factor besides selling out prohibiting them from distributing tickets. This isn't knotts berry farm, where management touted an employee preview for 2003's haunt then canceled it day of and made sure no employee (except managers and the people who work only the month of haunt) got in under threat of termination.

JeffG
03-27-2004, 05:54 AM
Seriously though, all Disneyland cast members and their dependents/guests is less than 50,000. Tower of Terror's full operating capacity is somewhere between 1400 and 1700 (you do the math to figure out 1 or 2 shaft operational capacity). I don't see why they wouldn't be able to fit all of them in within the 7 days at full capacity, as that would work out to only about 8,000 riders per day. Hell with full capacity and 8,000 riders for the day there would be very little line if only one ride was allowed.

Are you sure they are limiting the previews to Disneyland CMs and not opening them up to employees in other divisions? Disney is one of the larger employers in Southern California, when you add in all the Burbank employees.

-Jeff

DCAWhites
03-27-2004, 09:30 AM
^I know they do that for the Annual Disney Christmas Party, but I honestly don't remember Snow White previews being open to the disney store or abc, etc.

DonaldDuck14
03-27-2004, 02:32 PM
i just looked on the sheet they gave us when giving the tickets and under "who is eligible" it says for employees of the walt disney company, operating participants and their guests

ToursbabeC3po
03-27-2004, 08:52 PM
Another thing to keep in mind is they allowed single cast members to bring 3 guest. Normally they are only able to bring 1 guest or both parents. They did this so that they could run the ride at full capacity without opening the ride to the public on the cast preview days.
AVP you are correct about April 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, May 1, 2, or 3. There is a very good chance that these are going to be soft opening days. But as for the cast preview days they were very clear that you will not get on the ride without a cast ID and a ticket. This is going to be a cast event with other things going on such as special events (food, merch discounts) I was kind of bummed when they told me this because my plan was to sign in my nieces and have them go on the ride with me and my kids but the area is going to be blocked off with cast members checking for tickets and ID.
Hey, but as they say at Disney! Rides and park hours are subject to change without notice! :p

cstephens
03-29-2004, 01:32 PM
Just an FYI - it was announced on the Mark and Brian radio program this morning that they're hosting a special ToT preview night at DCA on Thursday, April 29. They mentioned that they were getting the run of the park, so either they're closing DCA early that night or it would have closed that early anyway. And they said something about a contest where the prize was four resort APs (they didn't say what level), but I didn't hear details of that.