I can't imagine what the rat problem would be like without the roaming cat hordes of the Magic Kingdom.
Volcano Bay: General Discussion
- Thread starter Parkscope Joe
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- Jun 14, 2017
- 37
- 42
Honestly, this blog post is the biggest proof why you absolutely need soft openings for everything. Team Member previews were the only soft openings this park had. Team Members aren't going to break the rules. They're on the clock and they don't want to irritate their employer. Soft openings should be all about scale. How does a park/land handle crowds and how do you idiot-proof the entire setup? The operations team is now having to figure out how to handle all of this at once and it unfortunately shows.
In two months, I think this park is going to be running very smoothly. And, at their major yearly waterpark refurb, I think this park is going to undergo a lot more substantial changes than a typical yearly refurb.
Last time I went to Disney (been a few years). We were staying at Pop. It was 'slow' and the building wing we parked by had no guest, one room had a dead roach in the window...it was still there five days later when we left.
When we went on these family tube rides that have two slides on one tower...when an employee up the stairs to direct asked which slide...I just said 'green'....I'm pretending to be a foreign tourist on this island getaway...I don't speak the language....I'm on vacation...that is my theme!
While the names are in 'theme' they are difficult for the average guest. It's not the Harry Potter ride, or Jurassic Park ride, or Space Mountain...it Maku and Puihi...Krakatau Aqua Coaster and Taniwha Tubes.
Sometimes easier and catchier is better. The Black Hole...Disco H2O...Summit Plummet...
Something I still wonder, and I truly wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the executives that decided "hey I know, let's open a brand new park with zero previews"...
I mean, so much could have been avoided if they did a month of public previews, limited capacity, hard-ticketed previews, say at $45 a pop. Go in knowing it's not finished, things may not work... etc. It really could have helped out the ops teams, the TM's, and management in how to run this park effectively and efficiently.
Pandora did so many previews, and that's just a land... and in all honesty, the opening day was a complete success for Pandora.
I mean, so much could have been avoided if they did a month of public previews, limited capacity, hard-ticketed previews, say at $45 a pop. Go in knowing it's not finished, things may not work... etc. It really could have helped out the ops teams, the TM's, and management in how to run this park effectively and efficiently.
Pandora did so many previews, and that's just a land... and in all honesty, the opening day was a complete success for Pandora.
I'm sure plenty of previews were scheduled. But, construction fell behind schedule. Once you've announced opening day, you can't change it without issuing a lot of refunds
Is this something they couldn't have seen coming though? When they announced their opening date, were they completely sure they wouldn't be cutting it close? Because I can understand delays, plans get messed up, but a lot of things weren't done.. and still aren't. That's a HUGE delay that they didn't see coming.
I'm not trying to defend them. But, the people who make these decisions are all seasoned pros. They're definitely capable of making mistakes, but they will still make smart decisions based on the information they have and all the external confines. Sometimes, stuff happens
- Jul 18, 2008
- 6,775
- 5,560
Ugh.. Making me wonder about my cancelling my cabana. But my visit is still 2 months away. LOTS can happen from now to then.
Not quite...
A guests who has an issue and is "recovered" (stuck or evac from ride, given FP for another for a basic example) will rate the experience higher than the guest who had no issue at all.
What we are seeing at Volcano Bay is a complete lack of service recovery and this defense mentality from the TMs and Universal in general that people should know and expect a full price experience to not be complete and have lower expectations... which is totally backwards.
For example - cardinal rule for decision making in the front lines at Disney is to never inconvenience one guest while trying to solve for another. The whole thing with people using Tapu in her Cabana never should have happened.
That was compounded by that TM further failing to be proactive and attempting to recover her situation at all for the inconvienence.
Note that she went out of her way to tip her server and mentioned the server was great - the one couldn't find at first and had to go to GR to locate. That server recovered her situation and as noted - was rated highly (and statistically it turns out likely higher than if the server had been present and done a normal quality job from square one.)
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- Jun 21, 2016
- 3,802
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The funny thing is the weather was perfect. Complete drought that didn't delay them at all.
Of course, we can't discount that fire on the slide pieces- but it seems those got replaced relatively quickly.
Except- We're still beating that dead horse... yes, they should have had softs. Next topic.
- Feb 17, 2016
- 855
- 1,655
The funny thing is the weather was perfect. Complete drought that didn't delay them at all.
Of course, we can't discount that fire on the slide pieces- but it seems those got replaced relatively quickly.
Except- We're still beating that dead horse... yes, they should have had softs. Next topic.
And the next take away is that if they didn't have softs they need to be prepared for service recovery - which they're not.
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