Paid Members Thunderplex Posted June 12, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted June 12, 2017 Not heard of that one, please tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Monkee Posted June 12, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted June 12, 2017 (edited) Realised I put U-Bot instead of Q-Bot so I just edited the post. Edit: looks like there's confusion over the name. I thought it was U-Bot and that's what Universal called it but, looking online,Ā some sites seen call it a Q-Bot. So, the last time we went to Universal my friend had a card that let us virtually queue for rides as she had a letter from her doctor saying she was unable to stand. The member of staff wrote theĀ time on the card then added the current wait time so we knew when to return. When this time came we just joined the Express Pass line and in we went. However, they no longer offer this andĀ advise you to get a wheelchair instead. Not suitable for us as walking isn't the problem, it's the standing still, and we'd have to push a wheelchair around all day. They did suggest though hiring a Q-Bot for the day at Islands of Adventure and sent us to the kiosk where you hire the strollers, wheelchairs and ECVs. When we got there we were explained the following... The Q-bot is similar to the Express Pass - it's like a little Tamagotchi that lists all the rides available (those that offer the Expess Pass - not all do such as the Forbidden Journey and Gringotts) and how long the wait times are. You can book a slot for the selected ride and then after the wait time it will vibrate to tell you you're ready to ride. You can only book one ride at a time. There are two purchase options - single ride which means you can only use the Q-Bot once per ride then it's removed from the list; or unlimited which means you can use it over and over. You have to pay per person but you can have up to 6 people on one device. Once you've booked a ride (you can cancel if you change your mind) and it's time to go on then you go to the Express Pass line and they 'scan' the Q-Bot. It gives a little vibrateĀ to show it's connected then in you go. It was great for not having to stand in line for ages but it still meant waiting in the Express Pass lines which can still be a while. Even with the Q-Bot we waited about 30mins for Skull Island but I'm so glad we didn't wait 90mins+ in the regular line for such an utterly shit ride. However, the main downsideĀ to it was that quite a few members of staff had no idea what it was which was mind boggling. When we used it for Dragon Challenge I walked up to the Express Line entrance, showed the woman and she actually said "What's that?!" with a laugh. I said "Are you serious?!" then another woman appeared and said "Oh THAT. I hate those things." Then she told us that we could use it however it needed to go in a locker because you can't take loose items on Dragon Challenge. We'd already put our stuff in lockers so I had to go back to the stupidly long queue, unload everything from that locker, put the Q-Bot in my bag then queue to rent another locker. Brilliant. We did eventually ride. Although a few other members of staff didn't know what it was it did mean that they just waved us through without buzzing it so we got to ride more than once. At the end of the day when we had to return the Q-Bot the guy at the rental place laughed and said "Ah the only Q-Bot in existence has returned!" because we were literally the only people who had rented one all day. No surprise really as I'm sure no-one else knows about them! There are no signs anywhere about them, no prices, no promo, no nothing. I asked if they were new and he said they've been around for years! We told him about some of the issues we'd had and it was only then he told us that we shouldn't even have been standing in the Express Lines. The whole point of them is that you shouldn't have to queue AT ALL. We should have been taken straight to the front of the line by a staff member and shown straight onto the ride. So even that was wrong. We mentioned we'd definitely be renting one a couple of days later for Universal Studios. He said that he would be working there on that day so we should find him and let him know how our experience of using it went and he might look into refunding us. **Point to note before going further - the Q-Bot is cheaper than getting the Express Pass by around $15 AND you're meant to be able to walk straight onto rides rather than queuing. I can see why they don't want to advertise this but at the same time they're still offering the service. We couldn't work it out but definitely weren't complaining on that point!** Anyway, 2 days later we went to Universal Studios. We went to the rental kiosk inside the gates to rent another Q-Bot. We paid, got the paperwork signed then the woman went to activate the device. She was gone for ages. Then about 20mins later she appeared and was extremely apologetic. She said that each night the devices are meant to be reset but, for some reason, they hadn't and all the rides were showing as closed. She said she hadĀ called the IT people who reset it and they said they were about to do it so she was just waiting. And waiting. And waiting. After about 45mins she was really annoyed and took us to Guest Services where the manager actually gave us both unlimitedĀ 2-park Express Passes instead because we'd been left waiting and they couldn't get the Q-Bot fixed. Bargain! We've never bothered with Express Passes before but they are really annoying to have to keep getting out and putting away. Plus, I had mine in my back pocket and it was getting a bit bedraggled half way through the day considering the humidity! Universal really need to get up to the same speed as Disney with their ticketing - Disney have plastic credit card style tickets or the Magic Bands (which I am in love with -Ā I got a Star Wars one!) whereas Universal still have paper tickets for everything. And I'm not wearing a bloody lanyard all day. When we were done at Universal Studios we went to find the guy from Islands of Adventure who took our feedback on the Q-Bot. He laughed when he saw us and we told him what had happened as he said the IT guys from Q-Bot had been that afternoon and taken all the devices away to be reprogrammed. He was glad we got the Express Passes to compensate us but he'd previously mentioned about refunding us from the IoA mixup so it was a bit annoying that we didn't get the device that day or we'd have had it for free. Never mind. And I didn't get any photos which was also annoying as I was going to take them at Universal for a blog post. In the meantime, I did find this -Ā https://orlandoinformer.com/universal/q-bot-ride-reservation-system Anyway, if you're going to either Universal StudiosĀ or Islands of Adventure then I highly recommend getting the Q-Bot. Just make sure you know how it's meant to be used so you can explain it to the ride staff! Edited June 12, 2017 by Monkee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Dammer Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Thats strange, id have guessed that it would be a new system quietly trialling the main parks version of the Tapu Tapu band, but you said the guy said it had been around for years. Judging by that article too, it looks like its fairly well advertised and signposted in and around the park. Ive just looked and theres no mention of it on their site though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted June 13, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2017 All the times I've been there I've never even heard it mentioned! How very very odd it's interesting to hear they have stopped disabled access I will have to check that out. I know Disney do the return time for disabled guests. I hope they have another option or I may have to really look into the q bot. thanks for the infoĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Monkee Posted June 13, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2017 Disney don't do the return times. My friend has never managed to get anything like that at Disney and was told the only alternative is a wheelchair or ECV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted June 14, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) Maybe different conditions Disney issued a guest assistance card that linked to the fast pass system last year. It was a case of scanning it at entrance to ride it would the save a space in the que depending on wait time.Ā Ā https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/guests-with-disabilities/attraction-access/ Edited June 14, 2017 by quote the raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick Soapdish Posted June 14, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2017 So Disneyland Paris offered a simplified tender offering of shareholder of ā¬2.00 per share (double their worth in February) to try and own over 95% of all shares. This in term would, if agreed by the French stockmarket, a mandatory buyout of all remaining shares giving them 100% ownership. This is expected to be confirmed on the 23rd June, but as of yesterday they announced they had indeed bought 97.08% so that ruling is the only thing standing in their way of full ownership. Whilst I was said to sell my shares (at a bit of a loss), I feel it is within the best interests of the park Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted July 15, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2017 (edited) D23 is on right now and they just released this. Ā Ā Thats me going back, no questions. Im very keen to see how the gondola system will work to, the fact they are fitting it to pop century is a massive plus, with its new remodeled rooms its a real winnerĀ Ā Edited July 15, 2017 by quote the raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Monkee Posted July 15, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2017 We've already decided we're going back in 2020 for 3 weeks. Give the new Star Wars land time to bed down and we can save more for the additional week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted July 15, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2017 Do they stream d23?Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick Soapdish Posted July 16, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2017 4 hours ago, scratchdj said: Just got back from a day at Thorpe Park with the wife, her brother and his wife. They both have Merlin VIP passes and so we got the same access as them for the day. We're all really only interested in the coasters, but I was really keen to try Derren Brown's Ghost Train. I honestly can't remember the last time I was that disappointed. It was really poor and the VR kept breaking. For the entire first bit, the system positioned me outside the train and so I was sort of looking at the back of the seats through the window. Then it kept feeezing and jumping about. The whole thing feels so over-engineered and seems like a massive waste of space and money. I'm a huge fan of Derren Brown but I feel he's let himself down lending his name to this. Yikes! I thought they closed it last year to improve it not make it worse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted July 16, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2017 So much announced at disneys parks at d23 I'm now going back 2021 the Star Wars hotel sounds insaneĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Dammer Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 I'm not normally into the D23 expo announcements but it feels like they've announced loads of new attractions and alot feel like expansions rather than replacements. Ratatouille and Guardians of the Galaxy will be huge additions to Epcot. I didnt catch the details of the improvements to Future World too but the image I saw looked impressive. Tron in another massive addition to MK and is being extended past the railroad so doesnt replace anything. The new Mickey ride at Hollywood sounds cool too, but its a shame its replacing the Great Movie Ride when they really cant afford to close things down over there. There's going to be a lot of building work when I go this year with Toy Story Land, Star Wars Land, Tron and Ratatouille all being built and GMR being replaced by this Mickey Ride. Ā Add to that the Star Wars resort, Gondola system and general minor works going on to gear up for the 50th anniversary in a few years theres a lot of changes going on. Add to that the rumours of a third Universal park and the expansions theyre looking at and in a few years time you could practically spend a 2 week holiday just doing things that are new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted July 16, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Van Dammer said: I'm not normally into the D23 expo announcements but it feels like they've announced loads of new attractions and alot feel like expansions rather than replacements. Ratatouille and Guardians of the Galaxy will be huge additions to Epcot. I didnt catch the details of the improvements to Future World too but the image I saw looked impressive. Tron in another massive addition to MK and is being extended past the railroad so doesnt replace anything. The new Mickey ride at Hollywood sounds cool too, but its a shame its replacing the Great Movie Ride when they really cant afford to close things down over there. There's going to be a lot of building work when I go this year with Toy Story Land, Star Wars Land, Tron and Ratatouille all being built and GMR being replaced by this Mickey Ride. Ā Add to that the Star Wars resort, Gondola system and general minor works going on to gear up for the 50th anniversary in a few years theres a lot of changes going on. Add to that the rumours of a third Universal park and the expansions theyre looking at and in a few years time you could practically spend a 2 week holiday just doing things that are new. 3RD park? tell me more........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Dammer Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 4 minutes ago, quote the raven said: 3RD park? tell me more........ It's an ongoing rumour really but it's quite strongly rumoured now after Universal bought huge plots of land to the south of their existing property a year or so ago. Ive linked to an article showing the plot of landĀ HERE The land itself is a distance away from the current resort but its still on universal boulevard so theres been various rumours about transport links, they've also bought several small plots int he same area. It could just be that they acquired it to stop others piggy backing their product and taking some of the revenue they're creating but for what they spent I imagine they're planning on using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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