Al Lutz on One More Disney Day - "Historic Numbers" - Impact on CL Opening?

[HydroGuy]

Al Lutz on Miceage has some followup to OMDD and what happened -

http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al030212a.htm

He discusses possible impact on Cars Land and BVS opening this summer, AP previews and AP non-blockout days in June.

66,000 AP holders attended DLR on Feb 29? Wow!

 

[nunzia]

I've been reading reports of this this event around the net.Wow..bet if they do it again it will be a ticketed event.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I have a student in my preschool class whose family decided to take a sudden trip to DLR at that time. I bet they had no idea what was going on. I'll have to ask when they get back.

 

[Eeee-va]

The most interesting thing however is that the mood for this entire event remained positive. Most of the 66,000 Annual Passholders who arrived in the evening were just there for the spectacle and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the long lines for understaffed attractions or struggling restaurants didn’t bother most folks as much as they would have in summer or at Christmas. The 40,000 tourists who were also in attendance went along for the ride, and many were there specifically for the event just as the APs were.

That contradicts about 70 or 80% of the reports I've read here and even on MiceChat. Granted, many people were only mildly upset about the lines, but I'm surprised he didn't mention anything about the alcohol, drugs, etc.

IF Cars Land's opening is anything at all like February 29, then hopefully at least the crowds will be reasonable in the morning...

 

[cyclenut]

That contradicts about 70 or 80% of the reports I've read here and even on MiceChat. Granted, many people were only mildly upset about the lines, but I'm surprised he didn't mention anything about the alcohol, drugs, etc.

IF Cars Land's opening is anything at all like February 29, then hopefully at least the crowds will be reasonable in the morning...

One of my kids did encounter some drunks, but they were not too obnoxious. Some of you might not know that the bars close in So Cal at 2am. Apparently at least some of them decided to make a trip to DL instead of back home.

 

[Disneylandfan1]

I do hope this experience helps them even more in preparation for the grand opening of Carsland and BVS, because the parks really need to be running at full capacity and be fully staffed when that event occurs. At the end of this article he mentions that on Friday June 15th there are no AP block-outs, however on the AP website it shows the SoCal AP holders blocked that day. Won't that help a bit? I know the actual opening date has not been confirmed by Disney yet, but since I have nonrefundable airline tickets purchased 2 months ago placing my trip during these dates I can't help feeling like I need to plan for this.

 

[kailuagirl]

All I can say is WOW!!! That was a very interesting read

Even with all the chao's, I really wish I could have been there......

 

[blackjackdelta]

Good to know.


Jack

 

[cmwade77]

I personally think that Disney should consider doing a 24 hour day once a month for pass holders and CMs and once a month (different day) for those staying on property.

I think this would a fun new perk that would allow for additional sales, they could even do themed merchandise that is different for each month's 24 hour day.

At bare minimum, I would like to see a lot of the food options that they were offering remain, as they sounded really good.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

We did the full 24 hours and rode every open attraction, saw every show. We never waited more than 35 minutes for anything until after the 1am Fantasmic. We had one ride left to complete our challenge- Space mountain. the line said 115 minutes but we jumped in because we wanted to say we did it all in that 24 hrs. It took 3hrs and 18 minutes before we boarded the ride! problem was space broke down a lot that day and so they kept handing out special passes to use later. they were letting in 66 guests from the fast pass lane to every 10 from the stand by, over and over again, we counted.

The line was horrible. After 2am it was like every annual pass holding teenager in california was in line to ride space mountain. There was NOT ONE CAST MEMBER watching the 3 hour line on the deck outside space mountain. People were smoking right in line and kids were making out on the ground in line! It was awful! We did complain at guest services since it really was a dangerous situation with no supervision in that line and peoples tempers were flaring. guest services apologized for being understaffed and said they were not expecting such a crowd and that was it.

When we finally got out of that line at 530, the rest of the park was MUCH calmer. We used a fast pass on Big thunder and joined the cheering crowd on main street as the sun rose and the clock struck 6.

i was mad we were stuck in that line for almost 3 and a half hours but after talking to many the next day, it seemed like the whole park had that problem. But i have to say that until 130 am it was a great day, and we had a great view of both the parade and Fantasmic, getting our seats for both only an hour before. It was after that, that it all got UGLY.

 

[DLR29]

I think the main difference between Feb 29th and June 15th will be that both parks will be open. Honestly, if DCA had been open this past Wednesday night I think the vibe would have been WAY different.