Crowd levels

[LAS2AMS]

There were lots of people from out of town - big families, big strollers, and people who were new to using ECVs.

Oh believe me, they’re not new to ECVs. They’re just use to the open roads of WDW, vs compact DLR. They should have speakers attached to their scooters playing Ludacris’s Move.

 

[LKing]

Yeah but we ran into more than the usual number of ECVs where grandma was stuck in the middle of a walkway and didn't know how to turn it on or put it in reverse.

 

[Tinkaboo]

You know, I am not against the use of scooters...goodness knows, I may need myself someday. But I have seen/heard so many people say..."well, it's their first time using one".... so you thought it would be a great idea for Grandma (who is probably already mortified by the thought of crowds) to be on a motorized vehicle she doesn't know anything about and maneuver through hundreds of people? Honestly, I'm surprised there aren't more incidents of people being hurt by inexperienced operators. I know I move when I see them coming.

And now...a return to our regular programming regarding crowd levels

 

[LKing]

Back to crowds... Friday wasn't nearly as crowded as Thursday (school holiday) in either park. I think people got spooked by MK reservations filling up on Friday because now the next four Fridays are full.

 

[ShoeCello]

You know, I am not against the use of scooters...goodness knows, I may need myself someday. But I have seen/heard so many people say..."well, it's their first time using one".... so you thought it would be a great idea for Grandma (who is probably already mortified by the thought of crowds) to be on a motorized vehicle she doesn't know anything about and maneuver through hundreds of people? Honestly, I'm surprised there aren't more incidents of people being hurt by inexperienced operators. I know I move when I see them coming.

And now...a return to our regular programming regarding crowd levels

Once witnessed a scooter accelerate suddenly into a crowd sitting and waiting for Fantasmic!, hitting a poor lady in the leg. It sounded like the scooter driver was inexperienced with the scooter and hit the throttle instead of brakes (and was very apologetic about it). A CM came over and the woman hit declined any attention but was massaging her leg the whole time during Fantasmic. So incidents with scooters due to inexperienced operators definitely happen, and I bet most of them are not reported or tracked.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Once witnessed a scooter accelerate suddenly into a crowd sitting and waiting for Fantasmic!, hitting a poor lady in the leg. It sounded like the scooter driver was inexperienced with the scooter and hit the throttle instead of brakes (and was very apologetic about it). A CM came over and the woman hit declined any attention but was massaging her leg the whole time during Fantasmic. So incidents with scooters due to inexperienced operators definitely happen, and I bet most of them are not reported or tracked.

I’d handily bet that scooter incidents are a daily thing at Disney. I would also handily bet that almost all are pretty minor but it’s still not pleasant and it’s also needless since the lion’s share of scooters are for convenience rather than need.

Scooter culture at WDW is out of control, and it’s getting that way at DLR. which is a problem as we don’t have the room that WDW has. It’s also pretty pathetic. Watching morbidly obese children ride around with their parents when it’s a prime opportunity for exercise is beyond sad. Yes, some of these kids truly need the scooter but let’s not pretend most do.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Back to crowds... Friday wasn't nearly as crowded as Thursday (school holiday) in either park. I think people got spooked by MK reservations filling up on Friday because now the next four Fridays are full.

We didn’t go into the parks last night but we headed over to see the fireworks. At 8pm, for only the second time in two months (the other being the Friday before Labor Day) there was no wait at TS parking lot, or security, or to get into the park. Unsurprisingly, it’s the first time in those two months that the Imagine key was blacked out (or maybe they were blacked out the Friday before Labor Day as well).

That said, on the app, wait times were long. It’s A Small World was showing as 30 minutes at 10:30, for example. And we waited about 20 minutes to get on a TS bus at 10:30…. And tons of people used it just to walk to their hotel.

With Imagine blocked until Halloween, I suspect Disney is expecting large non-MK crowds this month.

 

[irlandaise]

Scooter culture at WDW is out of control, and it’s getting that way at DLR. which is a problem as we don’t have the room that WDW has. It’s also pretty pathetic. Watching morbidly obese children ride around with their parents when it’s a prime opportunity for exercise is beyond sad. Yes, some of these kids truly need the scooter but let’s not pretend most do.

Why are there lines of scooters in the road? Was that photo maybe taken at the end of a parade and the scooter users were allowed back onto the street first?

Also...Figment!!!!

 

[BriannaRuth]

Because the picture isn't real, it's AI generated.

Look at the scooters, they all look alike. They all look brand new and they're all the same, which is not what you see at DL. There's actually not a single DL scooter in this picture, nor are there any Disney shirts in the picture. People's faces look fine at first glance but look closer and you'll see they're "off." Given the comments about "granny doesn't know how to ride a scooter," look how uniform everyone is moving, as if they've all been riding scooters all their lives. Also, they're mostly fairly young and not overweight.

Look at the row just behind Figment’s wing (on the left side) — two riders a few rows apart have nearly the same shirt, posture, etc.

But yes, Figment, very obvious AI!

 

[BriannaRuth]

I’d handily bet that scooter incidents are a daily thing at Disney. I would also handily bet that almost all are pretty minor but it’s still not pleasant and it’s also needless since the lion’s share of scooters are for convenience rather than need.

Scooter culture at WDW is out of control, and it’s getting that way at DLR. which is a problem as we don’t have the room that WDW has. It’s also pretty pathetic. Watching morbidly obese children ride around with their parents when it’s a prime opportunity for exercise is beyond sad. Yes, some of these kids truly need the scooter but let’s not pretend most do.

Several years ago I had a scooter because I clumsily caught my foot getting off a stepstool and managed to sprain my ankle a couple days before our trip. I'm sure there were many people wondering wth I was doing on a scooter as there was no obvious sign I needed one. It was an eye-opening experience.

I'd agree that scooter incidents are a daily thing, but not all of them are the fault of the rider, and it's made me more aware of how I move in the parks. People coming to a dead stop with no warning right in front of you, people deciding that space you've left between your scooter and the group in front of you looks just PERFECT for them to squeeze between, and my favorite, the guy on a phone who came running out of a store without looking and plowed right into me.

No doubt grandma on a scooter can cause a problem (although grandma probably DOES need one), and no doubt there are people who are using them for convenience rather than need. But the lion's share? Not sure anyone is really in a place to make that judgement. And honestly, I don't recall seeing a huge number of morbidly obese children riding scooters at Disneyland.

 

[ShoeCello]

Because the picture isn't real, it's AI generated.

Look at the scooters, they all look alike. They all look brand new and they're all the same, which is not what you see at DL. There's actually not a single DL scooter in this picture, nor are there any Disney shirts in the picture. People's faces look fine at first glance but look closer and you'll see they're "off." Given the comments about "granny doesn't know how to ride a scooter," look how uniform everyone is moving, as if they've all been riding scooters all their lives. Also, they're mostly fairly young and not overweight.

Look at the row just behind Figment’s wing (on the left side) — two riders a few rows apart have nearly the same shirt, posture, etc.

But yes, Figment, very obvious AI!

Other tell-tale sign: no way the crowds and scooters would be moving together in as orderly a fashion at any Disney park!

 

[Bruno33]

Several years ago I had a scooter because I clumsily caught my foot getting off a stepstool and managed to sprain my ankle a couple days before our trip. I'm sure there were many people wondering wth I was doing on a scooter as there was no obvious sign I needed one. It was an eye-opening experience.

I'd agree that scooter incidents are a daily thing, but not all of them are the fault of the rider, and it's made me more aware of how I move in the parks. People coming to a dead stop with no warning right in front of you, people deciding that space you've left between your scooter and the group in front of you looks just PERFECT for them to squeeze between, and my favorite, the guy on a phone who came running out of a store without looking and plowed right into me.

No doubt grandma on a scooter can cause a problem (although grandma probably DOES need one), and no doubt there are people who are using them for convenience rather than need. But the lion's share? Not sure anyone is really in a place to make that judgement. And honestly, I don't recall seeing a huge number of morbidly obese children riding scooters at Disneyland.

Thank you for speaking to this. This thread took kind of an icky turn! We’ve gone to Disney with an elderly relative (who paid for the trip!) who needed a scooter due to a knee issue. It’s not like it’s something you can really practice first, so of course she had to learn on the fly. She’s fine in her daily life, but there’s no way she could have done the parks on foot.

It was overall a stressful experience and a big hassle. It was worth it for her to be able to go, but it’s not like this was some great experience that made us all want to use scooters? The shaming of “grandma on a scooter” or people who are overweight (which is often a result of the very health issues that needed a scooter) is kind of gross and sad.

As you said, being with her was eye opening and gave me more compassion for how difficult they can be to maneuver! I understand that they add to the crowd feeling, but I don’t think dunking on scooter users is really what this thread needs.

 

[FLCA026]

I,too, noticed many more scooters than usual last week. Along with the return of the GIANT wagons! When did that happen...I didn't see hardly any last June. Those things are a menace.

I didn’t know the big wagons were allowed.

 

[FLCA026]

I’d handily bet that scooter incidents are a daily thing at Disney. I would also handily bet that almost all are pretty minor but it’s still not pleasant and it’s also needless since the lion’s share of scooters are for convenience rather than need.

Scooter culture at WDW is out of control, and it’s getting that way at DLR. which is a problem as we don’t have the room that WDW has. It’s also pretty pathetic. Watching morbidly obese children ride around with their parents when it’s a prime opportunity for exercise is beyond sad. Yes, some of these kids truly need the scooter but let’s not pretend most do.

It’s so hard when leaving the park with the scooters and strollers. and I feel for them as well because it’s not easy to navigate in the crowds.

 

[LKing]

I didn’t know the big wagons were allowed.

They are if security tags them as needed for medical purposes.