Getting in a queue line right before closing at a park.

[dzaharchuk]

Rarely do I ever chime in to these contentious posts, but I cannot believe the discussion. Disney makes a BOATLOAD of money. They mess with park hours, cancel and change shows, last minute refurbs...cry me a river. I do believe that the CMs are paid to work until the last guest leaves. It is wrong to try and make people feel guilty for wanting to ride rides with inflated wait times and limited capacity, unless they are trying to sneak into line after park close. Disney has done some appalling things this year to cut value in guests' experiences, such as under-staffing and not using all available ride vehicles. tracks, etc. Customers are just trying to get a chance to ride the maximum amount of rides during OPERATING HOURS, if we are in line before the park closes it is neither rude nor inconsiderate. These staff members are paid to work. Get a hobby and stop wasting time belittling others.

 

[glvsav37]

I'm a former CP CM and I don't have an issue with it. CMs are paid hourly (so they are not working later for free) and if you are working a closing shift, it is kind of expected that you are staying late. You are in the service business and your job isn't over until the last guest is out.

I'm just glad that I worked in Frointeerland and those were the first lands cleared. Unlike my room mate who worked in the ice cream shop on main street and was always full well after park closing. But that was the gig.

I think its fine if you get in line before its officially closed, I don't think its ok to be mad at the CM if they do close the line before you get there. Most of the time, the person at the rope is not the person making the decision.

 

[whiporee]

Rarely do I ever chime in to these contentious posts, but I cannot believe the discussion. Disney makes a BOATLOAD of money. They mess with park hours, cancel and change shows, last minute refurbs...cry me a river. I do believe that the CMs are paid to work until the last guest leaves. It is wrong to try and make people feel guilty for wanting to ride rides with inflated wait times and limited capacity, unless they are trying to sneak into line after park close. Disney has done some appalling things this year to cut value in guests' experiences, such as under-staffing and not using all available ride vehicles. tracks, etc. Customers are just trying to get a chance to ride the maximum amount of rides during OPERATING HOURS, if we are in line before the park closes it is neither rude nor inconsiderate. These staff members are paid to work. Get a hobby and stop wasting time belittling others.

I didn't belittle anybody, though there's been plenty of belittling of me. I just pointed out there's another side to the behavior. You don't want to hear about it think about it or care about it, that's fine. I've said that several times. But you can't pretend there's no effect to it, nor can you pretend there's no consequence to someone else. It might be as little as having to rush through post-closing procedures or getting home 20 minutes later than they could. It may not be much, but it's something.

The fact that WDW makes a lot of money doesn't mean anything to the girl who has to stay later to get her job done. It's part of the gig, I know, and it's what they signed up for, I know. But it's also a consequence. And the fact that you don't want to hear that your behavior might negatively affect someone else doesn't change the fact that it happens. And actively planning for it -- saying things like I'll get in line a minute before closing -- feels like bad form. If it doesn't to you, that's fine. But you have to concede that feeling that way isn't unreasonable.

 

[dzaharchuk]

I agree, it is never okay to give the staff a hard time. We have had nothing but positive experiences with CMs . I am never in favor of taking out frustrations on waitresses, store clerks, etc.
Working in the Florida heat has its challenges as it is! But while I agree that there is nothing wrong with getting in line before closing, neither would I be upset with anyone who is just doing their job.

 

[whiporee]

CMs are paid hourly (so they are not working later for free) and if you are working a closing shift, it is kind of expected that you are staying late. You are in the service business and your job isn't over until the last guest is out.

Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate your insight.

If you don't mind, when you were a CM, were your instructions to "stay until the job is finished" or "get the job finished by this time?" Was working beyond your scheduled hours okay, encouraged or discouraged? Just curious for the conversation.

But while I agree that there is nothing wrong with getting in line before closing, neither would I be upset with anyone who is just doing their job.

But you understand that others would, right? Even in this thread, someone said that if they faced a pre-closing-time rope, they'd go to Guest Services and politely complain (or, ask) why the ride closed earlier than closing time.

 

[famy27]

I didn't belittle anybody, though there's been plenty of belittling of me. I just pointed out there's another side to the behavior. You don't want to hear about it think about it or care about it, that's fine. I've said that several times. But you can't pretend there's no effect to it, nor can you pretend there's no consequence to someone else. It might be as little as having to rush through post-closing procedures or getting home 20 minutes later than they could. It may not be much, but it's something.

The fact that WDW makes a lot of money doesn't mean anything to the girl who has to stay later to get her job done. It's part of the gig, I know, and it's what they signed up for, I know. But it's also a consequence. And the fact that you don't want to hear that your behavior might negatively affect someone else doesn't change the fact that it happens. And actively planning for it -- saying things like I'll get in line a minute before closing -- feels like bad form. If it doesn't to you, that's fine. But you have to concede that feeling that way isn't unreasonable.

But what if those CMs are counting on the late hours? They know that if they work SDMT, they will get an extra 30-60 minutes of pay. With all of the recent budget and hour cuts, that might make a difference to some people. So, if nobody got in line at closing, all of those CMs would be losing money. Consequences!

 

[glvsav37]

Stay until the job was finished. I was in food service (pecos bills), not in attractions, but we had a normal closing time but then needed to stay to clean all the pots and surfaces. Bag up al the left overs for the harvest donation and set up any prep needed for the next day. Now we did try and do some of these earlier b/c we could tell when we had enough food made and such. But overall, we stayed until the job was done.

One thing though that people may not realize, is that once you are off your shift, you don't just go home. At least at the MK when I was there, you need go to the cast locker room to change, go to costuming and swap out your dirty costume (You are not allowed to take your costume home), then get on a bus to the cast parking lot to get your car. Also, Main Street is always the last to close, and locker rooms and costuming were near the utilidoor exit under Pinocchio's Village Haus. So you were basically walking the length of the park to leave.

I'm not mentioning that to make people feel bad about getting in line late, just saying to realize a CM job isn't over when they close the gate.

 

[nilla]

I didn't belittle anybody, though there's been plenty of belittling of me. I just pointed out there's another side to the behavior. You don't want to hear about it think about it or care about it, that's fine. I've said that several times. But you can't pretend there's no effect to it, nor can you pretend there's no consequence to someone else. It might be as little as having to rush through post-closing procedures or getting home 20 minutes later than they could. It may not be much, but it's something.

The fact that WDW makes a lot of money doesn't mean anything to the girl who has to stay later to get her job done. It's part of the gig, I know, and it's what they signed up for, I know. But it's also a consequence. And the fact that you don't want to hear that your behavior might negatively affect someone else doesn't change the fact that it happens. And actively planning for it -- saying things like I'll get in line a minute before closing -- feels like bad form. If it doesn't to you, that's fine. But you have to concede that feeling that way isn't unreasonable.

All true, but then we can also say that I should base my meal orders on how difficult it is to clean the pan it's cooked in, and that I should just leave Home Depot empty-handed if the product I want is on the top shelf and requires a ladder.

 

[whiporee]

But what if those CMs are counting on the late hours? They know that if they work SDMT, they will get an extra 30-60 minutes of pay. With all of the recent budget and hour cuts, that might make a difference to some people. So, if nobody got in line at closing, all of those CMs would be losing money. Consequences!

Fair enough. We should extrapolate that out -- Richard Bach actually made that analogy in his book "Illusions." -- We are all. Free. To do. Whatever. We want. To do. Glad to see the sentiment is alive and well and thriving at Disney.

 

[Disneylover99]

I didn't belittle anybody, though there's been plenty of belittling of me.

In your very first post you belittled everyone who has ever gotten in line for one last ride right before park closing.

The op simply asked a question. You set the tone.

 

[PlainJane]

I've never encountered a line closed before official closing time. I would be annoyed, but I understand that there is no point getting mad at the bearer of bad news. I like planning and consistency, so I would appreciate it if there was a blanket policy.

Edited to add: Theme Park standards of "closing time" are different than the norm. Parks generally let people keep getting in line up until close and select stores and eateries are normally open for business about an hour after official close. Disney even has ADR's available up until almost the close of their parks. If I can be seated for an ADR 10 minutes before park close, I fail to understand why it would in turn be rude to get in line for a ride.

 

[whiporee]

All true, but then we can also say that I should base my meal orders on how difficult it is to clean the pan it's cooked in, and that I should just leave Home Depot empty-handed if the product I want is on the top shelf and requires a ladder.

No, but you might want to think about coming into the kitchen designer at 8:58, or ordering the 20-minute chocolate soufflé at closing time.

Or not. To each his own.

 

[whiporee]

In your very first post you belittled everyone who has ever gotten in line for one last ride right before park closing.

The op simply asked a question. You set the tone.

If that's how you see it, fair enough. I don't think that was belittling, just raising a point of view many disagree with because they want to feel free to enter lines until the last minute without feeling any guilt for the people involved.

And the OP didn't ask a question --- the OP -- to me -- appeared to be looking for validation for a behavior. Sort of the equivalent of saying "I can book a campsite for one night and then make my FPs 60 days out, right?" or "I can stack MDE accounts to get more FPs, right?"

I thought the other side of that behavior should be pointed out. Others disagree. Okay.

 

[PlainJane]

If that's how you see it, fair enough. I don't think that was belittling, just raising a point of view many disagree with because they want to feel free to enter lines until the last minute without feeling any guilt for the people involved.

And the OP didn't ask a question --- the OP -- to me -- appeared to be looking for validation for a behavior. Sort of the equivalent of saying "I can book a campsite for one night and then make my FPs 60 days out, right?" or "I can stack MDE accounts to get more FPs, right?"

I thought the other side of that behavior should be pointed out. Others disagree. Okay.

Your examples are blatant abuses of policies. If you, personally, wish to only enter lines for rides that you will be done enjoying before closing time based on the ride estimate that is up to you. Theme parks have set the standard that closing time isn't really closing time.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Shh! Or everyone will start doing this!

 

[fan1080]

If that's how you see it, fair enough. I don't think that was belittling, just raising a point of view many disagree with because they want to feel free to enter lines until the last minute without feeling any guilt for the people involved.

And the OP didn't ask a question --- the OP -- to me -- appeared to be looking for validation for a behavior. Sort of the equivalent of saying "I can book a campsite for one night and then make my FPs 60 days out, right?" or "I can stack MDE accounts to get more FPs, right?"

I thought the other side of that behavior should be pointed out. Others disagree. Okay.

I'm feeling "inconvenienced" by your need to repeatedly defend your position in this thread....

You've made your point, I think it's time to move on.

 

[DWeav]

If that's how you see it, fair enough. I don't think that was belittling, just raising a point of view many disagree with because they want to feel free to enter lines until the last minute without feeling any guilt for the people involved.

And the OP didn't ask a question --- the OP -- to me -- appeared to be looking for validation for a behavior. Sort of the equivalent of saying "I can book a campsite for one night and then make my FPs 60 days out, right?" or "I can stack MDE accounts to get more FPs, right?"

I thought the other side of that behavior should be pointed out. Others disagree. Okay.

NOT TRUE, I asked if you could still get in the line before closing and still ride and I gave examples. How was I looking for validation for such behavior. But keep attacking away.

 

[DWeav]

If that's how you see it, fair enough. I don't think that was belittling, just raising a point of view many disagree with because they want to feel free to enter lines until the last minute without feeling any guilt for the people involved.

And the OP didn't ask a question --- the OP -- to me -- appeared to be looking for validation for a behavior. Sort of the equivalent of saying "I can book a campsite for one night and then make my FPs 60 days out, right?" or "I can stack MDE accounts to get more FPs, right?"

I thought the other side of that behavior should be pointed out. Others disagree. Okay.

Yeh, okay. Getting in a line when the park is still open is just like "stacking MDE accounts to get more FPs." You're making me out to be someone so vicious in my actions to take advantage when all I'm doing is getting in a line before park closing. This is ridiculous, you're comparable to a politician.

 

[sgtdisney]

So, after all this, the answer is yes, you can get in the line if it's open right up until closing, and yes you will be able to ride the ride regardless of it's a 5 minute wait or a 50 minute wait. In most cases the line will remain open until exactly closing time, but it's not 100% given, plan accordingly. Cast members are aware of the hours the shift entails and are paid for working those hours. Would they like to get home early, I am sure they do, do they expect it, I am sure they don't. There is no guilt or shame in enjoying your time at the park. If Disney sees that the line is excessive and they close it a little early, so be it. None of this is gaming the system nor does it make you morally bankrupt. Enjoy your time. They close the stores an hour later on Main Street for a reason, for those who got in line right before closing, or those meandering out. So you can spend some $$$... Disney expects this, or they would close Main Street right at close as well.

 

[ChipnDale79]

If the line is open, the ride is open. It doesnt matter what time of day it is.

If disney didn't want you to ride anything past park closing, then they would close the lines early.

Why is there really a debate about if its right or not. It's clear what disney's position is on this.