How long have they been doing this:

[Onemoretime]

Last nite at MK was a Spectro & Wishes nite as well as the Extra Magic Hours Evening. Needless to say the park was busy. We arrived around 7:30 PM, Main Street was the normal mass of humanity you'd expect when it's a triple header nite. At the entrance to Main Street there were CM's directing people out the normally closed Bicycle Gate next to Tony's. We thought "Hmmmm, this is new, let's give it a try". They had us walk backstage, behind Main Street and re-enter the park between the Restrooms & The Plaza.

My first impression was "Kewl, skipped that crowd" but then what happened sunk in and my next thought was " that sucked".

It "sucked" because going backstage totally blows the Show, ( don't go there OWTS, not a sexual reference ). MK is not about smelling the dumpsters or watching CM's enjoy a cig.

If Disney thinks this is the best way to handle crowds they are sorely mistaken. Maybe they should cut out one MNSSHP nite during the week and offer Wishes and Spectro during that nite to the general public.

PS: Just so there is no misunderstanding, we were not forced to bypass Main Street. It was an option for those who wanted too.

 

[All Aboard]

I've seen this on a number of occasions, and I think it totally ruins the show.

 

[peter11435]

They have been doing that for many years now. In fact I first saw it done in the early 90's. I agree I don't really like the practice either. But you must remember the four keys to the kingdom: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency in that order. As you can see Safety comes before Show. In this case they are doing it to ease over crowding on Main Street that can become a safety hazard.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Same problem applies to MGM and Fantasmic. They have many people exit via a backstage route, in addition to those on the Fantasmic Dinner Package entering the show via the same backstage area.

I don't like it and agree that it detracts from the Show.

 

[YoHo]

I believe All Aboard and I discussed this. Disneyland does it too. Part of the issue to is a lack of planning. In particular with Disneyland where they created a show that can only be effectivly seen in mainstreet thus making an already natural crowd situation even worse.

 

[jlima]

I've only seen this once at Disneyland . . . it was in 1996 or 1997; after the first Fantasmic a gate was opened at the back of the que area for Pirates of the Carribean; between the Treehouse and the building that houses the Disney Gallery/Entrance to POTC. You walked behind Main Street and ended up at the gate near the Fire House. It was very bizzare but very effective at getting people out of New Orleans Square and I appreciated the effort at alleviating the crowd situation. Have never seen this done since then.

 

[RyMickey]

I may be alone here, but I loved it. I'm always up for something that I've never seen before and going backstage on Main Street was definitely something I had never done before. I guess it ruins "show," but it definitely didn't ruin anything for me. Personally, I think there's a lot of talk about "ruining show" (see D-Troops...or don't since their site's been down over 2 weeks), but I think it really just "ruins" it for experienced Disney folks. I don't think it does anything to those experiencing WDW for the first, second, or third times.