So, a few notes from my last trip this past weekend. We were in the parks from Friday thru Monday. Crystal clear days, but I was in a T shirt on Friday, and a winter coat by Sunday. Parks were crowded, I guess what I would call the new norm.
Anyway, a few things to share. Please note, I only included things that I saw more than once.
Do not let your children play in front of the exit line
This happened twice, once at Dinosaur, and another at Space Mountain. People are attempting to get out of the ride, and people are letting their children (basically unattended) play on the floor. Besides being somewhat rude as you have complete strangers having to step over your children, it is also a safety hazard.
The Ride Swap Pass is not an fastpass
So, this happened at least 4 times in front of me, so I think that somewhere there must be some bad information. The ride swap idea is that part of your party rides the ride, while someone watches those that are too small or too scared to ride. Then the other part of the party is allowed to use the fastpass line to ride. There is some capability for some members of the party to ride twice. This is all great.
But I kept hearing people saying that needed a ride swap, that the first part of the party would go thru the fastpass line, then the second part would go thru the fastpass line. The cast members were attempting the best to explain that essentially the first group could only go thru the fastpass line if they had a fastpass to begin with. Otherwise they would have to wait on the standby line first, but then the second group would use the fastpass line.
Handicapped Parking does not mean park anywhere
Again two instances, one at the TTC and another at AK. In both cases there was plenty of parking available for Handicapped people, albeit a few rows back. AT the TTC, someone parked along the fence, which was making it very difficult for someone else to back out of their parking space. The entire area along the fence had cones, the person parking moved them so they could fit their car in.
The second offence, at AK, was someone parked on the Gore stripes between two cars, making it very difficult for someone in the right hand space to get into their car. Again, there were plenty of spaces just three rows back. In both cases, you were think if someone was truly handicapped, they would be aware of the difficulties they are creating for other people who are also handicapped.
Rides will break down
Learn about the Recovery Fastpass. Both Test Track (once for weather, then a blown tire just as you hit the 65 MPH mark), and Space Mountain had ride issues that caused them to shut down. We were about to get into the train at space mountain, and we were past the line merge at Test Track. It happens…
Disney does not care about you
That may be a harsh statement, but remember, Disney is a corporation, not a person. The corporation’s main goal is to make money, essentially to return money to shareholders. In this case, Disney does that by providing a service to others, and they indeed do a great job at that. But they are in business to make money. Giving you a great experience does indeed get the company to that goal.
So, please do not be surprised that in the middle of the day on a Holiday weekend that there are only six like at the parking booths, which translate to just three people collecting that $25 parking fee. Likewise the fact that the Tomorrowland Speedway, Peter Pan, Stitch Great Escape and the Walt Disney World Railroad are all closed. Don’t get me wrong, I understand progress, I understand moving forward, I really do. But each of those rides not operating means that the people that would have been on those rides are now being dispersed to the rest of the park. And with the remaining rides all having wait times approaching or in excess of an hour, that is frustrating. With riders getting evacuated off Space Mountain on Monday morning, lines for the remaining rides just kept growing.
Then the parks all closed fairly early, at least IMHO. The line for Dinosaur was reported to be 40 minutes when we go on. They actually then opened up the line into an area of the park that I never knew existed. A quick look at my App showed the line was now 85 minutes long.
Then we were at Evereest, and while on line (my wife sat this one out), she called me to tell me that the wait time went from 50 minutes when we go on line to 110 minutes. Not sure what was happening, i know Disney is normally pretty good about the wait times. But I do think those multi-experience fast passes from the rides that were down can quickly impact the wait times.
Disney is doing some great work at the Parks, and there are some amazing new attractions about to be delivered. In the meantime, with an ever improving economy, Disney is getting busier and busier. At some point, IMHO, the thought of spending thousands of dollars to spend 10 hours in a park and get to go on 5 rides is just not going to continue to be appealing.
Anyway, a few things to share. Please note, I only included things that I saw more than once.
Do not let your children play in front of the exit line
This happened twice, once at Dinosaur, and another at Space Mountain. People are attempting to get out of the ride, and people are letting their children (basically unattended) play on the floor. Besides being somewhat rude as you have complete strangers having to step over your children, it is also a safety hazard.
The Ride Swap Pass is not an fastpass
So, this happened at least 4 times in front of me, so I think that somewhere there must be some bad information. The ride swap idea is that part of your party rides the ride, while someone watches those that are too small or too scared to ride. Then the other part of the party is allowed to use the fastpass line to ride. There is some capability for some members of the party to ride twice. This is all great.
But I kept hearing people saying that needed a ride swap, that the first part of the party would go thru the fastpass line, then the second part would go thru the fastpass line. The cast members were attempting the best to explain that essentially the first group could only go thru the fastpass line if they had a fastpass to begin with. Otherwise they would have to wait on the standby line first, but then the second group would use the fastpass line.
Handicapped Parking does not mean park anywhere
Again two instances, one at the TTC and another at AK. In both cases there was plenty of parking available for Handicapped people, albeit a few rows back. AT the TTC, someone parked along the fence, which was making it very difficult for someone else to back out of their parking space. The entire area along the fence had cones, the person parking moved them so they could fit their car in.
The second offence, at AK, was someone parked on the Gore stripes between two cars, making it very difficult for someone in the right hand space to get into their car. Again, there were plenty of spaces just three rows back. In both cases, you were think if someone was truly handicapped, they would be aware of the difficulties they are creating for other people who are also handicapped.
Rides will break down
Learn about the Recovery Fastpass. Both Test Track (once for weather, then a blown tire just as you hit the 65 MPH mark), and Space Mountain had ride issues that caused them to shut down. We were about to get into the train at space mountain, and we were past the line merge at Test Track. It happens…
Disney does not care about you
That may be a harsh statement, but remember, Disney is a corporation, not a person. The corporation’s main goal is to make money, essentially to return money to shareholders. In this case, Disney does that by providing a service to others, and they indeed do a great job at that. But they are in business to make money. Giving you a great experience does indeed get the company to that goal.
So, please do not be surprised that in the middle of the day on a Holiday weekend that there are only six like at the parking booths, which translate to just three people collecting that $25 parking fee. Likewise the fact that the Tomorrowland Speedway, Peter Pan, Stitch Great Escape and the Walt Disney World Railroad are all closed. Don’t get me wrong, I understand progress, I understand moving forward, I really do. But each of those rides not operating means that the people that would have been on those rides are now being dispersed to the rest of the park. And with the remaining rides all having wait times approaching or in excess of an hour, that is frustrating. With riders getting evacuated off Space Mountain on Monday morning, lines for the remaining rides just kept growing.
Then the parks all closed fairly early, at least IMHO. The line for Dinosaur was reported to be 40 minutes when we go on. They actually then opened up the line into an area of the park that I never knew existed. A quick look at my App showed the line was now 85 minutes long.
Then we were at Evereest, and while on line (my wife sat this one out), she called me to tell me that the wait time went from 50 minutes when we go on line to 110 minutes. Not sure what was happening, i know Disney is normally pretty good about the wait times. But I do think those multi-experience fast passes from the rides that were down can quickly impact the wait times.
Disney is doing some great work at the Parks, and there are some amazing new attractions about to be delivered. In the meantime, with an ever improving economy, Disney is getting busier and busier. At some point, IMHO, the thought of spending thousands of dollars to spend 10 hours in a park and get to go on 5 rides is just not going to continue to be appealing.
