Len Testa Interview

[jenniferhouston2]

There were trip reports last week and this Spring Break week showing attractions functioning under capacity, for whatever the reason/motivation. For example, on mornings when MK opened at 8 am, they were only running one side of Dumbo, until approximately 9:30 am, creating quite a long line. There are numerous anecdotes about running People Mover more than half empty.

We Report. You Decide.

 

[glencoe]

Wow, listening to the entire podcast was enlightening and made so much sense. I do use the calendars and find them to be accurate and helpful, however I have just chalked up the crowds lately to no more slow times at WDW. It is just super crowded all the time. However it is alarming when rides that NEVER had lines have 55 minute lines for standby and 35 min. fast pass lines (Feb- spaceship earth).

My son was at WDW this past week and he said crowds were crazy and there seemed to be less boats running at Splash Mtn. and if this is possible, the boats and vehicles at small world, peter pan, jungle cruise seemed to be moving faster than usual? Is that possible? Rushing the rides?

When I was there this past Feb (beginning of break) the parks were madness but even though everyone says the resorts are full I found the Poly wonderfully quiet and the restaurants had very light traffic this past trip.(ohana, Raglan road, kona, Edison's, The wave, but Le Cellier was the only busy one.

From what I have witnessed I believe there is credibility to the "Testa" data and the science teacher geek in me would love to see it graphed and in chart form!!!

Thanks for the listen!

 

[DisneyLover1217]

I don't know if you guys watched the latest video from Pete and the gang. They did a review of the food at the Flower and Garden festival and he pointed out this really really long line with just 1 cashier. So added to the speculation that they are understaffed causing these long lines.

 

[WDW_Ding]

I don't know if you guys watched the latest video from Pete and the gang. They did a review of the food at the Flower and Garden festival and he pointed out this really really long line with just 1 cashier. So added to the speculation that they are understaffed causing these long lines.

I saw that and thought the same thing.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Me too. And got sad. Or make that sadDER.

 

[lentesta]

I think it is because wait times are only one data point they use to calculate their crowd calendar.

@lentesta...can you clear it up?

I think the 20%-ish numbers were the extremes that illustrated the point. The smaller numbers were more common.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think the 20%-ish numbers were the extremes that illustrated the point. The smaller numbers were more common.

Yeah, that is how I saw it as well - and it is probably some rides more than others that are impacted by small understandings than others

Plus rides that normally are less crowded (tiki room, etc) probably don’t really see an impact if they understaff a bit

Also, if this is just the start of Disney trying this (or implementing to a greater degree), as Len pointed out, they will likely adjust some. They want to appear busy at all times but not extra crazy busy during midweek to the point people are waiting in extra long lines and thus less time in gift shops, etc - so I am sure this will continue to some extent but they will dial it up and down as needed to find the “optimal” point

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I don't know if you guys watched the latest video from Pete and the gang. They did a review of the food at the Flower and Garden festival and he pointed out this really really long line with just 1 cashier. So added to the speculation that they are understaffed causing these long lines.

On the plus side you now get to pay to park your car at you resort to have the privaledge of then getting into these even longer lines due to cutting costs *sigh*

 

[Stacy's a freak]

There were trip reports last week and this Spring Break week showing attractions functioning under capacity, for whatever the reason/motivation. For example, on mornings when MK opened at 8 am, they were only running one side of Dumbo, until approximately 9:30 am, creating quite a long line. There are numerous anecdotes about running People Mover more than half empty.

We Report. You Decide.

Regarding the people mover, we experienced this during President's week. It was crazy busy in MK on a Thursday (non-EMH day) and we decided to jump on the people mover to get away from the crowds a little. I have NEVER waited long for the people mover but we probably waited 30 minutes which isn't awful when you see other rides at 120 minutes. While we were on line we kept seeing the cars above without people on them and couldn't understand why they weren't filling to capacity. When we finally made it up to the platform, there were several cars with orange traffic cones in them. I assumed there was something wrong with those cars like maybe the doors weren't operating properly. But maybe they were just not using them on purpose? In any event, it was annoying AND frankly, it looked pretty janky to see old beat up traffic cones sitting on the seats. That's not the WDW I remember and love.

 

[KingLlama]

Okay but did you consider the possibility that they might be MAGICAL traffic cones, Stacy?

 

[rteetz]

The Peoplemover Cone has its own twitter...

 

[TheFloatingBear]

The Peoplemover Cone has its own twitter...

I may have to finally break down and join twitter just to follow this cone...

 

[disneysteve]

there were several cars with orange traffic cones in them. I assumed there was something wrong with those cars like maybe the doors weren't operating properly. But maybe they were just not using them on purpose?

There was nothing wrong with those cars.

 

[Sweet T n Me]

Data to add to the equation of increased capacity:

Baby-boomer Grandparents, recently retired, with 401K savings.
Their bucket list includes the following:

• Move to Florida
• WDW Annual Pass
• Frequent destinations that create a sense of nostalgia with flowers, food, fun, common decency, reminiscent of years prior to 2016.
• Pixie dusting new memories (real or imagined) with grandchildren to treasure.
• Stay at every on site resort (to follow along with the DIS unplugged 7 in 7)
• Cancel cable and Binge watch our new favorite you tube stars - Dreams Unlimited/DIS unplugged, for our daily fix!

Information captured by a 6 yr old princess who talks to everyone on WDW bus transportation. Mileage may vary.

 

[dwheaton]

I'll add to the chorus about the People Mover. We visited on the Sunday of MLK Weekend, and the lines at the Magic Kingdom were the longest I've seen. There were fewer people in the park, but the lines were longer than Spring Break 2017. We waited 15 minutes for the People Mover, and then they only used 1/3 of the vehicles. It was basically us in one car and two people in the last car. That was it. I couldn't understand it, and hearing from Len made everything come into focus. It's really sad.

 

[robinb]

I'll add to the chorus about the People Mover. We visited on the Sunday of MLK Weekend, and the lines at the Magic Kingdom were the longest I've seen. There were fewer people in the park, but the lines were longer than Spring Break 2017. We waited 15 minutes for the People Mover, and then they only used 1/3 of the vehicles. It was basically us in one car and two people in the last car. That was it. I couldn't understand it, and hearing from Len made everything come into focus. It's really sad.

That is completely ridiculous. That's not even about saving money on CMs or by running fewer ride cycles. The PM is a continuous loader so the cost is the same if there are people in every car or every 3rd car.

 

[dwheaton]

I thought maybe the vehicles were in that bad of shape, but now that I've heard the info from Len, it all makes more sense. It was fun but really strange!

 

[Iowamomof4]

Is there any chance they are putting more distance between occupied vehicles on purpose? How many of us have had our ride experience affected because the person in the next vehicle is on their smart phone the whole time? I guess I'm just hoping there could be a reason for this change that makes sense.

 

[disneyseniors]

Is there any chance they are putting more distance between occupied vehicles on purpose? How many of us have had our ride experience affected because the person in the next vehicle is on their smart phone the whole time? I guess I'm just hoping there could be a reason for this change that makes sense.

I don't think that is the case at all. We were there the first of March and the people mover only loaded one car per set. That's one car in a set of 4 or 5, I can't remember how many exactly. That was the case for every set of cars. There were no orange cones though. It was very strange. I should have asked the CM who was being so careful to load this way, what the heck is going on?

 

[soniam]

Data to add to the equation of increased capacity:

Baby-boomer Grandparents, recently retired, with 401K savings.
Their bucket list includes the following:

• Move to Florida
• WDW Annual Pass
• Frequent destinations that create a sense of nostalgia with flowers, food, fun, common decency, reminiscent of years prior to 2016.
• Pixie dusting new memories (real or imagined) with grandchildren to treasure.
• Stay at every on site resort (to follow along with the DIS unplugged 7 in 7)
• Cancel cable and Binge watch our new favorite you tube stars - Dreams Unlimited/DIS unplugged, for our daily fix!

Information captured by a 6 yr old princess who talks to everyone on WDW bus transportation. Mileage may vary.

Do that many baby boomers have 401ks? I know neither my parents or my in-laws were ever eligible for 401ks at places they worked, until after my husband and I had already been in the workforce maybe 5-10 years, so the late 90s early 2000s.