New Security Measures for MK Guests; UPDATES: Page 12 - Post 222; Live Reports - Pgs. 18-20

[shafke]

Quick question that I did not see answered... how are they handling those traveling from Epcot to TTC via monorail. From what I understand you are going to be leaving from an area outside the security zone and when you get off the monorail you are now inside the security zone. Is there a checkpoint at the monorail exit?

 

[njmousefest]

So when do they start having security controls at the resorts? After all there are a lot of people there.

 

[yulilin3]

Quick question that I did not see answered... how are they handling those traveling from Epcot to TTC via monorail. From what I understand you are going to be leaving from an area outside the security zone and when you get off the monorail you are now inside the security zone. Is there a checkpoint at the monorail exit?

you have already been checked if you are boarding the monorail at Epcot

 

[AngiTN]

Quick question that I did not see answered... how are they handling those traveling from Epcot to TTC via monorail. From what I understand you are going to be leaving from an area outside the security zone and when you get off the monorail you are now inside the security zone. Is there a checkpoint at the monorail exit?

No, the boarding area at Epcot is inside security zone. So you will not be checked again

 

[LauraLea]

Geez. I kind of get the feeling some people want everyone security checked as soon as they leave their own front door.

Laura

 

[HopperFan]

Oh, without a doubt. I'm very shocked they do still allow this. Glad for the folks that cart food around. It wouldn't shock me if they did stop it one day. I do think the odds are low they will since they haven't yet. Especially since allowing it directly hits their bottom line as it means fewer sales of food. I guess they've evaluated the fact that some would stop going period if they stopped outside food and keeping those guests more than offsets the lost sales from allowing outside food.

Folks are bringing in huge rolling coolers with enough food for an entire weekend - it's so unnecessary. They could get this under control without banning food. Many trips I prefer packing lunch because I tire of their prices and food offerings. I'd rather have a TS for dinner. We NEVER take a cooler in, we pack our lunches with frozen or very cold water bottle in plastic containers in a normal backpack and wear it. By lunch our load is lightened and we aren't dragging around a dangerous cooler. BAN all coolers other than lunchbox sized ones (those little 6 pack coolers) and then folks can certainly get a fair amount of food, baby bottles or snacks inside by putting in backpacks. If you have a baby, you likely have a stroller and if need be you can have a few small lunchbox sized coolers underneath. Zero reason for anything bigger.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Folks are bringing in huge rolling coolers with enough food for an entire weekend - it's so unnecessary. They could get this under control without banning food. Many trips I prefer packing lunch because I tire of their prices and food offerings. I'd rather have a TS for dinner. We NEVER take a cooler in, we pack our lunches with frozen or very cold water bottle in plastic containers in a normal backpack and wear it. By lunch our load is lightened and we aren't dragging around a dangerous cooler. BAN all coolers other than lunchbox sized ones (those little 6 pack coolers) and then folks can certainly get a fair amount of food, baby bottles or snacks inside by putting in backpacks. If you have a baby, you likely have a stroller and if need be you can have a few small lunchbox sized coolers underneath. Zero reason for anything bigger.

If you are going solo, if you are being supply Sargent for a group of say twenty kids I could see needing a better alternative that 20 backpacks half of which would get lost along the way.

 

[IrishNYC]

Yes by manually going through my personal bag they are saying I am a criminal. Even the crappy tsa doesn't touch my stuff. if you think all of this makes you any safer you are a lemming and I have a bridge to sell you.

I never said it makes anyone safer. Bag check/metal detectors are a necessary diversion, and part of a bigger, unpublicized picture that do make Disney safer. TSA doesn't touch your stuff? You've been lucky or you're fooling yourself. When I've traveled with baby bottles, they've been opened if they weren't factory sealed. That's pretty hands-on. I've also had a cast on my arm swabbed for trace residue, and that was after a physical pat-down. I've also had notes in my luggage that TSA opened my bags for a manual inspection.

 

[HopperFan]

If you are going solo, if you are being supply Sargent for a group of say twenty kids I could see needing a better alternative that 20 backpacks half of which would get lost along the way.

I stick to my opinion they should not be allowed inside the park. Put some bigger lockers outside the gates in the now 'wide open plaza' for folks to store them with easy access. Regarding groups, no single person should be covering 20 kids, DS is a coach and in parks with his team 2x a year, those ratios are not allowed by his district and as a parent I would not be okay with that. Also that is what meal vouchers for groups are for, hand them out at lunch so they aren't lost. Other than that each can carry what every they need, water snack etc.

Bigger coolers can also be easily modified to hide something in them. They are only poked through top and they don't go through metal detectors.

 

[SgtTibbs]

If you are going solo, if you are being supply Sargent for a group of say twenty kids I could see needing a better alternative that 20 backpacks half of which would get lost along the way.

And looking at one cooler is a LOT faster than digging into 20 backpacks.

 

[JohnneeO]

You are giving them credit for more forethought than I do. I'm not sure they've put the 2 and 2 together to think about Epcot. They were concentrating solely on MK. Now that it's in practice and they see what's going on they'll look at Epcot

a facebook "friend" works security and he made public that they are aware about the double checking for Epcot. I agree, they concentrated on MK without thinking things through

I am sure they were aware of the double security checks for those arriving at Epcot via monorail, but decided to accept it as a limitation of the scheme to implement the MK checkpoint changes. It is even likely there is a plan to eliminate the double checking. As some have suggested, it would involve not insignificant changes to the Epcot checkpoints, meaning that eliminating double checking for Epcot guests goes beyond the scope of a project that is focused on MK checkpoints.

I would expect that a similar project to adjust the Epcot checkpoints in the near future will not only eliminate the double checking of monorail Epcot arrivals, but will also build on the experience of the MK changes. Ultimately, WDW appears to be moving towards configuring guests arrivals to be further away from the entrance gates, so there is sufficient room to conduct security checkpoints while simultaneously relieving crowding.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Rolling coolers have no business in the parks. Sorry, but it's just a safety hazard. This isn't tailgating.

 

[Mal6586]

I'll be honest, following this thread has been a rollercoaster, and I know nobody asked for it, but I'll throw my two cents in anyway.

Seeing pictures and reading accounts of the new system actually give me peace of mind. That may be a naive view to some people, but I love the idea that checkpoints are decentralized so that there's not this mass of people in front of the park. This gives the opportunity for the CMs working bag checks and security to be more thorough if they're not seeing a sea of people that they need to rush through these checkpoints. Yes, some CMs will still be more lenient than others, but that's just reality. You have that problem in literally any and every company. Some employees are going to take a job more seriously than others, and it's unrealistic to believe Disney has any way to circumvent that and still maintain the massive numbers of employees that it does.

It's literally been 5 days. We all know Disney is watching and monitoring how this new system is working so that they can adjust and restructure any changes that need to be made. No one can plan for every single loophole on the first try. There are simply some things that they were unable to predict when planning this out, and like other people have mentioned, these changes were made specifically with MK in mind. Why jump to the conclusion that what rolled out on Monday is how it will forever be done? They didn't even put up permanent structures because they know adjustments have to be made once they saw how it all worked in practical application. So just take a breath.

As for the people who say "they are allowed to be annoyed", of course you are. What you are not allowed; however, is to demand that anyone agree with you or share your hatred of the system. I don't know what you're looking for when you say that, but that's your opinion. No one is obligated to share it.

 

[AngiTN]

Yeah, the coolers thing is just flat out amazing to me. Not only is it a hazard to others I just can't fathom how it's enjoyable to drag the thing around all day.

 

[RRuszczyk]

I'll be honest, following this thread has been a rollercoaster, and I know nobody asked for it, but I'll throw my two cents in anyway.

Seeing pictures and reading accounts of the new system actually give me peace of mind. That may be an naive view to some people, but I love the idea that checkpoints are decentralized so that there's not this mass of people in front of the park. This gives the opportunity for the CMs working bag checks and security to be more thorough if they're not seeing a sea of people that they need to rush through these checkpoints. Yes, some CMs will still be more lenient than others, but that's just reality. You have that problem in literally any and every company. Some employees are going to take a job more seriously than others, and it's unrealistic to believe Disney has any way to circumvent that and still maintain the massive numbers of employees that it does.

It's literally been 5 days. We all know Disney is watching and monitoring how this new system is working so that they can adjust and restructure any changes that need to be made. No one can plan for every single loophole on the first try. There are simply some things that they were unable to predict when planning this out, and like other people have mentioned, these changes were made specifically with MK in mind. Why jump to the conclusion that what rolled out on Monday is how it will forever be done? They didn't even put up permanent structures because they know adjustments have to be made once they saw how it all worked in practical application. So just take a breath.

As for the people who say "they are allowed to be annoyed", of course you are. What you are not allowed; however, is to demand that anyone agree with you or share your hatred of the system. I don't know what you're looking for when you say that, but that's your opinion. No one is obligated to share it.

For me at least it's a response to those people who are trying to tell me that I have no right to dislike the procedures and process.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

It's completely ridiculous though that I have to take off a honeymoon button (something they handed over to me to celebrate!) to get into the park. And then they proceed to threaten not letting me into the park when I get annoyed with their Keystone Kop antics of security theatre. I'm allowed to be annoyed with the fact that it's pouring rain and you're making me take off my poncho because it's not clear. Well then let's have everyone take off sweatshirts and jackets like TSA (which, lets be honest, is just as bad as Disney Rent-A-Cops) does. The security isn't effective, it's not doing anything productive and they'd be better served eliminating the metal detectors and training actual LEO's to evaluate crowds.

Security made you remove your poncho in the rain? I have not witnessed, experienced or heard of that before.

For myself, I believe all of this to be security theater, and have said so since the first day that it was introduced. I don't care for it, but recognize that this is private property and that Disney has the right to institute these rules if they wish, for whatever reason. My decision is simple - go or not. I do not get to decide whether or not to adhere to Disney's rules. And I have decided that this isn't enough to keep me at home.

Now I also have another decision - do I allow this thing that annoys me to impact my enjoyment of WDW. I try not to. A few times the waits have been long enough to wreck my mood, but only until I found myself walking down Main Street. These trips are too important to me to allow this to impact my trips.

Just my point of view.

 

[fla4fun]

I agree, they couldn't do no bags at all. I was just going to the extreme.

They could regulate the size of the bag, or require that all bags be clear, like some events do. I used to go bagless, but with the metal detectors I find it's easier to carry a small crossbody bag for phone, wallet and hand wipes than to empty multiple pockets and try to keep one eye on my stuff so no one steals the wallet or phone while I'm going through. Since 90% of my trips are solo, I don't have someone else who can keep an eye on things.

The area I wish they would address is International Gateway. They need to move the tables out to make room for the detector. All it takes is a stroller or ECV in the mix and there's no room to move because of the sharp turn to the left. If the detector was where the tables are currently located and the tables moved out, the flow would work much better.

 

[RRuszczyk]

Security made you remove your poncho in the rain? I have not witnessed, experienced or heard of that before.

For myself, I believe all of this to be security theater, and have said so since the first day that it was introduced. I don't care for it, but recognize that this is private property and that Disney has the right to institute these rules if they wish, for whatever reason. My decision is simple - go or not. I do not get to decide whether or not to adhere to Disney's rules. And I have decided that this isn't enough to keep me at home.

Now I also have another decision - do I allow this thing that annoys me to impact my enjoyment of WDW. I try not to. A few times the waits have been long enough to wreck my mood, but only until I found myself walking down Main Street. These trips are too important to me to allow this to impact my trips.

Just my point of view.

Yep, poncho off because it was opaque and they couldn't verify I didn't have anything in my pockets. And when I griped, sighed, and tried to argue with them that I was going to get soaked, they threatened to pull me into the security office and get a manager.

Needless to say, I ended up with a soaked t-shirt and squishy shoes.

 

[AngiTN]

Yep, poncho off because it was opaque and they couldn't verify I didn't have anything in my pockets. And when I griped, sighed, and tried to argue with them that I was going to get soaked, they threatened to pull me into the security office and get a manager.

Needless to say, I ended up with a soaked t-shirt and squishy shoes.

I'd venture to guess you got yourself a power hungry guard vs. a policy. We've been when it was cold and had a coat on that covered pockets and coats did not have to be removed. Sadly, the power hungry guards do exist, just like those that don't care enough to search well. But both extremes are thankfully, rare.

 

[yulilin3]

They could regulate the size of the bag, or require that all bags be clear, like some events do. I used to go bagless, but with the metal detectors I find it's easier to carry a small crossbody bag for phone, wallet and hand wipes than to empty multiple pockets and try to keep one eye on my stuff so no one steals the wallet or phone while I'm going through. Since 90% of my trips are solo, I don't have someone else who can keep an eye on things.

The area I wish they would address is International Gateway. They need to move the tables out to make room for the detector. All it takes is a stroller or ECV in the mix and there's no room to move because of the sharp turn to the left. If the detector was where the tables are currently located and the tables moved out, the flow would work much better.

I seriously doubt they will regulate bags when there are so many sold at the parks. Most purchase with purchase deals involve bags, that's not happening.