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

[hiroMYhero]

Sorry if this has been asked already. If you're staying at a moderate/value and getting the bus to MK how does that affect the new security checks? Will it be done at the resort bus stops? Last time I was there the bus stops at MK not TTC right?

This is from Post #1:

- metal detectors and bag check at MK for guests arriving by bus.

 

[HopperFan]

One of the negatives to WDW, in Walt's own words “Here in Florida, we have something special we never enjoyed at Disneyland…the blessing of size. "
That same blessing has made this security checks a nightmare, for both Disney and guests. I have seen soooo many people being disgruntled even before stepping past the tapstiles because of how long the security checks have been. Like I said before this is a step in the right direction.
I have always praised how quick and easy it is at Universal but they don't have to deal with so many ways to get inside

And it will bring a new level of nightmare ......... once you decentralize the check points you will open it up to all kinds of breaches.

Honestly I will now feel less safe with this process.

The land in front of the MK absolutely could handle this with efficiency with slight redesign work. Instead they will now be doing redesign at multiple locations, greatly increasing the staffing and equipment aka large costs, and in the end result in even more price increases.

This, exactly. The last time we stayed at the Polynesian, there was always an after-luau crowd waiting to get on the monorail. It was so bad that we nearly missed our BOG reservation one night, though we have ourselves MORE than enough time to get there. With this, I'm reluctant to stay at a monorail resort because of the extra time to send all those diners through security as well. The monorail loop just lost part of its convenience factor for me.

Agree.

I'm glad that they are doing this not just for safety, but also for getting through the gate faster. I also appreciate the fact that Disney is be proactive as opposed to reactive, just imagine if something awful happened then everyone would be posing the question of why didn't Disney do a better job, why didn't they screen people before getting on the monorail.

Heck I'm all for putting security checks at the resorts before getting on a bus. Yes it would be costly-think about the resorts with multiple stops-but I'd feel safe. If I were checked at the resort when getting on the bus I'd have that not so magical part over and forgotten by the time I got to the park. Getting to the parks would be like it was "back in the day".

By the clock, no one is really getting through the gate faster. And unless they are going to move to the Universal way - xray machines and metal detectors for all, then you will still be stuck in the long lines with security guards looking in every nook and cranny as usual ........ just in a different location.

Worse yet say you take have a breakfast at a monorail resort. If you go by bus or drive to TTC, it sounds like you will have to go through security to even get to the transportation to the hotel, then again through security to go back to the MK. Add in at least 30 minutes to your start time before your meal.

 

[spiderann]

Here's my question: If they implement these new security procedures to eliminate the bottlenecks in front of MK, can they bring back MK WELCOME SHOW? That is the burning issue in my mind!

I HOPE SO!!!! Going in late-April and am so disappointed that they did away with the Welcome Show. I loved it!! #bringitback

 

[memo10]

I'm pretty optimistic about this. It's been clear for a long time that the MK security was not something that was "planned" but rather something that was done out of necessity.

I think we will see a checkpoint in front of both the monorail and the ferry. I think each check point will directly funnel in to the specific transportation.

I think there will be a small checkpoint at the end of the boat docks and the CR walkway (ala the old side entrance at HS) at MK before those guests can make their way to the tapstiles.

I think there will be a larger checkpoint at the neck of bus loop to check those guests.

 

[Takket]

"drop-off" option at MK

Drop off option? I've always been told you can't be dropped off at MK. That you have to go to TTC.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Drop off option? I've always been told you can't be dropped off at MK. That you have to go to TTC.

Some people uber to get dropped off near Contemporary. They'd be included in the group that goes through screening along that walkway from Contemporary.

I'm not sure if the PP thought getting on the Monorail at Epcot "drops off" at MK.

 

[mamamelody2]

I will be very interested to see how this all works out! I'm sure there will be a few hiccups to start, but I do think it will be an improvement in the end.

 

[DG25]

RANT first, I hope Disney puts in a special one for people with special needs. And I hope they have trained the idiots who do security. When it was random, I was picked every time. And they man handled me every time. When you have a guide dog you stand out I get it, but it is Disney not the airport. At the airport they allow me time, they take extra time, they listen to me, that I will do this this and this and we will get thru it, and they never put there hands on me. At Disney they man handle you, the whip you this way and that way, they touch the dogs harness and such which by law no one but me is allowed to touch the harness. I should not have to take my dog harness off each and every time I want to enter a park. God I'm blind what would I do with a gun or with a knife. Then we have my ex, a 100% Purple Heart vet, with more shrapnel in him and a metal knee wait again for pat downs and wands. It is not funny that we fight for our freedom just to have Disney treat us like this.

Okay done with RaANT, I do hope the very unknowledgable security people have been giving some training since last June when I was there.

 

[Farro]

So....walking to the TTC from Polynesian to get on monorail for Epcot. If there is only one checkpoint for ferry/monorail guests at TTC- we will have to wait in line with everyone arriving to TTC to get screened, even though we are going to Epcot?
How would they be able to create a second entrance for those not using the Ferry or MK/resort monorail?

 

[mom2rtk]

So....walking to the TTC from Polynesian to get on monorail for Epcot. If there is only one checkpoint for ferry/monorail guests at TTC- we will have to wait in line with everyone arriving to TTC to get screened, even though we are going to Epcot?
How would they be able to create a second entrance for those not using the Ferry or MK/resort monorail?

If so, that would really diminish the value of staying at the Polynesian for me.

I would do everything I can to avoid the TTC screening station. Of course, maybe they'll surprise me and have enough stations open to keep things moving quickly. Or maybe they won't.

 

[Farro]

If so, that would really diminish the value of staying at the Polynesian for me.

I would do everything I can to avoid the TTC screening station. Of course, maybe they'll surprise me and have enough stations open to keep things moving quickly. Or maybe they won't.

We are staying in October - hopefully these types of issues will come up and be worked out before we go!

They will have to figure something out - people staying at GF or Contemporary will have already been screened on the way to TTC at their hotel monorail station, then they would be screened again?? Ridiculous.

 

[erc]

This week they have been selecting random guests to go through the metal detectors. We hopped every day, one day 4 separate hops to 3 parks, and I was selected about half the time. Still they have a ton of bag checkers and security, so there really was never a long wait for me in the security lines.

I really didn't see it as much of an inconvenience.

 

[DaisyJ]

I'm not a big fan of the whole security theater thing to begin with, so I have mixed feelings about this. I certainly see the advantage of dispersing the bottleneck at the front of the park, but unless Disney security is better than the TSA (I know, not really hard to do), then is this really any more effective and does it really make us safer... or does it just make us feel safer? I guess it just remains to be seen. I'll see for myself in January.

It just means they move the crowd from one place to another. Having a bottleneck at the ferry dock and monorail station at the ttc is absolutely no different than at the entrance of the park.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

If so, that would really diminish the value of staying at the Polynesian for me.

I would do everything I can to avoid the TTC screening station. Of course, maybe they'll surprise me and have enough stations open to keep things moving quickly. Or maybe they won't.

I agree. We booked the Poly DVC instead of BLT or BWV specifically bc our trip is Epcot and MK focused, and we plan on walking to the TTC for the Epcot monorail multiple times during our stay. I'll be annoyed if I have to go through security with the MK parking lot masses. I'm not going until September so I'm hopeful that they'll figure things out by then.

 

[Jennasis]

It just means they move the crowd from one place to another. Having a bottleneck at the ferry dock and monorail station at the ttc is absolutely no different than at the entrance of the park.

It will be a bottleneck but it should be significantly smaller than the one that used to form at the tapstiles/entrance of MK. Instead of the entire crowd (including guests traveling by bus and resort launch) piling up at the security check, you'll only have those walking in from the parking lot and then splitting to either the monorail check or the ferry check.

 

[DizBelle]

yes but you don't just walk from monorail to monorail at ttc, you'd probably end up passing through security on the way to seven seas lagoon loop.

I would swear that at some point in the past, maybe 20 years ago, I was going to Epcot and took the monorail from the Contemporary and when we got to the TTC, I just walked across the platform right on to the Epcot monorail.

Does anyone else remember doing that?

If they did this, those that were screened at the resorts wouldn't have to be screened again before getting on the Epcot monorail.

 

[DizBelle]

RANT first, I hope Disney puts in a special one for people with special needs. And I hope they have trained the idiots who do security. When it was random, I was picked every time. And they man handled me every time. When you have a guide dog you stand out I get it, but it is Disney not the airport. At the airport they allow me time, they take extra time, they listen to me, that I will do this this and this and we will get thru it, and they never put there hands on me. At Disney they man handle you, the whip you this way and that way, they touch the dogs harness and such which by law no one but me is allowed to touch the harness. I should not have to take my dog harness off each and every time I want to enter a park. God I'm blind what would I do with a gun or with a knife. Then we have my ex, a 100% Purple Heart vet, with more shrapnel in him and a metal knee wait again for pat downs and wands. It is not funny that we fight for our freedom just to have Disney treat us like this.

Okay done with RaANT, I do hope the very unknowledgable security people have been giving some training since last June when I was there.

You have to understand that anyone that wishes to do harm will look at the groups that are subject to security screenings. The group that has the least screening is the one they will mimic in order to try and get past security. If they see that blind folks with guide dogs are just waved through, you can bet that they will make their "agents" look like blind people with guide dogs.

This is why they use children. Children just aren't screened as much as adults.

 

[CarolynFH]

I would swear that at some point in the past, maybe 20 years ago, I was going to Epcot and took the monorail from the Contemporary and when we got to the TTC, I just walked across the platform right on to the Epcot monorail.

Does anyone else remember doing that?

If they did this, those that were screened at the resorts wouldn't have to be screened again before getting on the Epcot monorail.

Yes, I remember that being the case in the early 90s when we first started going regularly. So maybe they'll implement that again. We'll be there in mid-May, so I'll be paying attention to how this all shakes out. I expect lots of changes as they identify and try to address problems with the new system.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

And it will bring a new level of nightmare ......... once you decentralize the check points you will open it up to all kinds of breaches.

I disagree with this. Stadiums have decentralized checkpoints, which are handled just fine. With fewer people crammed into an area, I'd think that the "real" security (the non-theatre stuff that we don't see) should be able to more effectively scan for potential threats than if everyone is jammed together in a relatively small area. I live in Minnesota, just minutes from the Mall of America, and even though it has been specifically identified by terrorist groups as a potential target, there is no visible screening anywhere on the property and there are also decentralized entrances. I assume this is partially because with so many entrances (I'm not sure how many there are, but there have to be at least a dozen), each entrance handles fewer guests and so the guests who do come through any given door can be screened more effectively and thoroughly than if they forced everyone through one entrance. The MoA also gets over 40 million visitors a year, so way more people are coming into it than visit MK each year.

 

[DisneyOma]

I don't see how screening people in these other places helps anything - and I've been going to WDW for decades and never experienced this 'bottleneck' at MK that it's supposed to cure. We've gone before opening, arrived at opening, etc. All I'm thinking it will do is increase ticket prices as they will have to pay for so many more security screeners.

I'm thinking the people arriving by bus will see the people getting off the ferries and monorails walking by and getting to the tapstyles ahead of them. I bet it pisses people off.