Note to cast members: packing us in like sardines does NOT decrease wait time

[teller80]

On at least two attractions we were repeatedly told to "fill in all available spaces" so that our wait time would be reduced. Sorry, I'm not buying it. You still have x amount of riders, and x amount of seats. It's not like there will be empty seats because we're all lolly gagging about in line. Just sayin'.

 

[Schmeck]

For constantly loading attractions it actually is true - they have to fill the seats with a flow of guests, and we've seen doom buggies go by empty because people pause or spread out in the last bit of the queue. Of course, that's because they pack us in like sardines beforehand, and people just need to savor that bit of space for a fleeting second before we are squished again!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

On at least two attractions we were repeatedly told to "fill in all available spaces" so that our wait time would be reduced. Sorry, I'm not buying it. You still have x amount of riders, and x amount of seats. It's not like there will be empty seats because we're all lolly gagging about in line. Just sayin'.

What attractions? If it was a continuously loading attraction like the Haunted Mansion then yes, it's true, filling in the spaces WILL reduce wait time.

 

[teller80]

And don't even get me started on people who use flash photography while ON the ride. Ugh.

 

[cjbcam]

And don't even get me started on people who use flash photography while ON the ride. Ugh.

The last time we were there we were riding on Its a small world and the woman in front of me took a pic every ten seconds ( I counted). She was taking pictures of her daughter watching the ride. She was sitting ahead on the seat and pointing the camera kind of to the side and back. The flash just kept going off in my face over and over. My DH said by the looks on my face she is lucky she got off the boat with her camera intact. Lol.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

especially the ones who try taking flash photos of Madame Leota, because of the room setup the flash goes off in everyone's face and HERS probably gets washed out by the flash anyway.

 

[agavegirl1]

For constantly loading attractions it actually is true - they have to fill the seats with a flow of guests, and we've seen doom buggies go by empty because people pause or spread out in the last bit of the queue. Of course, that's because they pack us in like sardines beforehand, and people just need to savor that bit of space for a fleeting second before we are squished again!

At least for HM this is the case. Omnimovers are different.

Some of the shows, Muppets comes to mind, there may not even be enough people in the holding room to even fill the theater and squishing people together is unnecessary.

 

[Mikie]

Reminds me of the very end of our trip, when we got back in our own car at the airport, DD9 says "I'm so glad to be home! I am going to stick my hands and feet outside the vehicle!" Then DD13 says "and I will NOT be take small children by the hand" DS6 took a bite of granola bar and said "I am going to eat and drink on this ride!" Hubby said "I'm going to take flash photography and video everywhere I go tomorrow!" And on and on we went. . .

 

[teller80]

What attractions?

I remember one was the Lion King show at AK. I have this thing on my refrigerator door that slides so that I can cram things together so they won't fall over, and I remember thinking that if Disney could invent one for the line they would. "Closer. Closer. Squeeze in. No need for a line, just fill in ALL available spaces."

I'm trying to remember the other one but my brain is dead.

 

[The Rocketeer]

Yesterday in the FP line for the Lion King show, they announced to fill in all spaces and if the family in front of you won't move up to feel free to step in front of them and get closer to the front. That was the first time I heard that. Everyone around me was as close as a Siamese twin so for once that didn't apply to my immediate surroundings.

 

[Cais]

It's true that it reduces your wait time. Let's for example take pirates. That cycle is about 45 seconds per dispatch. If it takes you thirty seconds to saunter up to the grouper that's 2/3 of that cycle spent waiting for the next family to get up to the front whereas if they were right behind the next family the boats would leave the dock quicker and the wait time would go down.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[teller80]

It's true that it reduces your wait time. Let's for example take pirates. That cycle is about 45 seconds per dispatch. If it takes you thirty seconds to saunter up to the grouper that's 2/3 of that cycle spent waiting for the next family to get up to the front whereas if they were right behind the next family the boats would leave the dock quicker and the wait time would go down.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I can understand being close to the party in front of me as I get close to boarding, but there was at least a half hour left before I would ride and they were asking everyone to squeeze in.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

At least for HM this is the case. Omnimovers are different.

Some of the shows, Muppets comes to mind, there may not even be enough people in the holding room to even fill the theater and squishing people together is unnecessary.

Or something like Rock-n-rollercoaster. Jam as many people as you can into the pre-show. Why?

So they can jam as many people as they can into the line to wait for the ride. Of course when they do that, I end up in the very back of the newest line because I use a walker and everyone pushes in front of me.

 

[MichelleVW]

But in defense of the CM's...they really are just doing as they are told by higher ups. But yes...some of them go a little crazy. We had a girl last December who told all 6 of us adults to fit in one car on the people mover. There was no way that was happening so 3 of us went in one...and 3 the next.

 

[themouseforme]

Reminds me of the very end of our trip, when we got back in our own car at the airport, DD9 says "I'm so glad to be home! I am going to stick my hands and feet outside the vehicle!" Then DD13 says "and I will NOT be take small children by the hand" DS6 took a bite of granola bar and said "I am going to eat and drink on this ride!" Hubby said "I'm going to take flash photography and video everywhere I go tomorrow!" And on and on we went. . .

children s/b taught that those stupid old annoying rules exist for their comfort and safety and those around them. just sayin, while young childhood contempt might seem cute, don't miss the opportunity for the lesson.

 

[Mikie]

children s/b taught that those stupid old annoying rules exist for their comfort and safety and those around them. just sayin, while young childhood contempt might seem cute, don't miss the opportunity for the lesson.

Don't worry, my daughter didn't actually stick her hands and feet outside of our car, and we followed all the rules while at WDW, not even joking around about standing in a ride vehicle or anything. Nor did we set a bad example by saying those things in front of their less-controlled cousins. Possibly because they are well-behaved and always follow rules, they were more mocking the sheer number of times we were reminded of common sense (you'd think!) instructions over the course of the trip.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Yes, packing lines DOES reduce wait times. I worked GMR, and I know it works.

How?

By packing the line, you can cut the length of the line almost in 1/2. Most people kinda straggle in and form a sort of straight line in lots of rides where there is simply no straight line but rather a "funnel" or "chute". Think about pirates/mansion/GMR/or many other rides. They start out with a wide line or "funnel" and gradually get smaller and smaller on purpose allowing for the guest to eventually become a single person line.

There are many turns and twists where there are large areas of the line that don't get "filled in" by people - where it should be filled in and designed to be filled in - making the line look longer than it is. Packing the line makes the line look like it's shorter, and become shorter as well.

Each ride has a capacity for the # of people and # of ride vehicles. By not moving quickly (and not packing the line), guests can actually slow the ride down.

CMs are always doing math in their heads and doing it as quick as possible - which is quite hard to do when you are trying really hard to load a large ride vehicle like GMR and trying to get it out on time. So if we are a little curt, don't take it too personally. 30 seconds or so goes by pretty quickly when you are trying to load a large ride like GMR or even get as many people as possible to move in the same direction into the stretching room at HM. Sometimes it's like herding cats!

The other thing that slows down rides and can contribute to sardining is a guest not knowing how many people are in their party. So, you say that you have 2 in your party, forgetting that you have 3 and now you are all stuck together. Remember how many people you came into the ride with and tell that to the CM. Remember, they are trying to get the ride vehicle to go out with the correct amount of people that the ride is built for.

Most cms do not overpack rides. But we are also trying to estimate the size of the party and person for that ride. Which can make them kinda evil sometimes. Example: Each row at the GMR ride is built for 6 people. But, for the Pooh-sized, we would only put 4 Pooh and 2 piglets = 6 people. See, evil, but size conscious. But you have to get the people in and out. That's the whole bit about the rides.

So, I guess the lesson today is please fill in all available space (really, there is more space than you think), keep your parties together (know how many you came in with - that helps a lot, and have a leader who can tell the cm quickly how many there are), and keep those hands and feet inside all vehicles, move with purpose, and the lines will actually get shorter! Trust me!

 

[Mikie]

Yes, packing lines DOES reduce wait times. I worked GMR, and I know it works.

How?

By packing the line, you can cut the length of the line almost in 1/2. Most people kinda straggle in and form a sort of straight line in lots of rides where there is simply no straight line but rather a "funnel" or "chute". Think about pirates/mansion/GMR/or many other rides. They start out with a wide line or "funnel" and gradually get smaller and smaller on purpose allowing for the guest to eventually become a single person line.

There are many turns and twists where there are large areas of the line that don't get "filled in" by people - where it should be filled in and designed to be filled in - making the line look longer than it is. Packing the line makes the line look like it's shorter, and become shorter as well.

Each ride has a capacity for the # of people and # of ride vehicles. By not moving quickly (and not packing the line), guests can actually slow the ride down.

CMs are always doing math in their heads and doing it as quick as possible - which is quite hard to do when you are trying really hard to load a large ride vehicle like GMR and trying to get it out on time. So if we are a little curt, don't take it too personally. 30 seconds or so goes by pretty quickly when you are trying to load a large ride like GMR or even get as many people as possible to move in the same direction into the stretching room at HM. Sometimes it's like herding cats!

The other thing that slows down rides and can contribute to sardining is a guest not knowing how many people are in their party. So, you say that you have 2 in your party, forgetting that you have 3 and now you are all stuck together. Remember how many people you came into the ride with and tell that to the CM. Remember, they are trying to get the ride vehicle to go out with the correct amount of people that the ride is built for.

Most cms do not overpack rides. But we are also trying to estimate the size of the party and person for that ride. Which can make them kinda evil sometimes. Example: Each row at the GMR ride is built for 6 people. But, for the Pooh-sized, we would only put 4 Pooh and 2 piglets = 6 people. See, evil, but size conscious. But you have to get the people in and out. That's the whole bit about the rides.

So, I guess the lesson today is please fill in all available space (really, there is more space than you think), keep your parties together (know how many you came in with - that helps a lot, and have a leader who can tell the cm quickly how many there are), and keep those hands and feet inside all vehicles, move with purpose, and the lines will actually get shorter! Trust me!

Cool insight - thanks!

 

[pampam]

I'm just not seeing it. If everyone was single file to begin with, and stayed single file, the line would appear longer, but it is still the same number of people in it.

 

[jon18uk]

Some of the shows, Muppets comes to mind, there may not even be enough people in the holding room to even fill the theater and squishing people together is unnecessary.

Shrek at Universal has a tiny holding room compared to the theatre size, I remember really being squashed into that room. I think they count people into the holding room so they know when they have enough to fill the theatre without leaving empty seats. Of course empty seats make the wait longer for the people that could have been sat there.