running at half capacity

[sweetmama17]

I have seen people talk about how Disney adjusts staffing for crowds but never really noticed it until yesterday.

I picked yesterday to go to MK due to the fact that we were going to be staying all day (since it was closing early for the party) and the weather was a little spotty (and I had no idea about Epcot but did see the LONG line of cars trying to get in there).

We get to Pirates about 10AM and there is a posted 25min wait which I was fine with since I knew it could get long especially with the weather. When we get to the loading area I realize there are loading both standby and FP on one side, leaving an empty boat every other boat. When we got off the posted wait time is now 50min.

Head over to BTM where we have a FP. Wait time again says about 50 min. When we get up to load I see where they are only loading 1 train (but the other train is still taking off, just without people).

I just don't know why they would make people wait an hour for a ride when there is no reason for it. Luckily Pirates was the longest wait of the day for us and we enjoyed the lighter crowds.

I kinda saw it last month when we hit up early hour at MK and they only had one line of cars going at the speedway. I do think that an incident was what really held up the line but they could have started a second line of cars (that were on and ready to go) earlier and not let the line build up so much.

 

[TexasPete]

I think they are experimenting to see what is the least (cheapest) amount of staffing they can get away with (and, commensurately, how long people are willing to wait) without affecting attendance.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm pretty sure "right sizing" their staffing in the parks was one of the main draws of the MM+ system. No shock here.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We saw this on our last trip. Our first day in the parks was Saturday, the 9th, i.e the day before Hurricane Irma hit. I've never seen the park so empty. Later in the day, we started to see much higher wait times and the reason was they were only running rides at half capacity. In addition to the two the OP noted, Space Mountain also only had one side running. Although when we were there, they weren't even running the second train on BTMRR, not just sending it off empty.

 

[rwdavis2]

I've seen this at Space Mountain as well during lower attendance times.

 

[hllb]

I've certainly seen this too, but generally when the wait times were 10 minutes or less. In that instance, it makes sense. But to back up the wait times to an hour? That seems like really poor form on their part.

 

[epcotty]

Yeah, it's just cheap and bad to do to the guests. I mean it's obvious, people notice, people don't like it, but Disney still doesn't care. Eventually it will probably start to affect attendance, and they still might not care as long as profits are up from running the attractions as cheaply as possible. Extreme corporate greed

 

[ArwenMarie]

We saw that in August too at the same rides. Not magical

 

[Allison]

I just don't know why they would make people wait an hour for a ride when there is no reason for it. Luckily Pirates was the longest wait of the day for us and we enjoyed the lighter crowds.

Why is to save money on wages.

 

[Farro]

I don't understand, how does sending one train out empty save money on wages? The train is still leaving the station, just oddly empty?

 

[mesaboy2]

I don't understand, how does sending one train out empty save money on wages? The train is still leaving the station, just oddly empty?

No CMs needed to fill an empty ride vehicle.

 

[Farro]

No CMs needed to fill an empty ride vehicle.

Oh, I see.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We saw this in late August as well, I was a little perturbed because there was low crowds and it still was feeling like crowded season!

 

[brockash]

I have seen people talk about how Disney adjusts staffing for crowds but never really noticed it until yesterday.

I picked yesterday to go to MK due to the fact that we were going to be staying all day (since it was closing early for the party) and the weather was a little spotty (and I had no idea about Epcot but did see the LONG line of cars trying to get in there).

We get to Pirates about 10AM and there is a posted 25min wait which I was fine with since I knew it could get long especially with the weather. When we get to the loading area I realize there are loading both standby and FP on one side, leaving an empty boat every other boat. When we got off the posted wait time is now 50min.

Head over to BTM where we have a FP. Wait time again says about 50 min. When we get up to load I see where they are only loading 1 train (but the other train is still taking off, just without people).

I just don't know why they would make people wait an hour for a ride when there is no reason for it. Luckily Pirates was the longest wait of the day for us and we enjoyed the lighter crowds.

I kinda saw it last month when we hit up early hour at MK and they only had one line of cars going at the speedway. I do think that an incident was what really held up the line but they could have started a second line of cars (that were on and ready to go) earlier and not let the line build up so much.

Same thing happened to us in Aug./Sept....really frustrating, but ppl. keep coming so Disney doesn't care.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I never realized that they were doing this. Outright disgusting and contemptuous behavior on their part. Keep people waiting in long, long lines all day, just to save a few bucks? I guess public good will means squat to them. This really pisses me off, and we leave for WDW in three weeks. I say complain, complain, complain. I certainly will, if I see this kind of crap happening.

 

[MelanieRI]

This is why I never minded traveling during busy times of the year. What some people don't understand is that they add more shows, more transportation, longer park hours, more staff, etc. For years, we only went in April (often during Easter) and then when we started adding in December (not xmas vacation) I was OMG, I can't do these shortened park hours and limited show times. lol I found it harder to get everything I wanted to do then during the "busy" Easter times.

 

[firefly_ris]

I'm going next week... I'll be keeping an eye out for this. I would send a note to guest relations that this was noticeable and felt it reflected poorly on the company. They might not care but better than nothing I guess.

 

[Farro]

I never realized that they were doing this. Outright disgusting and contemptuous behavior on their part. Keep people waiting in long, long lines all day, just to save a few bucks? I guess public good will means squat to them. This really pisses me off, and we leave for WDW in three weeks. I say complain, complain, complain. I certainly will, if I see this kind of crap happening.

Passing along a complaint is fine, but don't let it get you this upset right before your trip! Could set the wrong tone for the whole trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

I saw it too. If PoTC is loading both standby and FP people on the same side, it means they are running with probably 4 fewer CMs. Other attractions do the same thing. My dd is currently working at US, at the Jimmy Fallon attraction. They run two theaters when it's busy. But, as of this week, they have, from what I'm told, cut back to using one theater, most of the time. This means, they are using fewer employees, and cutting costs. So, it's not just Disney, they're all doing it. And to be honest, I'm not at all sure either company particularly cares about the guest experience. It's all about the bottom line.

 

[Punkrockbebop]

This is why I never minded traveling during busy times of the year. What some people don't understand is that they add more shows, more transportation, longer park hours, more staff, etc. For years, we only went in April (often during Easter) and then when we started adding in December (not xmas vacation) I was OMG, I can't do these shortened park hours and limited show times. lol I found it harder to get everything I wanted to do then during the "busy" Easter times.

On the other hand, when we tried a super busy week around memorial day, it was hot and crowded and miserable to walk anywhere with all the congestion, and many of the rides weren’t even functioning properly, probably because there was no time to fix them. For instance several parts of Pirates, including the chasing scene, weren’t working, and several parts and scenes in Haunted Mansion weren’t working, including Madam Leota. The boats and cars were also being run too close together and kept pausing and stopping in the middle of the rides. Also, in every park, rides kept breaking down and temporarily closing. Most of the trip was a huge disappointment. The extra hours weren’t even worth it. Never again.