Slinky Dog Rope Drop is a Living Hell

[KTR]

They need to take a lesson from DLR. The system of forming the lines in the hub area of the park for the different headliners works very well. Then people walk in a mostly orderly fashion in their already formed lines into the queues. It has nothing to do with people’s natures and everything to do with how it is set up. I can assure you the crowd at DLR isn’t inherantly nicer than at WDW.

 

[Peppeperoni]

It's an admirable goal. But it's out of your, my and Disney's control. All Disney can do is control their response to the bad behavior.

How do you think they control it?

 

[Disney Frenhines]

The problem is that there are some guests who think the rules are not for them. Disney clearly requests guests not to run, but, do they listen? I had been wondering if I wanted to do the Early morning event for Toy Story Land and I booked it as I cannot see me dealing with that kind of nonsense. One day there is going to be a serious incident and they will blame Disney, but, all Disney can do is have CMs not afraid to lay the law down with crowd stampeding, because that is what it is. It is dangerous, reckless and those most vulnerable, like older guests and younger kids not in strollers will be the ones who will be in most danger. Common sense goes out of the window for some at Disney.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

OP here at the end of a very long day. I am overwhelmed by all the kind words; I certainly did not expect 7 pages of responses to my little rant! There have been a lot of questions so I will do my best to answer them.

As to the “why rope drop” question, several reasons: (1) my work schedule did not permit me to plan this vacation more than a couple of weeks ahead so FP was not an option (I did check daily for openings), and EMM was sold out; (2) we only have 4 park days and Fantasmic is our very favorite nightime entertainment and a big family tradition, and I didn’t want to make the kids choose between their favorite show and SDD; (3) it was scheduled to be (and in fact was) melt-your-patootie-off hot today and I knew my kids could handle a 75 minute wait in the cool morning time but not in the scorching heat later in the day; and (4) my kids have seen ad after ad featuring SDD on disney junior channel and BEGGED me to let them go on it, so given the rest of the factors, rope drop seemed like the surest bet.

We have not done rope drop before but I saw one happen at MK for 7DMT at the end of our EMM yesterday and it seemed quite slow and orderly. It was nothing like that at HS today. Today was a stampede.

The wait was actually less than 90 minutes, closer to an hour, thank goodness. But still made me feel like a failure because I had told my kids that if they waited patiently at the rope (they did) they wouldn't have to wait very long again at the ride. I did not need/expect to be first in line, but I thought being at the front of the pack would mean a pretty short wait. A CM held up a sign that said “90 minutes from this point” which is what prompted me to write this post, but that must have been an estimate because it did move faster.

I am a pretty brisk walker but wary of hitting others with the stroller, so when others cut in front of us my default is to fall back rather than slam into them, which of course prompts more people to cut ahead. The biggest issue by far though is that once the park opened up at the end of the initial street, the crowd “widened” as people further back swarmed around the sides and sprinted to get ahead. I think moving the rope drop further ahead to the narrower path to toy story land would help with this considerably.

I actually ran into another family on ToT later that day that was next to us at the start of rope drop and also had a stroller. They too fell hundreds of people behind, and it sounds like it was worse for them—someone actually vaulted/catapaulted off of their stroller to get ahead. Thank goodness their kids weren’t hurt.

It was a very busy day. I am a bit shell shocked and definitely will not be repeating rope drop. Normally if we can’t get a FP (in advance or via refresh) we don’t try to ride a headliner. SDD was just something my kids wanted so much. And they did have fun riding it so all was not lost!

I'm so glad the day got better for you.
Frequently we see the advice "go at RD!" and I think your reasons for attempting it make sense. I'm glad you shared the experience (not glad that this happened to you!) so people can keep it in mind and plan accordingly.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

The running would stop if Disney had security pulling people out of the crowd that run. All they would have to do is stop them and have a 2 minute talk with them and soon enough, people would realize it will make rope drop totally worthless if they run.

 

[snappy]

The crowd/mob mentality will only get worse until Disney puts in measures to interrupt it. Disney’s strategy of opening the gates prior to park open on certain days appears to be no longer effective particularly at HS and MK with the disappearance of “low attendance” days. Surely Disney is aware of this. What are they waiting for? Who is on on duty in the am?

 

[sherilaine]

I feel the same way about this issue - running to a ride like that is selfish. We are able to bolt when the time comes - and my teens can move far faster than I can without running - but I feel bad for anyone with a stroller as it's so much harder to navigate through a crowd like that. I think after reading this we'll stick with FP for big rides and focus on the other stuff as well if we are there for rope drop. It is this very reason that rope drop, if only for a particular ride, unless you are prepared to break the rules, turns out to be of no advantage over just putting in your time for the ride at another time during the day.

 

[StacyStrong]

The running would stop if Disney had security pulling people out of the crowd that run. All they would have to do is stop them and have a 2 minute talk with them and soon enough, people would realize it will make rope drop totally worthless if they run.

Honestly, I don't think so. People ignore Disney security because they really can't do anything. They can't physically remove someone and don't bother to try.

At HEA, people stand at walkways and at rails and security tells them to move for 15 minutes straight and people literally just stare at them.

What is security going to do? If people don't want to act like decent human beings, they won't.

Sure, some people might stop, but the people causing the issue in the first place? Doubtful.

But then again, I'm cynical lol

 

[Hi Pluto]

Stormtroopers marching you to the back in an orderly manner.

Actually... I think that's genius! At least to the main hub where they can then venture off. People would be so excited to be part of the star wars theme that they wouldn't dare not listen to them!

 

[snappy]

Appropriately themed entertainment in the queue line. It’s a good idea.

 

[cakebaker]

Short term, the best solution is to simply avoid joining in the mob rushing to the hot ride of the moment. If you have any issue that slows you down or causes you concern ( mobility issues, small children, anxiety with crowds), then make use of other options. Personally, I’d rather stand in line for 90 minutes at a ride than deal with the crowd rushing to the ride. But that’s not the only choices I have. It’s never failed, if I spend enough time, that I can pick up the FP’s I need. This trip we’re using EMM’s to get those rides in.

Yes, Disney can and should improve their methods of crowd control, but they haven’t, so you work with what you have. I’m not at all sure that creating their holding pens, allowing everyone through the gates before opening works very well at HS especially. If they didn’t open the gates until the park was fully open, it would at least stop the mass crowd that forms.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I agree with a pp that said that WDW brings out the best and worst in people, but I feel like Disney could do a lot more - Disney sets the tone. Sure there will always be people that behave poorly, but in my experience, Disney has a lack of clarity in many of their rules, and often a lack of enforcement. And the less you enforce rules, the more it seems people test them.

I did my first Universal/WDW split last year and one of the most *magical* things about Universal was how well they enforced their rules, to the point where I didn't notice a lot of people breaking rules - including a more orderly rope drop. I was used to WDW, where I feel like if I'm going to enjoy the park and my vacation, I just have to take a "grin and bear it" attitude when I experience people cutting me in line, or pushing me out of their way, etc., because other ways of trying to address it have proven ineffective - at least for me. I think it's unfortunate to see posts where people have such negative (and stressful) experiences at Rope Drop. It's one thing to skip it because you like to sleep in or relax in the morning - but having to avoid other guests' extreme negative behavior shouldn't have to be a factor, and it's really too bad when it is. Generally for me, my adaption has been to avoid headliners when I rope drop and that works well, but it would be nice if Disney could improve their management of it all.

In this instance, certainly more staffing and cutting off the side roads in some way would help. Hope they get some better strategies for SWGE.

OP, glad things got better! Thanks for updating us!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Disney KNOWS this is how people behave. Yes, they can control it. This is how.

TSMM when it opened 10 years ago was the running of the bulls. We were always the very first at the turnstiles. People would push, shove and run to get in front of us. That is the only way the 100 or so people would get in front of us. I'm a fast walker and my DDs were not in strollers. I've seen Moms and Dads dragging their children when they've run past us. We stopped going to DHS for a couple of years because I was so turned off by this behavior. I emailed WDW several times to let them know how miserable this was from a guest perspective. Then I read here on the Disboards that they changed RD to make it less chaotic.

Here is what they did: No RD or holding pen. They opened the turnstiles just a few minutes (depending on the crowd level) and everyone walked patiently right from the turnstiles (they may have been tapstiles by then) onto TSMM. The tapstiles did what they were designed to do, create an orderly line of entry. We did not have to rush at all, just walked and got in line. Quite a few times TSMM was running when we got there and the SB line never came to a stop. People just slowly walked right through and onto the ride.

Even if they opened 1/2 hour earlier, I'd prefer to calmly wait in the SDD line then in a tense mob in front of the tapstiles

So, yea, they know how to handle this but guest satisfaction is not a big priority right now. Sorry to hear this is going on.

 

[snappy]

There is no one perfect solution to the problem, but with guests soon coming in by the gondola-full, Disney further procrastinating or throwing up its hands at rude guests who stampede is not going to “enhance guest experience,” as Disney CM’s like to describe it.

 

[mom2rtk]

Disney KNOWS this is how people behave. Yes, they can control it. This is how.

TSMM when it opened 10 years ago was the running of the bulls. We were always the very first at the turnstiles. People would push, shove and run to get in front of us. That is the only way the 100 or so people would get in front of us. I'm a fast walker and my DDs were not in strollers. I've seen Moms and Dads dragging their children when they've run past us. We stopped going to DHS for a couple of years because I was so turned off by this behavior. I emailed WDW several times to let them know how miserable this was from a guest perspective. Then I read here on the Disboards that they changed RD to make it less chaotic.

Here is what they did: No RD or holding pen. They opened the turnstiles just a few minutes (depending on the crowd level) and everyone walked patiently right from the turnstiles (they may have been tapstiles by then) onto TSMM. The tapstiles did what they were designed to do, create an orderly line of entry. We did not have to rush at all, just walked and got in line. Quite a few times TSMM was running when we got there and the SB line never came to a stop. People just slowly walked right through and onto the ride.

Even if they opened 1/2 hour earlier, I'd prefer to calmly wait in the SDD line then in a tense mob in front of the tapstiles

So, yea, they know how to handle this but guest satisfaction is not a big priority right now. Sorry to hear this is going on.

And if the demand is there, they really SHOULD be opening earlier.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I feel the same way about this issue - running to a ride like that is selfish. We are able to bolt when the time comes - and my teens can move far faster than I can without running - but I feel bad for anyone with a stroller as it's so much harder to navigate through a crowd like that. I think after reading this we'll stick with FP for big rides and focus on the other stuff as well if we are there for rope drop. It is this very reason that rope drop, if only for a particular ride, unless you are prepared to break the rules, turns out to be of no advantage over just putting in your time for the ride at another time during the day.

The problem is there are only so many FPs and unless you're onsite for more than one day, you aren't getting a SDD FP. That's just fact. Maybe the odd person who stalks the MDE, which most people don't, will get one, but generally, they are gone first thing. So for the rest of the world, it's rush for RD or wait in a very long line up to get to ride it. That's what makes people act that way. If the ride wasn't so crazy in demand, people wouldn't be doing this. Why didn't they build two tracks? They knew it would be in high demand. I'm starting to think they like that demand, because it makes people more invested in coming to Disney and staying on site.

 

[ScubaCat]

This is an interesting discussion. The solution is probably just to prevent the mob from building up in the first place. Open the gates before the buses and gondolas and parking lot are open. Not everybody can be first anyway.

Of course, now that'll give those of us who can walk from the beach club or boardwalk a head start. Drats.... Foiled again. My plot is ruined!!

 

[dlavender]

And if the demand is there, they really SHOULD be opening earlier.

They do......For an extra $70.....

 

[Tink_83]

They do......For an extra $70.....

That’s probably why they’ve stopped some of the soft openings they had. They started charging to get in earlier and now they’ve created another problem... proving they don’t care about guests unless they book in advance and stay on-site for 10+ days. Granted I’m ok with the concept of supply and demand, but I do feel that they push long on-site stays and value that over a family that just wants to visit for a day to the point of not caring if there is any value left in a day ticket to the park... as someone who prefers short vacations I find this trend disturbing since it makes a short visit every year less and less enjoyable.

 

[sherilaine]

Just googled this ride to see what it was about - we will gladly skip this if it's a dogs breakfast trying to get on. Unless we get lucky.