To the woman and child who fell on the asphalt...

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Something as simple as letting ppl. walk to wherever they want to go as soon as they scan their tix seemed to work pretty darn well last August. - We didn't have to the whole enter ppl to hold them like sardines in one place... they started scanning tix about 850 and they let us go. It was the most peaceful entrance I've had in any park in a long time. I don't understand why they don't always do this. We had a nice fast walk, but with a good amount of personal space all the way to slinky dog - it was great.

I agree. Why don’t they let folks in 30ish minutes early and line up in their attraction of choice queue?

 

[dancergirlsmom]

This makes me so sad. Unfortunately it is the world we live in anymore. Too many people are all about themselves and the heck with anyone else. We see it in road rage, the craziness of "Black Friday" and general everyday living. I sure hope they were alright. It must have been so scary for them.

 

[Elle23]

Wow. Sorry to hear that. We've never RD SDD and don't really plan to. When everyone is rushing for SDD, we are usually walking over to the relatively peaceful ques for ToT and RnRC...both of which are much better attractions.

Same!

ToT was a walk on for quite a long time. It was awesome!

 

[SaintsManiac]

No way would I ever RD TSL. Pandora is bad enough. Make sure to get out of the way if you have plans to ride NRJ instead of FoP. They will run you down.

 

[goopysolelady]

WOW...this was EEMH rope drop last year at HD...about 6:40 AM...

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I agree. Why don’t they let folks in 30ish minutes early and line up in their attraction of choice queue?

Or maybe they could enforce their park opening times and not even allow tickets to be scanned until the exact minute of opening! Maybe they could even wait to open up bag check.

IDK why the expecatation would be that they allow guests in before opening time. That is not expected at any other type of business.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I feel for the people that went thru this. Disney really needs to re-work how they rope drop at DHS. Its the worst opening procedure because of the funky layout of that park and the lack of attractions. At MK the hub and spoke system makes rope drop very orderly. Everyone lines up at the entrance to their desired land. The Headliners are distributed throughout the park and the crowds "flow" DHS has terrible flow, the streets have a lot of awkward angles and to get back to TSL you have to walk thru that arch. There are all those right angles too that turn into choke points. SWGE is going to be 10x worse. AK rope drop isnt nearly as bad because the paths are so fluid, no right angles and the pathway space general widens as you head towards Pandora. If you head to another land you have the run of the place for an hour.

 

[Daisy1940]

It is crazy to me that Disney knows the madness of HS rope-drop and does nothing. I have done the rush to SDD about six or so times and it is crazy (and dangerous!) each time with shoving, running, and fighting. There have been many great suggestions to fix the problem on the thread. I just don’t understand WHY Disney doesn’t work on fixing this problem.

The other issue too is that people run into the land and get as far up as they can despite the cast members saying stay right for SDD and telling people they aren’t in line if they aren’t against the wall. Well those people (80-90% of people I’d estimate) jump those of us who do listen in line. It is infuriating that they don’t put temporary queues in place for the morning rush. We arrive at least an hour before open and are the front of the crowd waiting and yet we still usually wait 30-45 minutes at rope drop because they don’t enforce the line like they do at SDMT in MK.

Unfortunately, if you stay offsite you have to endure the madness if you want to ride SDD without a 90+ wait all day.

 

[Mickey of the Villages]

Eliminating all discounts for Florida APs and raising all ticket prices 30% will get rid of this.

 

[KenHutch]

It is experiences like this that has me postponing our next trip until 2021. G*d willing they will have some of the logistics ironed out by then.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

It is experiences like this that has me postponing our next trip until 2021. G*d willing they will have some of the logistics ironed out by then.

I don’t know about that. This seems to be the Disney way. Before Slinky Dog it was Toy Story Mania, 7DMT, Everest, Space Mountain etc. Not all are or were as bad but the method remains the same.

 

[KenHutch]

I don’t know about that. This seems to be the Disney way. Before Slinky Dog it was Toy Story Mania, 7DMT, Everest, Space Mountain etc. Not all are or were as bad but the method remains the same.

Well I truly believe that waiting on Galaxy's Edge is wise because if they don't have a plan in place it will be a disaster.

 

[HopperFan]

In Hollywood Studios this past Monday morning as a herd of us were dashing to Slinky Dog.

I didn’t see you fall, but I heard a collective gasp. Then I saw you and your young child 15’ to my right. I paused and immediately felt a crunch on my own shoulders as the herd crashed against me. I wanted to go over and stand over you so you could get up, but I didn’t. Honestly, I couldn’t. By the time I extricated myself from the cluster of people it was too late. I feared for your safety. I am just hoping a CM got to you and you were safe. I’m sure it must have been a traumatic experience. If only there were a better way. When I saw the pre-opening crowd lined up almost all the way up Hollywood Blvd at rope drop I knew it was going to be crazy. Sure enough, it was.

Let me tell you what you missed while you were gathering yourself on the asphalt and no doubt worried to death about your child. When we all got into Toy Story Land people used strollers as battering rams to knock the ankles of other guests. Families with young children on foot were separated as one family member would try to run ahead. When I made it into the queue I looked around and saw looks of disgust, fear, and relief on the faces of my fellow guests. It was as if we had collectively survived an ordeal, which I guess it was.

I’ve been thinking about you a lot the past couple days. You have taught me a lesson: Absolutely no attraction is worth that kind of ordeal. It’s not what I want on a vacation anymore. I don’t want to be even a peripheral part of harming someone else because I’m caught up in such a rush. I’ll avoid those traps at WDW from now on and just stick to what I can do in a more sane and relaxed manner.

In closing, please accept my apologies for not having been more help. May you be well and prosper.

Peace...
Zippa

You need to email this story to ...
President of WDW / CEO

George Kalogridis
EMAIL: george.kalogridis@disney.com