VIDEO: Would You Rather Have Dividers & Shorter Waits or No Dividers & Longer Waits?

[WebmasterJackie]

The concept is simple! Walt Disney World attractions have added dividers to popular attractions to help with safety & capacity. Before the dividers, Cast Members would make sure that guests were distanced on attractions. The dividers make the lines shorter, but no dividers provide for a better experience. Which would you rather have?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I feel like Disney is taking it too far now. In same place, like what they did in the preshows for Rise of the Resitance, I think it makes a lot of sense and improving the capacity on that ride while having minimal impact on the experience. But lots of others (Frozen, etc) it is a much more drastic impact - and then some like Millenium Falcon, it seems like a negative impac to the experience that will have a very minimal impact to wait times - and might make people uncomfortable to be in that small capsule with other guests

Of the two I am on the side of rather not having the dividers, but I do think there is a midway point that is probably the best option

More importantly - I think this is all a sign that DIsney is going to push the overall capacity in the parks (which will jsut get those wait times back to the level they were at before, just more total people in the park).

 

[bluecruiser]

I wouldn't mind it so much on attractions I have already experienced. But I'll be damned if I want my first time on ROTR to be marred by reflections and blurriness due to the dividers.

And based on WDW's most recent changes to eliminate social distancing on some attractions (i.e., Slinky Dog Dash), I don't expect to be back at WDW until things are (mostly) back to normal.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Agreed, Disney has gone too far and I am no longer considering traveling there at all. I have shared we were very tempted in the fall when everything looked so safe and mask compliance was high. I think some of these uses of plexiglass are not safe and I think in some rides other guests can remove their masks leaving you essentially trapped for the duration of the ride.

 

[Pixie Dusted Snow]

I don't care if it wasn't the question I'm going with a blend.

On attractions where most of the scenes are to the right or left of the ride vehicle then its great to have a shorter wait and dividers.
On attractions where a glare from looking through the dividers distracts from the scenes its better to have no dividers and longer waits.

Do they still have dividers in the queues? If so in my opinion those should stay!
I think it would be a much more pleasant experience to wait in the longer lines if you're not having to be annoyed by certain guests.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

It’s theater ...what is plexiglass stopping? It’s not whipped after each person is done I think it’s more dangerous holding bacteria...

 

[oompa_lumpia]

It’s theater ...what is plexiglass stopping? It’s not whipped after each person is done I think it’s more dangerous holding bacteria...

What are you, LICKING the dividers?

 

[CampbellzSoup]

What are you, LICKING the dividers?

Yes

 

[oompa_lumpia]

Yes

OK, carry on.

 

[hertamaniac]

Such an easy choice for me.....down the dividers. But in fairness, I haven't been to the parks since early last March so not sure how much of a deterrent they are in-person.

 

[Novatrix]

I'm personally pro dividers if it means shorter wait times.

While I did enjoy having whole ride vehicles to myself this past November at Disney, on the same trip Universal had already implemented the plexiglass dividers on certain rides and they weren't too intrusive to the ride experiences.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

See and to me it's safety, I think we know very little about the virus. There is still only limited science and a lot of speculation, does plexiglass really work in one place, let alone when in motion on a track? This application of plexiglass is different then say between you and the cashier at the bank.

The one solid preventative measure is distance, which is just common sense, and why things being virtual has just been the safest.

So that's the thing with the dividers, the more often you can stay 6 feet from people, that's the most guaranteed thing that will work. What happens if a ride breaks down on these more packed rides? Then you are within a small space for extended period.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I'm cautiously putting this here, because I have NO intention in being in the parks anytime soon, and I certainly am NOT an Infectious Disease specialist, or a Virologist. But I saw a video the other day with people on Expedition Everest, and it immediately hit me - wouldn't there be MORE virus spread (even assuming everybody has excellent mask compliance) on something where you YELL, and with what I will fully admit is "Cvoid Paranoia" on my part, I was thinking "I would NOT want to ANYWHERE on that coaster besides the FRONT seat", since I'm assuming any particulates that DID escape if they were yelling would fly backwards. And of course the ride does not have plexiglass barriers. Just some paranoid thoughts of mine. No hate, please.

 

[disneyseniors]

I vote no dividers.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm cautiously putting this here, because I have NO intention in being in the parks anytime soon, and I certainly am NOT an Infectious Disease specialist, or a Virologist. But I saw a video the other day with people on Expedition Everest, and it immediately hit me - wouldn't there be MORE virus spread (even assuming everybody has excellent mask compliance) on something where you YELL, and with what I will fully admit is "Cvoid Paranoia" on my part, I was thinking "I would NOT want to ANYWHERE on that coaster besides the FRONT seat", since I'm assuming any particulates that DID escape if they were yelling would fly backwards. And of course the ride does not have plexiglass barriers. Just some paranoid thoughts of mine. No hate, please.

Heidi, just a note that Disney said the reason they were able to start seating every row there was due to the high backs on the seat and that it fit with new/changing guidelines

Personally seems like a flimsy excuse/reason - but I too am not a scientist/expert ... I too am also not planning to go to a theme park any time soon

And I think that is part of it - it think "most" of the people that are comfortablegoing now at all aren't going to be turned off by these changes (from a safety perspective). Those that are bothered by it likely weren't going to go anyway

 

[Doombuggy73]

The concept is simple! Walt Disney World attractions have added dividers to popular attractions to help with safety & capacity. Before the dividers, Cast Members would make sure that guests were distanced on attractions. The dividers make the lines shorter, but no dividers provide for a better experience. Which would you rather have?

Dividers and shorter waits for sure!

 

[fairestoneofall]

We just got back Saturday. On some of the attractions, the dividers were fine. I felt it hindered the experience on attractions like Frozen and Living with the Land. And, we were well-spaced on Living with the Land. That attraction didn't need dividers really. So, it marred the experience.

I think I'd base my answer on how many rows an attraction has. For Rise and MMRR where you only have two rows, it wasn't as much of an issue. For attractions like Frozen, with multiple rows in a vehicle, it hindered the attraction.

Of course, it didn't help on Frozen that we sat behind two wannabe influencers who literally jumped all over their row with their phones blocking any view (and one of them had two phones so he could record AND run an Instagram live). That was fun. :/

 

[Lumpy1106]

This is a tough call. I thought the dividers were very distracting on Kilimanjaro Jeeps. Not only couldn't you see very well, but the ride really lost the excitement as people used to swing around and point out the animals as the guide pointed them out - that's completely gone. Same with MMRR and ROTR but to a lesser extent. As for the roller coasters, look, I get that some people are insanely scared of COVID, but think about it; the key to dissipating the virus is fresh air flow. That could be you standing still and the wind moving around you, or it could be no wind and YOU moving swiftly. Either way, the relative air flow is the same. Think of it another way - which is safer, you in a car with the AC on full blast, car sitting still, windows up or down, or you in a COVERTABLE with the top down, car going 25 MPH? I'll take the convertible, thanks.

NMW, I am extremely grateful that WDW is open and has established such fantastic safety protocols, and that the State of Florida had the common sense to allow them to do that. Nobody ever promised us shorter waits - that was a bonus. We saw it for what it was worth; a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will (hopefully) never see again. Yes, not a fan of long waits, but even more not a fan of the tens of thousands of CM's that have been let go. If plastic dividers and longer waits are what it takes to get more of the CM's back in the parks then so be it.