WDW Last Man Standing....

[Wadecool]

A small number of folks from the dis here were at MK back in 2001. We hung around well after the Kiss Goodnight. Sat around, chewing the fat in the hub. The only CM's we saw were a few security and late night maintenance. We started to drift down Main Street, probably upwards of 2 hours past closing, toward the exit. One of the suits asked us what resort/s we were staying at. We told him the 3 or 4 where we were staying. He replied, 'That's what we thought, your bus is outside waiting for all you guys'. We got on the bus, only us, and the single bus took us all to our respective resorts. we were the last ones out.

Nice memories.

.

Those are some awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing them!

 

[nytimez]

I was a cast member years ago in Main Entrance Merchandise at MGM and we "opened" at least an hour before and closed two or three hours after official park hours. Back then a guest was never asked to leave. Security would slowly stroll (at a distance) behind them to keep the guests from "circling back".

Many nights we stood around making overtime pay $$ while a family sat on the bench for an hour....thanks

The best part was while the family was sitting quietly enjoying the magic, there were literally hundreds of 3rd Shift workers, trucks, lift trucks, etc. pushed up tight to the gates waiting to get onstage and start their night's work.

The conversation on dozens of radios was, "where are they?" and "Are they clear?". Finally, there would be the "Park is clear" call and 3rd shift swarmed onstage. It was quite the sight....

I love stories/details like this -- thanks.

 

[kstgelais4]

I was a cast member years ago in Main Entrance Merchandise at MGM and we "opened" at least an hour before and closed two or three hours after official park hours. Back then a guest was never asked to leave. Security would slowly stroll (at a distance) behind them to keep the guests from "circling back".

Many nights we stood around making overtime pay $$ while a family sat on the bench for an hour....thanks

The best part was while the family was sitting quietly enjoying the magic, there were literally hundreds of 3rd Shift workers, trucks, lift trucks, etc. pushed up tight to the gates waiting to get onstage and start their night's work.

The conversation on dozens of radios was, "where are they?" and "Are they clear?". Finally, there would be the "Park is clear" call and 3rd shift swarmed onstage. It was quite the sight....

This is really cool to hear some backstage "magic" like this. A little creepy too though to know how closely you are being watched. LOL.

 

[Mrs. Potts]

My son works front gate operations at DHS and frequently closes the park. Cast members are not allowed to ask guests to leave. They go to the back of the park and move forward, checking each attraction, restroom, restaurant, etc until all are clear. If they come across guest they just stand quietly by until the guests start moving toward the exits. I'm not sure I could do that. He is much more patient than I!

 

[GaRain]

I have been in the MK with a group of friends after the park had closed. The only ones there were the CMs closing down and some security.
Well, one of the group was actually a CM that worked at the MK and I think we may have not been hustled out of the watch store because of that.
We even got the security person on Main Street to take a group picture of us.
I will have to find that picture.

Luckily, our CM friend had also driven there - because there was not a bus to be found by the time we left!

 

[hydrotony]

Do you know how close to closing they will allow you to get on a ride? I'll have to look on the map and see which is the furthermost part!

As said above, right until closing time. I looked at my watch and saw that it read 01:00 and the CM was reaching for the rope as I walked through. No real problem, I'm sure guests do that all the time.

 

[scion5220]

We were pretty close to this on Saturday night. We got on IASW at 2:59am...or basically 3am. We were the last ones to ride and as we were disembarking we heard the CMs say that all the guests were off the ride. We then S-L-O-W-L-Y made our way toward the Hub and took some photos, then more photos on Main Street (including some under the clock that showed it was 3:20). Then took some more photos by the Roy and Minnie bench and then hit the restrooms.

We were the last group of people to get on a resort bus, all the other areas were empty and our bus dropped a couple of at WL before taking the rest of us to All Star. We got off the bus at 4:16am.

This thread has a few pics I took.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2833198

We have also been there for Rope Drop at MK where we were at the front and walked down Main Street with the very first guests.

I also ate an early breakfast at Disneyland and got into the Hub and castle area there while there was still morning security...including dogs...walking around.

 

[laur roo]

My best friend and I were at MK our last night of our trip last December. Of course being the last night we didn't want to leave! We stayed for the EMH until 2am and then went to look at our PhotoPass pictures. We were some of the only guests there and we talked to two of the CMs for almost an hour while looking at our pics. During that summer we were photographers in another amusement park and were comparing notes, lol! We ended up walking out to the bus stop after 3am and there were a few people here and there waiting for busses too! It was a good last memory to have of our trip.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

Such cool stories!!!! What's the further-most part of DHS that one may walk from to be the last walking through Osbourn lights?

 

[LBIJim]

Years ago, before Fast Pass, we got into line at Space Mountain seconds before closing. Maybe a dozen people also got into line before the CM closed the line. The wait was about 90 minutes. After we exited the SM building, CMs were standing around every 50 feet or so, subtly shooing us toward the park exit. They definitely weren't going to let us stand around for 10 minutes or so if we decided to linger. I suppose if we needed the restrooms they'd let us go, but there was no doubt they wanted the remaining stragglers out as soon as possible. No shops were still open along Main Street.

As for TRYING to be the last (or first) guest of the day, nah, not interested.

Jim

 

[Celidh]

We were at HS this past September at closing. My son needed to go to the bathroom as we were leaving and couldn't wait. He was in there quite a while. It was the one at the main entrance of the park. We were pretty much the last people out of the park. When we got to the bus, there was a line up. My mom was with us and she has bad knees and a bad back and was very tired. She is 66. They tried to crowd us all onto the bus that was standing room only. We said no. There was no way my mom could have stood on the bus and I honestly don't feel comfortable having my kids stand. We chose to wait. That was pretty much the last bus, they had to call to have another one come. I got the distinct impression that we were seen as an inconvenience. So, the CM called another bus and walked away, leaving us to stand there. There was not another soul around in the bus area. We stood for a good 20 minutes waiting for another bus, wondering what the hell we would do if nobody showed up.

It was creepy. I really didn't think they should have left us there alone, with nobody around at all. We had no idea when the bus would come and it wasn't like it was only a few minutes. We were standing there looking at about 10 or 15 empty busses parked that drivers had gotten out of while we waited. I understand that we chose not to get on a bus but really to expect a 66 year old woman health issues to stand on a cram packed bus is too much I think. It's not like we tried to stay for an extra 2 hours. We tried to hurry as soon as we knew the park was closing but had to stop for the bathroom. I was a bit disappointed in how we were made to feel.

I noticed a similar feeling when MK was closing. The street cleaners lined up behind us in a line across main street. While we were walking, with still a number of people leaving the same time as us, they were cleaning the streets with the machines and we had to keep moving out of their way while we were trying to make our way out or get run over. Same as at HS, it's not like we tried to hang around for hours. We made our way to the entrance with a large number of people, although we were closer to the back of the crowd because I just wasn't in the mood to fight to get to the front.

I don't understand how some other people were able to stick around for so long. That definitely wasn't the case the two times were were there till park closing. These were also not emh hours so it wasn't really late when you would expect that cms would have been working till 3 am. It was a 10 pm closing. I had the feeling of being pushed out the door.

 

[nytimez]

We were at HS this past September at closing. My son needed to go to the bathroom as we were leaving and couldn't wait. He was in there quite a while. It was the one at the main entrance of the park. We were pretty much the last people out of the park. When we got to the bus, there was a line up. My mom was with us and she has bad knees and a bad back and was very tired. She is 66. They tried to crowd us all onto the bus that was standing room only. We said no. There was no way my mom could have stood on the bus and I honestly don't feel comfortable having my kids stand. We chose to wait. That was pretty much the last bus, they had to call to have another one come. I got the distinct impression that we were seen as an inconvenience. So, the CM called another bus and walked away, leaving us to stand there. There was not another soul around in the bus area. We stood for a good 20 minutes waiting for another bus, wondering what the hell we would do if nobody showed up.

It was creepy. I really didn't think they should have left us there alone, with nobody around at all. We had no idea when the bus would come and it wasn't like it was only a few minutes. We were standing there looking at about 10 or 15 empty busses parked that drivers had gotten out of while we waited. I understand that we chose not to get on a bus but really to expect a 66 year old woman health issues to stand on a cram packed bus is too much I think. It's not like we tried to stay for an extra 2 hours. We tried to hurry as soon as we knew the park was closing but had to stop for the bathroom. I was a bit disappointed in how we were made to feel.

I noticed a similar feeling when MK was closing. The street cleaners lined up behind us in a line across main street. While we were walking, with still a number of people leaving the same time as us, they were cleaning the streets with the machines and we had to keep moving out of their way while we were trying to make our way out or get run over. Same as at HS, it's not like we tried to hang around for hours. We made our way to the entrance with a large number of people, although we were closer to the back of the crowd because I just wasn't in the mood to fight to get to the front.

I don't understand how some other people were able to stick around for so long. That definitely wasn't the case the two times were were there till park closing. These were also not emh hours so it wasn't really late when you would expect that cms would have been working till 3 am. It was a 10 pm closing. I had the feeling of being pushed out the door.

Sorry -- but I can't really sympathize. No one to blame but you for this. Certainly not Disney.

 

[RDarling]

Fondest MK memory was from 1996 when my 15 year old daughter and I got on Haunted Mansion with seconds left until closing time. We did the stretch room, just the two of us, with the CM standing there starring at us without a grin, and scaring us pretty bad. Then we got on the ride and when we got to the part where the cart goes backwards, we see the same creepy CM sitting in the cart behind/in front of us. We were scared to death and I bet we rushed our butts right down Main Street pretty fast!! Has been a happy memory for years and years and years!!

 

[scion5220]

Fondest MK memory was from 1996 when my 15 year old daughter and I got on Haunted Mansion with seconds left until closing time. We did the stretch room, just the two of us, with the CM standing there starring at us without a grin, and scaring us pretty bad. Then we got on the ride and when we got to the part where the cart goes backwards, we see the same creepy CM sitting in the cart behind/in front of us. We were scared to death and I bet we rushed our butts right down Main Street pretty fast!! Has been a happy memory for years and years and years!!

OMG That would FREAK.ME.OUT!!

That's my biggest fear on HM...the cast members!

I have always been afraid that there is one lurking in there somewhere who will just lean around and look into the doom buggy...they only really do that right as your leaving the loading area, but it always freaks me out and leaves me on edge the rest of the ride.

 

[Spoonces]

Such cool stories!!!! What's the further-most part of DHS that one may walk from to be the last walking through Osbourn lights?

You are pretty much at the back of the parks when you are standing at the Osborne Lights anyway, just remember that they "turn off" 1 hour after closing and there are often still many people there.

 

[Spoonces]

The best part was while the family was sitting quietly enjoying the magic, there were literally hundreds of 3rd Shift workers, trucks, lift trucks, etc. pushed up tight to the gates waiting to get onstage and start their night's work.

The conversation on dozens of radios was, "where are they?" and "Are they clear?". Finally, there would be the "Park is clear" call and 3rd shift swarmed onstage. It was quite the sight....

Most folks don't realize the size of the "army" that swarms into the parks once the crowds are clear. It usually gets quite busy again and is no where near the same "mood" as when it is open to guests. The music and show lights turn off and the sound of cleaners and tools fills the air. It is a very different, somewhat chaotic place with a lot of cars, trucks and carts driving around.

My one special moment was getting to drive a company vehicle down main street well after close a few years back, the Christmas decorations were up and it was quite neat to be just driving down that street. I am not a CM but an outside contract designer and this is not a daily occurrence for me.

 

[Jamian]

I've done it a lot for photography purposes (ie, to take photos of the parks at night without any people in them). It's pretty awesome being the last one out. Here are a couple of the shots I stayed late for:


Main Street U.S.A by -Jamian-, on Flickr


Good Night Epcot Center. by -Jamian-, on Flickr


Fountain of Nations by -Jamian-, on Flickr


Gateway To The Movies by -Jamian-, on Flickr


Hollywood Boulevard by -Jamian-, on Flickr


BAH Plaza by -Jamian-, on Flickr

 

[nytimez]

WOW. Fantastic photos. They almost make the hat look good.

 

[gator girl]

Oh, wow Jamian! Those are GORGEOUS!!!

 

[laur roo]

I've done it a lot for photography purposes (ie, to take photos of the parks at night without any people in them). It's pretty awesome being the last one out.

I love the first one of Main Street. Because of the wet ground I think it makes it look even better!! Thanks for sharing your shots!