Why are cast members putting so many people in a ride vehicle?

[Novakm]

When I was ther, I thought they weren't putting enough people in a row. This was 2nd week of December, so crowds were low.

 

[Cais]

Pirates is notorious for this. They always try to squeeze our party of 4 adults into one of the shorter rows. Great Movie Ride also tends to pack too many people into their vehicles. I don't like being squished next to someone, even family. But being squished up next to a stranger is really awkward! On some of the boat rides, we've started splitting into two parties of two, pretending we're not together so that we have a greater chance of having more space.

2 and 2 trick, I would either put you in the same row or a lot of times on 2 separate boats. Or find a party of five and split em 2 and 3 to get that boat loaded.

A good grouper like that can easily shave full minutes off your wait times. It adds up over time.

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[amryn21]

When I was ther, I thought they weren't putting enough people in a row. This was 2nd week of December, so crowds were low.

I thought the same thing. We were there that week also and we were a party of 2 adults and a 3 year old and never had to ride with anyone other than our group with the exception of the great movie ride.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

There were 2 instances on our trip in November that this happened to us. I can't remember one of them, but remember we asked and they told us we could use 2 rows if we wanted. The second one was People Mover. 5 of us crammed in a car. It was right after the ride was broke down, so I think they were trying to move the line fast. I said you want us all in one car and the CM said yes very sternly. It was very uncomfortable, and we didn't really enjoy the ride, but I just figured next time, we are just telling them we need two cars. This was during a very slow week too, so I don't think it is just to move lines quicker. Not sure of the logic.

 

[MichelleVW]

We noticed that when we were there the 15-21. We told them 6 on the People Mover and they wanted us all to fit in one!! Uh no...the 3 girls (20-22) rode in one and I rode in the next one with my mom and sister. 6 in the people mover is freaking nuts. They also tried to fit 6 of us on Winnie the Pooh...once again, 2 of us just waited because sorry...we're not cramming in.

Those were the only 2 rides that they tried to squeeze us in..we just waited. We're not huge people, but we are all adults and no reason to smoosh like that when the parks weren't even crowded.

 

[maxiesmom]

I didn't notice it and we were in the parks December 12-16. And on a couple of rides they even kept people from squishing in with other parties. Noticed it both on Small World and the Safari.

 

[bumbershoot]

The first time we were at WDW, in 2010, we were put with another couple in the same row on Small World. There was NO ONE ELSE in the boat. The wait time was as long as it took for you to walk through the line. I asked the seater for clarification on where we were supposed to go and he insisted that we were in the same row. We followed his instructions because I figured there were people behind us or something, and then felt really really dumb for the whole ride, all squashed together.

At the time DH and I were much bigger than we are now, and it was uncomfortable in every single way. I won't do it again.

On some of the boat rides, we've started splitting into two parties of two, pretending we're not together so that we have a greater chance of having more space.

On most rides we do this. I will not be squished!

2 and 2 trick, I would either put you in the same row or a lot of times on 2 separate boats. Or find a party of five and split em 2 and 3 to get that boat loaded.

A good grouper like that can easily shave full minutes off your wait times. It adds up over time.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

A "good" grouper like that is lessening the enjoyment of the RIDE, which is the whole point of being in that line. Who cares about the line if you hate the ride because you can't breathe. Or if you're totally uncomfortable because you're thigh to thigh with strangers. Stop doing it.

 

[disneyerin]

That is SO WEIRD! Why would they do that? We were there from the 16th through the 22nd and were lucky. It was my DH, DD and myself and either my DH or I would always get a "buggy" by ourselves without any problems.

 

[lugnut33]

In hopes of helping out the lines our family of 4 has decided to only take one row at Test Track.

 

[AmyB2006]

Well we were packed in on a few rides this time, but it was because the people that were supposed to wait for the next vehicle, jumped in ours instead. I don't know if it's cause they thought they were supposed to or just didn't want to wait. But it happened three times this trip. Lol

 

[larryz]

I don't know if it's cause they thought they were supposed to or just didn't want to wait.

Well, if it's only one or two, it doesn't really bother me. But more than that...

 

[GovieMom]

How is it possible to sit three adults in Big Thunder? The seats are meant for two. There's no way three would fit.

I wondered the same thing. Can't even imagine such a thing.

 

[GovieMom]

We didn't end up sitting 3, we did 2&1.

Your original post said they put 3 adults on BTMRR, leading us to believe they placed all the adults into one seat.

 

[siskaren]

Well we were packed in on a few rides this time, but it was because the people that were supposed to wait for the next vehicle, jumped in ours instead. I don't know if it's cause they thought they were supposed to or just didn't want to wait. But it happened three times this trip. Lol

I had that happen one time on PotC. I was directed to the last row, but told to wait for the next boat (there was one guy already in the last row.) When the next boat arrived, I got in the row, but then so did a family of three, and trust me, we were squished. (What particularly made it bad was that I was wearing short sleeves and the little girl who sat next to me had long hair, which meant that her hair was tickling my arm the whole time.) I suspected that they had been told to wait for the next boat, but either didn't speak English, or perhaps like you said, they just didn't want to wait.

 

[Magpie]

We didn't end up sitting 3, we did 2&1. Maybe they thought we had an adult and two small kids? I don't know. We also didn't put 5 in a people mover since it was physically impossible and no wait, so we separated ourselves.

Hang on - you expected to ride one adult per seat on BTMRR?

When my husband and I ride BTMRR (Me - 135 lbs, him - 210), we always ride together. I'd never expect to be put in my own seat all by myself!

Heck, part of the fun is riding together. Even if the entire train was empty, I'm sure we'd want to ride with each other.

Besides...

It's pretty obvious those seats are meant to hold two adults!

 

[Hoosier Mom]

Oh no! New boats for Pirates? Ugh. When did that happen? We were there Jan 2012. Going back in one month. I hate getting wet. So it's just legs getting wet or are the seats wet too? I hate a wet seat.

 

[siskaren]

It's pretty obvious those seats are meant to hold two adults!

The seats on Splash Mountain are also meant to hold two people, but as a solo traveler, I've never been forced to ride sitting next to a stranger. (I can't say about BTMR because it's been too long since I've ridden it.)

 

[KathyFP]

That is SO WEIRD! Why would they do that? We were there from the 16th through the 22nd and were lucky. It was my DH, DD and myself and either my DH or I would always get a "buggy" by ourselves without any problems.

DD (15) and I were at WDW from 12/18 - 24. We were never squeezed in with others. Lines were short for the first several days of our trip. Many rides we did not even need a FP.

 

[Magpie]

The seats on Splash Mountain are also meant to hold two people, but as a solo traveler, I've never been forced to ride sitting next to a stranger. (I can't say about BTMR because it's been too long since I've ridden it.)

When I was a solo traveller back in 2011, I always rode with other single adults on every coaster - BTMRR, Everest, etc... Nobody "forced" me, and, in fact, when they directed me to that seat, I suppose I could have hung back and waited for the next train. But I always just said, "You don't mind, do you?" and just climbed in, the way I figured I was supposed to.

They never did mind, and in fact I had an awesome time riding coasters with strangers! I particularly remember one gentleman who couldn't remember Everest any better than I could - the backwards part took us both by surprise!

Why should I make the people behind me in line wait that much longer, if I don't have any issues riding with someone else? If it bothers you, don't get in, tell the cast member you need to ride alone, or even just block the seat so someone like me can't climb in next to you.

Disney doesn't have anything even remotely similar to the log flume ride at Universal, anyway, when I got stuffed between a lovely foreign gentleman's knees. I didn't know where to put my elbows! He was very gallant about it all, however.

 

[HallGirl]

Oh no! New boats for Pirates? Ugh. When did that happen? We were there Jan 2012. Going back in one month. I hate getting wet. So it's just legs getting wet or are the seats wet too? I hate a wet seat.

The new boats got added at the end of August this year. You do get wetter than with the old boats, but it depends on how full the boat is, whether the weight is evenly distributed, time of day, and chance.

The Pirates boats are designed to hold 4 adults per row, except row 6 which can only have 3. CMs are encouraged to fill the boats as closely to 23 people as possible in order to keep the wait times down. Even if you splilt 2 and 2, many CMs will try to find a party of 2 to fill in with another party of 2. If you don't want them to do so, please speak with the grouper and be polite about it. It's easier to accommodate a request if someone is nice about it. Just don't complain if the line is long because the boats are leaving with empty seats in it.