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2016 Christmas Week Phase Closing watch
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
Blaming Disney doesn't sound like a observation.
freediverdude
Well-Known Member
Why would anyone wait in that? Just linger in Epcot until they start kicking people out, and by then the traffic has eased. Why sit in your car for hours.
Kman101
Well-Known Member
Ok? We got it. DonSullivan probably meant no harm. No reason to keep going on about it.
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
I thought the same thing. Common sense, between 1230 and 130am everyone will be leaving. If i am not hindered, i would grab a bench and wait it out.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
It looked like she had a few drinks at EPCOT before hitting the stage.
donsullivan
Premium Member
In my case, I'd left my crystal ball at home and could not predict this level of gridlock when I headed to the car. While some years move slowly, this was the worst I've ever personally experienced.
As for those who feel compelled to attack or mock, I'm completely aware that I'm whining and this is a quintessentially first world problem. I'm not one who complains about everything Disney does, but this time they missed the mark so I did. I'm over it now and moving on with my weekend.
mimitchi33
Well-Known Member
Wow! I've never sat in traffic for THREE HOURS. That's nuts!
FerretAfros
Well-Known Member
For what it's worth, the buses were also a disaster. We got in line for a bus around 12:40, and weren't on board until 2:35am; we got back to our hotel room a little after 3am. When we left, there were still thousands of guests waiting behind us to get back to their respective hotels. People were doing their best to be patient, but it was pretty clear by that point that everybody just wanted to leave. I have photos, but I won't be able to get them off my camera until I get home next week
And to add insult to injury, as we stood there waiting, we all watched Disney Transport buses come in and be turned off for the night. By the time our bus came, we could see more than a dozen buses directly in front of us that weren't being used (possibly more, if they were parked in 2 rows). There were a couple buses parked there the entire night, so it wasn't a bus issue; it was a staffing issue. Whether they didn't have enough drivers, or simply didn't schedule enough people to be on duty that night, it was horribly inadequate for the number of people waiting
I've read that Disney has used Mears to provide additional service on NYE in the past; we did not see any Mears buses the entire day. Given how smoothly I've seen them transport huge crowds for various runDisney events, their assistance would have been greatly appreciated. It's not like they struggled to turn a profit at Epcot that day, with all those pre-mixed $15 cocktails they were selling
Disney-Trains
Well-Known Member
Interesting to hear about the bus situation at EPCOT. The busses at Magic Kingdom were running very efficiently. I left magic kingdom a little after 1. Waited 40-45 minutes before I was on a bus. In that 40 minutes Pop century got 2 articulated (double) busses, at least 3 regular Disney busses, and 1 charter (mears style) bus. I saw several of the the charter busses serving MK so Disney did have them out.
I wonder if the busses had trouble getting in and out of EPCOT? The MK busses were rerouting into service roads behing MK and over to western way.
I wonder if the busses had trouble getting in and out of EPCOT? The MK busses were rerouting into service roads behing MK and over to western way.
This was our experience as well. We got to the bus stop around 1:30 and there were at least 3 bus loads of people waiting for the Saratoga springs bus. We sat down on the grass and waited but busses were few and far between. There were periods of 10-20 minutes where no busses pulled up for any bus stop.
Guests would cheer and clap when a bus finally came to their stop.
At about 2:20 the second bus for SS pulled up since we got there at 1:30 and we didn't make it on. There was still at least a full bus load still waiting. I pulled up Uber and there happened to be a driver at the taxi stand who just had someone cancel on him. I paid the $16 fare and was back at the resort by 2:40.
It was the worst part of an otherwise really good night.
A few more thoughts on this past week that I wanted to share but don't think they deserve their own thread:
Has the FP+ ratio increased? I know it is commonly said that around 70% is FP+, but based on posted wait times and the small number of people I've noticed in standby it makes it seem like this has been raised to 85% or so. @lentesta @wdwmagic ?
Were staffing levels significantly reduced this year? I noticed what seemed like a smaller amount of CMs everywhere, from crowd control (although they did a very good job on nye) to ride staffing. I noticed what seemed to be one grouper on most rides and I was on a few E's with high wait times that dispatched with empty rows. On Monday around 7:00pm star tours was only running 2 simulators with a posted 30 minute wait and FP backed up to the first room.
Did they finally close the "Return to Magic Kingdom" parking loophole? I noticed they had cones blocking the return inside the toll booth for at least the past week. Not sure how long they've been doing it.
Post AP blackout surge? I spent Jan. 3rd bouncing between MK & AK and the crowds seemed worse on 1/3 than they did the week before (except nye). I'm wondering if this is a result of the blackouts ending.
Has the FP+ ratio increased? I know it is commonly said that around 70% is FP+, but based on posted wait times and the small number of people I've noticed in standby it makes it seem like this has been raised to 85% or so. @lentesta @wdwmagic ?
Were staffing levels significantly reduced this year? I noticed what seemed like a smaller amount of CMs everywhere, from crowd control (although they did a very good job on nye) to ride staffing. I noticed what seemed to be one grouper on most rides and I was on a few E's with high wait times that dispatched with empty rows. On Monday around 7:00pm star tours was only running 2 simulators with a posted 30 minute wait and FP backed up to the first room.
Did they finally close the "Return to Magic Kingdom" parking loophole? I noticed they had cones blocking the return inside the toll booth for at least the past week. Not sure how long they've been doing it.
Post AP blackout surge? I spent Jan. 3rd bouncing between MK & AK and the crowds seemed worse on 1/3 than they did the week before (except nye). I'm wondering if this is a result of the blackouts ending.
Disney-Trains
Well-Known Member
I felt like the FP+ ratio is up. I had a FP for Jingle Cruise on NYE and the FP line was a good 15 minute wait and was moving fast through about half the cue. I felt really sorry for people in standby.
Right after fireworks on NYE I jumped into seven dwarves mine train, despite walking all the way into the building (no line in the outside que) it was still a 30 minute wait because they only let 2 groups at a time go from standby.
Right after fireworks on NYE I jumped into seven dwarves mine train, despite walking all the way into the building (no line in the outside que) it was still a 30 minute wait because they only let 2 groups at a time go from standby.
That Guy
Active Member
I was at MK yesterday and had some of the same questions. We did standby for Buzz with a 40 minute posted time, but the line was barely out of the entrance. It took over an hour. They were letting in 50-60 FP for every 10-15 standby. The cast member had a counter in her hand which I don't remember seeing before. Mermaid (30 minute posted time) took over an hour as well. I know that the posted wait times are for what the ride had, not what it is, but I have successfully used the length of line as a more accurate tool for years. Yesterday that was not effective at all. We guessed they had increased the holiday mix for Fastpass.
I think many locals needed a Disney fix after a few weeks of being blocked out. It was great to be back, but I sure hope this is not the new norm for 2017.
That "MK parking loophole" being plugged screwed a lot of CMs! Many came to MK through the back roads and come in the side gate to the MK parking lot using their badge in order to get to cast parking. That had been blocked and then in order to come in as the guests do, they couldn't use that return spot. Thankfully I think most areas are pretty lenient about being late during the peak times like that.
This is done during peak periods to allow them to close the parking lot at capacity.
There is a return entrance to the TTV when arriving from the North near the Car Care Center which bypasses the parking plaza.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
This "loophole" ramp dumps you into the entry road for the TTC parking lot just after the toll booths past the junction of World Drive. Isn't the cast lot in back of MK on the corner of Reams and Center?