FLE was created to address capacity issues. What does this mean exactly?

[BigTxEars]

This thread is already going off the rails, but let me try to answer the OP question. It's not really so much about capacity of the overall park, although it will help. It's about adding more ride capacity for Fantasyland, and more to the point, more capacity for the younger set. A lot of Fantasyland rides have long lines, even at times of the year when the park overall isn't that crowded. As Lasseter put it, they had their smallest guests waiting in the longest lines. So for example, Dumbo, a low-capacity ride that is popular with preschoolers, gets its capacity doubled. WDW, and the MK in particular, skews younger than it did twenty years ago and this expansion is a reflection of that fact. I don't think Disney expects this expansion to make much of a difference in the overall crowd feeling at the MK; I think Disney expects this will have a big effect on the satisfaction of its youngest guests (and their parents).

Well put

 

[Victor Kelly]

I agree. It is more about making the little ones happier, which is what Fantasyland is all about.

 

[Mansion Butler]

FLE isn't even adding capacity it is merely restoring some of the capacity that was lost in the past 15 years with the closures of 20k under the sea, skyway, and the various watercrafts on the rivers of america. They would need to add at least 1 more attraction without replacing an former/existing attraction for there to be an actual gain.

If all attractions were the same capacity. . .

Guarantee you the Little Mermaid will out-OHRC the keelboats and the subs combined, with one hand tied behind its back (I know it's going to be way beyond the subs. I would not necessarily guarantee that the coaster and twice the Dumbo will out-do SWSA + Skyway, but I also wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Whether or not the park will actually be at a higher capacity than it was at its peak, though, the point is that attractions are not all created equally in terms of throughput on attractions.

I mean, let's say you closed Peter Pan and Dumbo (just for example, no this doesn't make sense) and opened a second Haunted Mansion. You've eliminated two attractions and added only one, right? But that one attraction beats the previous two combined with, like, a whole hour's worth of Dumbo riders to spare.

 

[stale32441]

I imagine the concept behind this post, and a non accidental gain by WDW was the capacity issue. Capacity in the US is based on area aka usable sq ft. (Remember when you walked into that restaurant the sign on the wall that said "Capacity:124"?) Disney is prolly tired of closing MK on days like NYE, NYD, 4th of July,Xmas, etc... at 10 AM due to capacity(Phase closing for those who are new), FLE allows X amount of guests more then prior years.
It's about sq feet, not attraction number.

Again using my restaurant example, two burger joints, both same size, but one with less tables, would have the same "capacity", despite the fact that one would have less people when "full"

Just sayin

 

[unkadug]

More room...more attractions....won't they let more people in? (Not being sarcastic)

Valid point. And I would say yes they will :ROFLOL:

I would rather have the expanded space, spreading the same amount of people over more acreage, than for them to allow more people in.

However, since it isn't often that they reach capacity, the extra space will be a bonus for most people most of the time.

You won't even have to enjoy what the FLE offers to reap the benefits of this expansion by less crowding of all walkways and shorter lines all around.

Reusing rotting tents for a Circusland is a joke if you ask me...

I'm still not sure why you aren't happy about this addition to the MK...:veryconfu

 

[Hakunamatata]

I would rather have the expanded space, spreading the same amount of people over more acreage, than for them to allow more people in.

However, since it isn't often that they reach capacity, the extra space will be a bonus for most people most of the time.

You won't even have to enjoy what the FLE offers to reap the benefits of this expansion by less crowding of all walkways and shorter lines all around.

I agree. The fact that you wont have to deal with the rush hour traffic between IASW and Pan is worth the expansion in and of itself. That one place is the worst in the world for people to transition to, stop, gawk and try to figure what they want to do next. Frustrating for those who know where they are going and what they want to do. This expansion will remove that bottleneck hopefully.

 

[GenerationX]

I would rather have the expanded space, spreading the same amount of people over more acreage, than for them to allow more people in.

However, since it isn't often that they reach capacity, the extra space will be a bonus for most people most of the time.

You won't even have to enjoy what the FLE offers to reap the benefits of this expansion by less crowding of all walkways and shorter lines all around.

Excellent points. FLE will also relieve the capacity issues with table service dining options in the MK.

 

[SeaCastle]

I noticed this has been mentioned several times around these boards and Im just curious if someone can explain what this means exactly and the outcome Disney is looking for in regards to this expansion? I go to WDW usually in February, May and/or October every year and I never really notice that the lines are ridiculously long at the attractions or anything. I never feel very cramped with people when just walking around the park. So what are the capacity issues that are spoken of? I have seen where MK actually does phased closings sometimes on like 4th of July, New Years, etc. and that the parks are pretty packed during the 3 summer months, but the rest of the year seems to be tame for the most part. Is Disney expecting this expansion to decrease wait times in the park as well?

Basically, the totality of the shops, restaurants, and rides (and their queues) takes people off of the walkways and has people in defined areas. Since the mid-90's, Disney has removed the Tomorrowland Terrace, Adventureland Veranda, Diamond Horseshoe Saloon, and has made other eateries seasonal. It also removed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Skyway, Main Street Vehicles, Penny Arcade, the Keelboats, the Canoes, Alien Encounter, and the original Tiki Room. Any new attractions added since the '90s have been to replace already existing attractions (such as Space Ranger Spin, PhillarMagic, and in a sense, the Flying Carpets).

As a result, you have significantly less things to do in the Magic Kingdom, with more people filling less space. That's why the Magic Kingdom has seemed more crowded- not only are more people visiting, but there's less places for those people to be. As a result, the capacity of the Magic Kingdom has decreased, even though there's more visitors.

To (partly) make up for this, they are increasing park capacity by adding more meet and greets, two new attractions, a quick-service and table-service eatery, an additional Dumbo, and more queue space and eateries. This only partly makes up for everything else that has since closed in the Magic Kingdom, as more guests partake in the new offerings being built, taking them off of the pathways and into new experiences.

 

[kev24135]

Reusing rotting tents for a Circusland is a joke if you ask me...

and being rude and talking down to disney, and other members on a disney fan site, means your use of time is a joke

 

[NewfieFan]

Reusing rotting tents for a Circusland is a joke if you ask me...

I'm pretty sure it's been mentioned around here that it's just the frame of tents that they will be reusing. The "rotting" tent itself will be replaced!

This thread is already going off the rails, but let me try to answer the OP question. It's not really so much about capacity of the overall park, although it will help. It's about adding more ride capacity for Fantasyland, and more to the point, more capacity for the younger set. A lot of Fantasyland rides have long lines, even at times of the year when the park overall isn't that crowded. As Lasseter put it, they had their smallest guests waiting in the longest lines. So for example, Dumbo, a low-capacity ride that is popular with preschoolers, gets its capacity doubled. WDW, and the MK in particular, skews younger than it did twenty years ago and this expansion is a reflection of that fact. I don't think Disney expects this expansion to make much of a difference in the overall crowd feeling at the MK; I think Disney expects this will have a big effect on the satisfaction of its youngest guests (and their parents).

Yes, I believe his quote went something like this, "the smallest guests wait in the longest lines for the shortest rides..."!

I think this will reduce the crowds typically seen in FL during the day! Although I'm sure the new area of FL will be mobbed for quite some time until the novelty wears off!

 

[boufa]

Basically, the totality of the shops, restaurants, and rides (and their queues) takes people off of the walkways and has people in defined areas. Since the mid-90's, Disney has removed the Tomorrowland Terrace, Adventureland Veranda, Diamond Horseshoe Saloon, and has made other eateries seasonal. It also removed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Skyway, Main Street Vehicles, Penny Arcade, the Keelboats, the Canoes, Alien Encounter, and the original Tiki Room. Any new attractions added since the '90s have been to replace already existing attractions (such as Space Ranger Spin, PhillarMagic, and in a sense, the Flying Carpets).

It is often refered to as crowd or people eating attractions. You are partially right but the significant increase in meet and greets off sets much of the loss. Also the adventure land veranda is back in use, alien encounter is now stitch, the tiki room also never stopped being an attraction, so they don't count as lost capacity. In fact tiki unm was shorter so it turned crowds better. The main street vehicles actually cause capacity issues since they take up space the is otherwise crowd space. They still run in the morning before the crowds build. I think your underlying point is that the have taken more stuff away than they have added, in terms of capacity it in an empty theory.

 

[vinnya1726]

This thread is already going off the rails, but let me try to answer the OP question. It's not really so much about capacity of the overall park, although it will help. It's about adding more ride capacity for Fantasyland, and more to the point, more capacity for the younger set. A lot of Fantasyland rides have long lines, even at times of the year when the park overall isn't that crowded. As Lasseter put it, they had their smallest guests waiting in the longest lines. So for example, Dumbo, a low-capacity ride that is popular with preschoolers, gets its capacity doubled. WDW, and the MK in particular, skews younger than it did twenty years ago and this expansion is a reflection of that fact. I don't think Disney expects this expansion to make much of a difference in the overall crowd feeling at the MK; I think Disney expects this will have a big effect on the satisfaction of its youngest guests (and their parents).

Exactly...well said.

 

[rioriz]

1 more attraction

I think one thing that gets lost in the attraction list for FLE is Enchanted Tales With Belle which seems to be as much as an attraction as the Tiki room or Crush...so add anotheer crowd eater onto that

 

[mp2bill]

Really? You seriously don't know the meaning of capacity? Wow...

I was waiting for somebody to ask this...:drevil: