After visiting Magic Kingdom on July 28th I was rather appalled at the lack of transportation times. After leaving the park at 10:00 (closing time which is ridiculous in the summer months) we waited for an hour for a ferry boat. Monorail lines were just as long. I've been an avid visitor since 1975 and have visited recently during spring break, Thanksgiving and Christmas and I've never waited more than one or two ferries. And the problem is everyone exits the park at the same time after HEA. And because of a lack of night time entertainment the parades which can vary the exit times for many people. I might be in the minority but the raising of ticket prices, cutting the hours during the summer and cutting out the night parade is a real bummer. I mean they built the extra docks for the ferry why not run three ferries instead of two. I'm just sounding off
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Horrible Transportation
- Thread starter elcheapo
- Start date
Amidala
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking that Disney is aware of this, and it's likely the reason behind the gondolas and the Minnie vans...But I'm not super optimistic that these things will fix the problem. The Minnie vans will work well for big families who don't want to manhandle a stroller (or multiple strollers) onto a bus and don't want their children stuck standing for long rides–but the average guest is not going to pay $20 for a one-way trip, especially when Uber charges significantly less. Then there's the gondolas, which on top of only connecting to two of the parks and a handful of resorts, hold a very small number of people...
Not sure how they can address this issue, but it definitely agree that the lack of diversity in nighttime entertainment is the reason transportation out of MK is so stopped up after HEA.
Not sure how they can address this issue, but it definitely agree that the lack of diversity in nighttime entertainment is the reason transportation out of MK is so stopped up after HEA.
sxeensweet
Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
The way to solve that we stay in the park about 45min-1hr after closing at MK to let it clear out and also to see the kiss goodnight that they do numerous times after closing most nights. Casey's is always usually open past closing an hour or so if you want a bite to eat too. 
sxeensweet
Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Stores on Main St stay open a while too after closing So between that, grabbing a seat and relaxing, or eating etc we can easily waste an hour after or so. Lol
crxbrett
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I always like to hang out for a bit and just stroll around. As others have said, if they extended the hours back to 11p or Midnight again and did the extended evening hours til 1 or 2am during peak times it would eliminate this from happening. It's ridiculous that they are doing this when the parks are experiencing heavy crowds.
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
Disney transportation does a phenomenal job. The new Express Transportstion is amazing and your issue is easily solvable. Just don't be in a rush to leave. If everyone leaves at close, it will clearly take longer to get home.
crxbrett
Well-Known Member
Agreed. But that's why later park hours alleviates that issue. It allows the crowds to disperse more evenly and throughout the night instead of immediately after a fireworks show and the park shuts down. Even if the park just stayed open for an extra hour or 2 it would make a big difference.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
I love staying after park closing..You get the best photo's during that time..Plus the Main Street Bakery is still open and you can get a snack, Sit and wait as the crowds go to a trickle...By then your bus will have less crowds...
nickys
Premium Member
Ummmmm, OK. 2 statements, 2 massive understatements.
The resorts served by the gondolas are huge. AOA is almost 4000 rooms, POP and CBR are large too. Somebody suggested a total of almost a third of all rooms on site.
And the gondolas will be continuously loading. So let's say a car leaves every 10 seconds, in 1 minute you have 8 x 6 = 48 people away, in 10 minutes you have 480 people away. Compared to a bus, which if it arrived and loaded in 10 minutes would have 70 people on it? There will be a line but it will be continuously moving.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
SUPER long (and at times, contentious) thread about this very thing.
We have often stayed an hour past closing and left at closing and never really had a problem leaving. But it's been mentioned in this thread that the lack of nighttime entertainment looks like part of the problem. I remember up until 2 years ago the park was routinely opened to midnight sometimes 1 am with no extra magic hours. We loved this time just to walk around and enjoy the night in the parks and also much cooler at night for people that left in the afternoon and came back and also after spectromagic ended at 11:15 and the park cleared out you can almost walk on any ride which was awesome. But I still wonder why not running 3 ferry boats at closing? Why build the extra docks if your not going to use them? I'm sure TDO is aware of the problem
BoarderPhreak
Well-Known Member
"The buses stop an hour after park close..." I wouldn't dawdle too long.
Last edited:
And don't hold your breathe about them extending the hours of the MK. We hoped also and they never did. Went back to MK on 8/1 still just as crowded and stuck with the 10:00 closing
MaryJaneP
Well-Known Member
HA HA HA. Every 10 seconds, really? Really. It takes longer to load most ride vehicles than every 10 seconds. Also reading comprehension is a challenge for some. A handful of resorts is a description of the number of resorts served, not a description of the size of those resorts. Yikes.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
A gondola could easily leave every 10 seconds. This doesn't mean it will be loaded in 10 seconds. Cars are taken off the cable so they can slow WAY down for loading and unloading. Several cars will be in a slow-moving "waiting" line while loading. Then, when it's their turn, they are put back on the line and zipped away. One every ten seconds.
Also, I'm pretty sure @Amidala 's use of "handful of resorts" was correct. They were saying that the gondola will only have stations at a few of the many resorts.
I beg to differ, but that's not true the busses run till every last soul has left the park. I know this for a fact. Time is irrelevant. Getting people home is priority.The buses stop an hour after park close... I wouldn't dawdle too long.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
I have even been asked where we are staying to make sure buses are available to us if we were lingering a while. After a while they do gently shoe you out, but not too bad.
We now avoid park closing unless we can walk.