Magic Kingdom closed to ALL guests due to reaching absolute capacity (phase 4)

[castevens]

Imagination: 20

Wow. I've never been there since Imagination 1 where I haven't just walked on the ride.

Thanks for the updates/info. Much appreciated.

 

[FigmentPrincess]

Wow. I've never been there since Imagination 1 where I haven't just walked on the ride.

Thanks for the updates/info. Much appreciated.

It was crazy. They actually had ropes/stanchions OUTSIDE the building. I have NEVER seen that in person. Last time I saw about a 15 minute wait (Valentine's Day) I walked out. :ROFLOL:

 

[calicommando]

Wow, that has me worried. I am going to be there on Friday for my wife's birthday. We are planning to get there really late like 8 PM and stay until the insanely late 3 AM EMH closing. Would families really stay at the park that late? I cannot imagine swarms like this during late-night EMH.

From my experience, the crowds are way down by about 10pm. Certainly by 3am the park won't be too crowded.

 

[retlaw1]

I remember seeing ropes and stanchions outside Imagination before. Unfortunately that was my first visit, when the Dreamfinder was still there along with Horizons and World of Motion, when UoE wasn't Ellenized, and Living Seas was still under construction.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I get it from years of history and WDW's own policies ... from cutting hours in mid-August to putting its resorts into 'value' season from 'regular' season to the fact many schools (including almost all in FLA head back to school in Aug).

I can't speak to your experiences, but when cast and capacity get cut, waits are artificially inflated. Very much like how with FP a 20 minute wait for all can easily become a 50-60 minute wait for some.

June is always busier than August. That's why hours are longer. That's why the resort rates are more. That's why Disney even now puts surcharges on its buffets.

~I Wanna Go to DL!~

Either way, I'm sure it differs on the economical climate and what park I was in. Compare June 2001/MK to Aug 2008 to EPCOT:shrug:

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Many schools in Ohio are on break this week because state testing starts April 20, and they didn't want to have the kids start testing on the day they returned from break, so they have vacation the week before Easter. That is why we are here in WDW right now. And tomorrow is our MK day--I hope it's less crowded. We plan on being there right when it opens at 7 and getting our must-dos open as quickly as we can. But I love the atmosphere at MK--don't think I'll get much of it tomorrow.
We did this week last spring break too. MK wasn't all that bad as long as we got there at 7 and did the EMH.
I know we considered going to MK last night after we ate at Chef Mickey's--but we got off the monorail and it looked insane at the entrance gates, and that was at 8:30 PM! So we just got on our resort bus and went to the hotel.
Robin M.

 

[krankenstein]

The second sign of the Apocalypse!

This was 4 weeks ago....

 

[The "Pro"]

Was at MK this morning (Tuesday) at about 7:45 AM. Crowds were not bad at the time, but by 11:00 AM it was getting out of control. The resort monorail was not in use as it was being used as an additional express monorail. The attendant told me that it was because the ferry boat was not operating due to high winds, but I think it was to manage the crowds as well.

There also was a line of traffic about 2 miles (almost as far as the Dolphin) from the MK parking lot toll booths.

 

[IlikeDW]

Who has spring break in April?:shrug:

Schools in our county(NC) are out this week.

 

[hrcollectibles]

:lol::lol:

We were there that EXACT time, last year, and trust me, EPCOT was packed. JII had a 30 min wait. SSE an hour TLS, at least 50...It was madness. So I have no idea where you get that from.

Now if you had said last week of June, I would have believed you. Been to WDW in June most of all, and never more than a 30 min wait for most E-tics.:shrug:

I go the last week of June because it leads into my Birthday on July 2nd heeheehee

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm still wondering if any little birdies know whether this was a real, hard-capacity limit, or an artificially-induced staffing limit. It seems odd that in the worst economy in 3/4ths of a century, when Orlando hotel occupancy is known to be down over prior years by a sizeable amount, suddenly MK hits Phase 4 during a season that's never induced one before.

(Translation: I think '74 is on to something here.)

 

[hrcollectibles]

With it being that crowded I would think a few hours wait. Probably if you got in line for Space Mountain around 3pm today you would probably get to ride it sometime between 8pm & 9pm. I'm not sure of the exact wait times, but I know on New Years Eve at Epcot this past year there were Stand-By wait times around 3pm of 280 minutes for Soaring and close to that for Mission Space & Test Track. I would never stand in line for almost 5 hours for any ride.

Thats nothing. I have seen wait times has high as 480 minutes (thats 8 hours) now that would be a day wasted

 

[hardcard]

Well, orange county had LAST week off for spring break, so it's not the immediate locals blowing it out of proportion..

 

[hardcard]

Wow! Such little news about WDW that folks around these parts get all lathered up over crowds Easter week ... so shocking ... it's not like it's like this ... well, pretty much every year.

With all the cuts in CMs, which likely means less attraction capacity, I am sure it's pretty hellish ... or was ... as they apparently went from Phase 4 down to nothing in a span of about 2-3 hours.

Not excited.

Oh, and in an effort to be fair and accurate, someone asked about EPCOT on NYE in 1999 ... they indeed had a Phase 4 closing (I was with some of their ops folks on the night in question) for a while and then Phase 3 for most of the rest of the evening.

But capacity at EPCOT was/is considerably higher than MK ... and all parks (except DAK) have had their actual top numbers lowered in the past decade due to factors such as closed attractions, dining facilities and retail locales as well as FastPass.

Even now, I believe the numbers change based on what is open ... for instance, having a large theater attraction like HoP down does reduce the number for MK. When Space closes, the number will go lower (although by then the crowds will have left anyway).

~What Will YOU Celebrate? Phil Holmes working a register at Cosmic Ray's!~

When is the last time you have been to the parks? I have been there a lot in the past few weeks, and I can tell you there is nothing 'artificial' about the numbers.. The parks have been getting more and more crowded as the past 3 weeks have gone by... so much so, that we've chosen to avoid them until after easter..

2 1/2 weeks ago, I could walk onto Mansion in the early evening.. A few days ago the wait was past the riverboat dock..

And it's not CM's being cut... All the attractions are opening, and a CM missing from HM doesn't decrease capacity...

The parks are crowded.. Disney is making money... We should be HAPPY.. Money = More attractions..


where exactly are you getting your 'they cut front line cm's' info from? I've seen NOTHING about front line being cut...


Not too mention, what the heck is surprising everyone? Easter week has ALWAYS been a busy week.....

 

[wdwfan100]

Was at MK this morning (Tuesday) at about 7:45 AM. Crowds were not bad at the time, but by 11:00 AM it was getting out of control. The resort monorail was not in use as it was being used as an additional express monorail. The attendant told me that it was because the ferry boat was not operating due to high winds, but I think it was to manage the crowds as well.

There also was a line of traffic about 2 miles (almost as far as the Dolphin) from the MK parking lot toll booths.

Wow, I remember lines like that when I was a kid in the '70's. Only the magic kingdom at that time so everyone was heading there. That would be sureal now.

 

[fmingo36]

Who has spring break in April?:shrug:

Many schools. I know Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey schools have a short week this week (Mon-Wed classes only) and then off all next week.

 

[TURKEY]

When is the last time you have been to the parks? I have been there a lot in the past few weeks, and I can tell you there is nothing 'artificial' about the numbers.. The parks have been getting more and more crowded as the past 3 weeks have gone by... so much so, that we've chosen to avoid them until after easter..

2 1/2 weeks ago, I could walk onto Mansion in the early evening.. A few days ago the wait was past the riverboat dock..

And it's not CM's being cut... All the attractions are opening, and a CM missing from HM doesn't decrease capacity...

The parks are crowded.. Disney is making money... We should be HAPPY.. Money = More attractions

It does take CMs. One CM won't make a difference, but 5-10 at an attraction will. They will be pulling people from other attractions or not staffing certain locations.

Not being able to properly staff all positions can cause load/unload issues backing up attractions, making waits longer than they should be if they were running at peak efficiency.




Running half a queue and leaving the rest sitting empty never happens either. I don't know how many times I've seen lines backed up to the entrance of an attraction because they have ZERO switchbacks open. The time in line would still be the same, but it wouldn't be backed up.



If half of the MK CMs happened to call in tomorrow, do you think the same # of people would be let in the gates?




How many consecutive quarters/years has Disney made a profit? For that amount of money, I haven't seen very many E ticket/high budget attractions open, especially when it comes to MK, the flagship park.

 

[TURKEY]

where exactly are you getting your 'they cut front line cm's' info from? I've seen NOTHING about front line being cut...


Not too mention, what the heck is surprising everyone? Easter week has ALWAYS been a busy week.....

Since you went back and edited, I'll focus on the new stuff.


Front line CMs weren't cut, but their management was. There are fewer leads/managers to deal with all the angry guests complaining about the waits and managing the CMs.

I know lots of CMs that still are depressed and aren't back to normal after everything that's been happening. Not to mention working insane hours, it all adds up.


Of course Easter has always been one of the biggest times for Disney. People are making it seem that since the parks are busy at Easter then there are no problems and everything is fine with the world. They don't mention the fact that there have never been discounts like there currently are or how much higher attendance/occupancy actual is versus Easter in years past.

 

[whendoweleave?]

why did the magic kingdom close due to capacity???? What's the occasion? Theres no holiday going on right now or schools havent gone on spring break right? B/c my spring break is in 2 weeks.

ALL the schools in Philadelphia area are closed this week.

 

[aladdin2007]

What if you plan to go into the park later in the day for a dining reservation, but its closed to capacity? Do they just turn you away and your out of luck?? Im asking cause thats what we are doing the following sunday after Easter, and just in case that should happen Im wondering now about a plan B, just in case.