New Africa Layout Causing Dangerous Traffic Flow Issues

[EpcoTim]

A fellow exec once told me - don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions.

Because he didn’t like whiners in his office, I’m totally with him on that, still completely irrelevant to this discussion though.

 

[castlecake2.0]

A fellow exec once told me - don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions.

The problem is there were several open leadership positions across Walt Disney World That needed filled quickly in order to keep the operation, well, operating. At first the company was in a hiring freeze and had to “make do”’with what they had. This resulted in quite a few coordinators being bumped to leaders, with front line hosts being bumped to fill coordinator roles. These people may have been great in their precious roles and great cast members, but just were not ready for more responsibility and leadership. It’s going to be a learning curve for a while. I have faith eventually things will balance out, but I predict for the next year or so there will be a lot of “learnings”.

 

[matt9112]

I did the an after hours Animal Kingdom event in October or November in 2019 before covid ruined everything and it was awesome. The total ride was almost an hour because every land animal we passed was moving around and blocking the trucks. It was so bad that they sent a regular pick-up truck out with its brights on to get the animals out of our path. Animals were walking right up to our truck, lions were like a church choir at full volume, even our driver (her first night trip) didn’t know what to say or do and was in awe. It was honestly crazy and set a bar for that ride that will never be met again.

Its almost like that should just be part of visiting...not some upcharge second ticket.

 

[EpcoTim]

Its almost like that should just be part of visiting...not some upcharge second ticket.

Maybe, but there was no way that ride could handle any sort of capacity at the pace we were moving.

 

[CastAStone]

A fellow exec once told me - don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions.

In my experience executives who refuse to use their experience to consult with their subordinates are basically always useless.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Its almost like that should just be part of visiting...not some upcharge second ticket.

Absolutely! A ride/offering that takes place after normal closing hours, that is going to have incredibly low capacity as a result of unpredictability of ride experience, and also something that is going to impact the live animals outside their normal daily routine, yes they should definitely make that part of the standard ticket available to everyone visiting the park every day.

 

[ppete1975]

if this is photos of grave concern... over 'dangerous' conditions.. uhh wow. Not so much

I get it's annoying when people are moving in different directions and you can't get a continuous flow.. but that's not really condensed at all.

At some point in the last few months Festival of the Lion King moved their stroller parking area to directly across from the entrance. It looks like this was done to use the former stroller parking area as overflow queue for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Which for some reason is more often than not snaking through the entire land blocking multiple entrances/exits to buildings and clogging walkways. The issue is heightened when FOLK has a showdump. The crowded path grinds to a halt as the exiting guests all converge on the makeshift stroller area and clog up the area. Double whammy is when there are performances happening on the harambe stage. Africa needs guest flow help ASAP before someone gets hurt.View attachment 608805View attachment 608806

I have to agree with you.. maybe not on the dangerous pov.. but more on the evacuation or emergency situation. If a ton of people needed to move through there all at once or if emergency crews needed to get there, they could be impeded.
The question I must ask though.. did you talk to guest services or email them after your trip.

 

[castlecake2.0]

I have to agree with you.. maybe not on the dangerous pov.. but more on the evacuation or emergency situation. If a ton of people needed to move through there all at once or if emergency crews needed to get there, they could be impeded.
The question I must ask though.. did you talk to guest services or email them after your trip.

I went to guest relations in the park and also spoke to a leader in Africa. When I say dangerous I mean exactly that, if they needed to get people out or emergency crews through during a show dump it would be impossible. The pictures I posted are from after the crowd dispersed and after I personally moved several strollers up against the wall that had been left in the middle of the path that’s not designed for stroller parking.

people can make fun of me if they want but after working in the parks/resorts for over a decade what I saw that day was the worst crowd control/flow I’ve seen since the first 24 hr party at MK.

 

[ppete1975]

I went to guest relations in the park and also spoke to a leader in Africa. When I say dangerous I mean exactly that, if they needed to get people out or emergency crews through during a show dump it would be impossible. The pictures I posted are from after the crowd dispersed and after I personally moved several strollers up against the wall that had been left in the middle of the path that’s not designed for stroller parking. View attachment 612371
people can make fun of me if they want but after working in the parks/resorts for over a decade what I saw that day was the worst crowd control/flow I’ve seen since the first 24 hr party at MK.

I hope it didnt come off that I was making fun of you. I totally agree with your concerns. I am also happy that you said something. Today it seems everyone wants to vent on social media but not tell the people that can actually do anything. And sadly they may not be aware of how bad a situation is.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Thankfully, the death-rate here has remained flat. Stay the course and we can expose and put an end to Harambegate.

Never forget the fallen.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Thankfully, the death-rate here has remained flat. Stay the course and we can expose and put an end to Harambegate.

Never forget the fallen.

Again, I never said anyone was going to die, I said the crowding and lack of audience control/flow was dangerous. Not sure why you feel the need to keep contributing nonsense.

 

[castlecake2.0]

I hope it didnt come off that I was making fun of you. I totally agree with your concerns. I am also happy that you said something. Today it seems everyone wants to vent on social media but not tell the people that can actually do anything. And sadly they may not be aware of how bad a situation is.

Not you particularly, but a couple other posters. And I totally agree, social media usually isn’t the route to go for fixes, and I always try to go the right point of contact to bring up opportunities/concerns.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Again, I never said anyone was going to die, I said the crowding and lack of audience control/flow was dangerous. Not sure why you feel the need to keep contributing nonsense.

Because it is nonsense. I’ve navigated “dangerous“ crowd control situations at WDW for as long as I can remember.

Ever been to the Hub during a busy party or around fireworks time back when the Hub was being reconstructed?

Somehow we survived that. With toddlers, no less.

But, you are certainly correct that I should just move on to other threads.

Hope they fix this to your liking.

 

[mikejs78]

Ever been to the Hub during a busy party or around fireworks time back when the Hub was being reconstructed?

Or the Liberty Square/Fantasyland choke point by the Tangled Rest Rooms pretty much any time on a busy day.

 

[UNCgolf]

Again, I never said anyone was going to die, I said the crowding and lack of audience control/flow was dangerous. Not sure why you feel the need to keep contributing nonsense.

He has a tendency to be condescendingly dismissive of any complaint that he doesn't personally agree with.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Or the Liberty Square/Fantasyland choke point by the Tangled Rest Rooms pretty much any time on a busy day.

Those are problem areas too for sure, but almost pleasant to what I experience at DAK the other day.

Disneyland had Project Stardust a few years ago to prepare for the crowds that GE was going to bring, WDW needs a similar plan to help with these checkpoints.

 

[JoeCamel]

Those are problem areas too for sure, but almost pleasant to what I experience at DAK the other day.

Disneyland had Project Stardust a few years ago to prepare for the crowds that GE was going to bring, WDW needs a similar plan to help with these checkpoints.

Did you ever observe the FoP line through your choke point? It didn't help the flow

 

[castlecake2.0]

Did you ever observe the FoP line through your choke point? It didn't help the flow

FOP wasn’t that far back that day, but I’ve definitely seen it reach back that far.

 

[JoeCamel]

FOP wasn’t that far back that day, but I’ve definitely seen it reach back that far.

That's what I meant, it was just as crowded on dump

 

[ToTBellHop]

He has a tendency to be condescendingly dismissive of any complaint that he doesn't personally agree with.

I am burdened with glorious purpose.