PHOTOS - New bag check areas greatly enhance Magic Kingdom arrival experience

[roj2323]

I went and experienced this new security update Thursday evening. Yes, you read that right I purposely went to MK to experience the new security setup (i'm a nerd, what can I say.) Anyway, the new system is fantastic coming from TTC. That said there were two things that really stuck out to me that leave a ton of room for improvement.

The first item of note is walking up to TTC from parking you are forced to do this weird zig zag to go through security where the old tram load once was. This combined with walking out into the tram lane and a line of temporary hedges to guide pedestrian traffic made for a weird welcome to the TTC experience that left me feeling less than magical. I fully expect this situation to be addressed in the coming months once TDO irons out the kinks of the new security operations and they do the TTC infrastructure update everyone knows is coming but TDO isn't talking about yet.

The second item is actually of greater concern and needs to be addressed quickly. This issue is with tram unload and load being in the same spot. Now this isn't any different from the past with exception that Disney installed chains between the gaps of load cues which makes for a lot of confused incoming guests trying to figure out where to go while simultaneously trying not to get run over by guests trying to load the tram. The fix for this is pretty straight forward, get rid of the chains, but it will be interesting to see how long it takes for disney to fix this issue.

 

[Kman101]

Aside from the fact that they cost money, why don't they use scanners for the bags?

 

[Scuttle]

Aside from the fact that they cost money, why don't they use scanners for the bags?

I'm assuming they want to be different than UO and the airport. But maybe it is for money. Although you'd be able to cut the security employees required in half with the x ray machines. Who knows !

 

[ford91exploder]

Aside from the fact that they cost money, why don't they use scanners for the bags?

Its WDW it costs money what more needs to be said...

 

[TyrantBossMedia]

Wow do people really have a level of fear where they think something like this is necessary?

Best to just stay in the safety and security of your home me thinks.

You sound like one of the same people who insisted that Disney would never have to put up metal detectors and create long lines getting into the parks. And those same people....wound up wrong.

 

[flynnibus]

2018 Disney will offer 'Mickey-Pre' as a feature to booking through Disney agents for onsite stays. Matching up with your TSA-Pre status, Mickey-Pre will give you an expedited screening experience at Disney Theme Parks

 

[Daveeeeed]

Its WDW it costs money what more needs to be said...

They have them at Disneyland Paris. It makes sense to have bag scanners.

 

[DisneyCane]

2 quick questions:

1) Is the monorail at Epcot in the secure zone now so that if you go through security at TTC, you don't have to go through at Epcot and if you went through at Epcot you can go to MK without another check?

2) What is the route to security check if you walk from MK lot?

 

[Rob562]

2 quick questions:

1) Is the monorail at Epcot in the secure zone now so that if you go through security at TTC, you don't have to go through at Epcot and if you went through at Epcot you can go to MK without another check?

2) What is the route to security check if you walk from MK lot?

1) Going from Epcot to MK only requires one security check, since the entrance to the monorail at Epcot is inside the security zone.
Until they can redesign the Epcot traffic flow, going from MK or TTC *to* Epcot would require going through security again at Epcot, since the monorail exits outside security.

-Rob

 

[Magic Kingdom Park]

1) Going from Epcot to MK only requires one security check, since the entrance to the monorail at Epcot is inside the security zone.
Until they can redesign the Epcot traffic flow, going from MK or TTC *to* Epcot would require going through security again at Epcot, since the monorail exits outside security.

-Rob

When you exit from the monorail station you walk down the ramp directly to the security screening area. I would think they would just let the monorail guests continue through to the entrance gates, since they would have already been screened at their resort or the TTC. The guest traffic they need to segregate/screen are those people arriving from the resort buses. I'm hoping they are not making monorail users go through twice.

 

[marni1971]

I'm hoping they are not making monorail users go through twice.

They are, and will do until the Epcot entrance security layout is also rearranged.

How they'll make it work without reversing platform use I don't know. Unless there's a split check like at the MK. One for the busses -pushed back towards the old group sales building - and the other east (currently smaller) one for the parking lot and trams. This would have the current monorail exit gate inside the cordon.

 

[Clamman73]

I'm gonna love the fact if you park hop from Epcot to MK via monorail, you don't have to go through bag check again...the other way around though...meh.
Without a doubt doing a bus security check at Epcot just before the guest relations area and where the monorail gate exit is at the bottom of the ramp makes sense.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

They are, and will do until the Epcot entrance security layout is also rearranged.

How they'll make it work without reversing platform use I don't know. Unless there's a split check like at the MK. One for the busses -pushed back towards the old group sales building - and the other east (currently smaller) one for the parking lot and trams. This would have the current monorail exit gate inside the cordon.

I would think that pushing the check for incoming bus people past the monorail exit towards the buses would be the best, and least intrusive option. They can then add a new area for incoming trams, and there you go. Yes, it's a split check like MK, but it would be the easiest to implement.

 

[Channel One TV]

This was a great sight to see last Sunday! It reminds me of the pre 9/11 days. I hope they work out the bugs at the resorts. Keep up the good work!

 

[JWG]

Have they added a security check for those boarding the Epcot monorail at Epcot? Otherwise they're unscreened entering a screened area.
Sorry if buried in the thread. I caught that if I monorail to Epcot I get screened twice since they haven't redone Epcot's screening areas yet.

 

[xdan0920]

Experienced this Saturday and Sunday...Coming from the bus area, the new bag check is a tremendous improvement. Much shorter lines, less crowding, far more efficient. Thumbs up from me.

 

[TimeTrip]

Have they added a security check for those boarding the Epcot monorail at Epcot? Otherwise they're unscreened entering a screened area.
Sorry if buried in the thread. I caught that if I monorail to Epcot I get screened twice since they haven't redone Epcot's screening areas yet.

Boarding the Epcot monorail at Epcot is in the secure zone, so heading to MK from epcot doesn't require another screening.

 

[larandtra]

OK so I will say this. While I think it is great to remove this from the front of MK, on a busy day, the lines at the TTC can be crazy long. Saturday the wait appeared to be about 5 minutes or so to get through the bag check and then another 30 or so to catch a monorail, 30 for the ferry. Normally we will eat breakfast at Poly and then skip over to the park, but, I rarely make a reservation. Unfortunately, the parking lots at Poly are locked down unless you have a reservation on Friday and Saturday. Which I understand. So we parked in the MK lot ( FWIW we have APs, so we were not trying to cheat the system) and rather than wait through the crazy bag check and Monorail line at TTC, we made the short walk to the Poly, grabbed a drink and got on the Monorail there with minimal wait. The bagcheck at the resort works quickly and easily. Even with the walk, the stop to grab a drink and pastry, I figure it took us 20 minutes to get to MK vs the 45-60 I think most people at the TTC were seeing. I will say as an AP holder, the passholder line at MK is pretty nice since most passholders know how to use the bands and scan in pretty efficiently.

 

[Magic Feather]

To bring back and answer a question from earlier, the main reason why bag scans aren't used is the sheer number (and price of said number) that would be needed. Universal has One Mega Check Point (Trans Hub) and Seven Mini (Only One Scan needed) points. MK, has two (arguably three) mega points and seven or eight (depends on mega classification) mini points.

 

[peter11435]

To bring back and answer a question from earlier, the main reason why bag scans aren't used is the sheer number (and price of said number) that would be needed. Universal has One Mega Check Point (Trans Hub) and Seven Mini (Only One Scan needed) points. MK, has two (arguably three) mega points and seven or eight (depends on mega classification) mini points.

And then you would have three more parks to contend with..