Solving the WDW Capcity Problem. Ideas?

[Virtual Toad]

Let's talk MK restaurants. On all but the busiest days of the year, Tomorrowland Terrace, Diamond Horseshoe and whatever the Mexican one is called these days...are closed. Yet look at the madness surrounding BOG. People are DESPERATE to get in there and eat!

Imagine if a bit of spare cash was directed toward re-theming all these "seasonal" QS options. I remember seeing some great entertainment at the Diamond Horseshoe. I love "dinner and a show" - lots of us do. Why couldn't that stage be utilized for "dinner theatre" (or lunch theatre, whatever) performances...even if it was only Disney music? They could have "pirated" the Mexican joint when the first POTC film took off and they launched the franchise. I'm guessing folks would have loved to "Dine w/Captain Jack". Longish lunches get people off the streets at the park's busiest time AND make money for WDW. They've got the space, they've seen it's a HUGE draw (if done "right" - see BOG)...

OK, I'd love to write more about how there isn't a capacity problem at ANY other park, just wasted opportunities (Backlot Tour...grr...)...but I better go and make dinner so my husband doesn't have to gnaw on the furniture when he gets home.

Great topic, btw!

Love it-- awesome suggestions! I too always wondered why a pirate-themed character meal wasn't introduced. Talk about a license to print money...

 

[Virtual Toad]

Tremendous topic OP. As a part-time disney obsessive and full-time Loss Prevention professional, I have thought about this a time or two. However, my thoughts gravitate towards crowd control / safety. With that in mind, my concern has been on the hub pre and post wishes, light show, and main street at closing time.

If you look at the crowd as a pie, the key, as I see it, is to reduce that pie in anyway. You must understand that you will never make it orderly. You can only hope to keep everything to a dull roar. So, my thoughts at chipping away at the chaos pie (copyright pending) are-
- mandate every restaurant in MK is staffed and opened year round. This will allow for a more orderly dining environment where pier six brawls don't break out because Jimmy is taking FOREVER at the fixins bar and I need to get to the hub two hours early to get a good spot for wishes. Baby step, but a step.
- land specific entertainment / rare meet and greets that are FPO available for a period of time for a 30 minute window before during and after the evening festivities. This will have more pull with the disney lifers than the once in a lifetimers who will fight hell and half of Georgia to let Joe Ray watch the fireworks from their shoulders like uncle-daddy Joe Ray senior did for them. Let these be those, OMG disney hasn't let them out of the cage in years M and G characters.
- extend the hours of DHS to mirror MK. This will stop some, a very small portion, but some of those that hop over to MK because the studios closed at 7:30. This would be easier if there was more to do at DHS, but it would help to at least pull some bodies out of the chaos pie (copyright pending).
- make legacy style fp available for the mountains for only the last two hours of operation.
- do a better job of letting guests know that they will not be left behind if they do not get to the bus within 45 seconds of park close. Easier said than done, but if we could pack even more people into the emporium (just kidding) we could possibly forestall the first death the running of the bulls of alabama who have to catch the bus to POR RIGHT NOW. Guys, we are headed that way, unless someone can educate me and let me know that has already happened.
- and lastly, I have a suggestion that disney is already trying out. Make DTD/Springs a destination. I don't know, build a club that the adventurous amongst us would want to visit..... Add a fireworks show. Something that will put a dent in the sea of humanity that is in MK at night.

But what would such an adventuresome club be called? Sounds like a fun place to visit. Seriously though, great suggestions.

A few years back, my six year old (at the time) fell asleep in Fantasyland and I had to carry him all the way from the hub to the monorail! Post-fireworks crowds were so bad I literally could not put him down-- and turning around and fighting the sea of outgoing traffic was impossible as well. I am very glad they're addressing the hub/exit issue but I agree wholeheartedly that folks should not feel rushed to exit the park right at closing.

Back in the day (mid 1990s?) I seem to remember the MK making an announcement at closing, something to the effect of "For your convenience, shops will remain open for an additional hour after closing." A great way to let folks know they're not being rushed out the door. Do they still do this?

One additional thought... instead of going to legacy FP, I would make the last two hours of operation completely FP free-- standby only. I remember pre-FP when evenings at the MK were remarkably uncrowded.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

You know how Disney can control the crowds... First of all they can improve and add attractions to Future World and add more countries to the World Showcase and maybe market the place a little bit better, that alone would soak up some of the crowds. Second of all to relieve the traffic and jam ups at the Magic Kingdom they could improve Hollywood Studios, add some more rides and give it a good Firework show and wither a light parade or some kind of nighttime parade to relieve the nighttime crowds at the Magic Kingdom. If none of you haven't noticed, the magic Kingdom keeps getting worse and worse as the other parks decline.

 

[thomas998]

What about using something from Six Flags. If you get a season pass from Six Flag over Texas they use your zip code to determine the price. Those living nearest pay more than those living further away. It is the reverse of the Disney AP but it makes more sense. Selling them cheapest to locals will increase park crowding but be less likely to increase hotel or other revenue.

 

[jharvey]

But what would such an adventuresome club be called? Sounds like a fun place to visit. Seriously though, great suggestions.

A few years back, my six year old (at the time) fell asleep in Fantasyland and I had to carry him all the way from the hub to the monorail! Post-fireworks crowds were so bad I literally could not put him down-- and turning around and fighting the sea of outgoing traffic was impossible as well. I am very glad they're addressing the hub/exit issue but I agree wholeheartedly that folks should not feel rushed to exit the park right at closing.

Back in the day (mid 1990s?) I seem to remember the MK making an announcement at closing, something to the effect of "For your convenience, shops will remain open for an additional hour after closing." A great way to let folks know they're not being rushed out the door. Do they still do this?

One additional thought... instead of going to legacy FP, I would make the last two hours of operation completely FP free-- standby only. I remember pre-FP when evenings at the MK were remarkably uncrowded.

I think your FP free idea is probably better for all involved, but let me expose my logic on this one- if you believe the conventional wisdom that a sizeable portion of resort guests flow to the park with EMH because, disney is mind melding them to do so by just have the extended hours, I was taking it to the next step. If you have a legacy FP burning a hole in ur pocket, you may beat a path to the mountains. I know it has its flaws, chief being that a fp pulled is not necessarily a fp used.

With that said, I could jump on the death to all fp bandwagon if that would help. I only used the old system for TSMM, PPF, and Soarin. The new system is fine for the utility of it, but I skipped all but my wishes viewing and TSMM fp+ this last trip.

 

[Glasgow]

Why would Disney do anything to "price out" any current guests? They will set the ticket prices as high as the market will bear, period. Artificially overpricing any tickets only hurts the bottom line, however small the profits may be (ie. Such as with AP holders or locals, as has been mentioned).

This is the main reason FP+ now exists .. to put the onus of time management onto the guests instead of actually doing what needs to be done, expanding the amount of high capacity attraction offerings and making AK and DHS into more cohesively themed and family oriented parks. If current crowds were more evenly spread across the 4 parks there wouldnt be nearly as many capacity issues. The problem is that its very difficult to justify the enormous capital investment in thr short term .. particulary because exec jobs are won and lost across quarters now, not years as used to be the case.

 

[thomas998]

Why would Disney do anything to "price out" any current guests? They will set the ticket prices as high as the market will bear, period. Artificially overpricing any tickets only hurts the bottom line, however small the profits may be (ie. Such as with AP holders or locals, as has been mentioned).

This is the main reason FP+ now exists .. to put the onus of time management onto the guests instead of actually doing what needs to be done, expanding the amount of high capacity attraction offerings and making AK and DHS into more cohesively themed and family oriented parks. If current crowds were more evenly spread across the 4 parks there wouldnt be nearly as many capacity issues. The problem is that its very difficult to justify the enormous capital investment in thr short term .. particulary because exec jobs are won and lost across quarters now, not years as used to be the case.

Not really because not all guest spend the same amount. The closests locals will be the one most likely to spend the least on any given visit. Someone from Orlando is much less likely than someone from Atlanta to stay in a Disney hotel. The local is also more likely to eat befor going to the park, less likely to buy merchandise on a visit... All in all if Disney could pick the ideal guest it would be someone from out of state that relied on Disney transportation.

 

[morningstar]

I'm guessing folks would have loved to "Dine w/Captain Jack".

Not really because not all guest spend the same amount. The closests locals will be the one most likely to spend the least on any given visit. Someone from Orlando is much less likely than someone from Atlanta to stay in a Disney hotel. The local is also more likely to eat befor going to the park, less likely to buy merchandise on a visit... All in all if Disney could pick the ideal guest it would be someone from out of state that relied on Disney transportation.

The ideal guest for Disney is BOTH of those guests. I agree there's not much reason they'd try to discourage either from coming. It is possible that if they discourage the AP holder from coming, and the park is less crowded as a result, that slightly more out-of-state guests will want to come. However, I don't think for every one AP holder who is discouraged that one or more out of state guests are motivated. So unless out-of-state guests spend A LOT more, it would not really benefit Disney to intentionally decrease AP purchases.

I also suggested raising prices as a way to decrease crowding. It is, but not necessarily a way that is profitable to Disney.

 

[Glasgow]

Not really because not all guest spend the same amount. The closests locals will be the one most likely to spend the least on any given visit. Someone from Orlando is much less likely than someone from Atlanta to stay in a Disney hotel. The local is also more likely to eat befor going to the park, less likely to buy merchandise on a visit... All in all if Disney could pick the ideal guest it would be someone from out of state that relied on Disney transportation.

Agreed, what you are saying is true and makes sense. But why give up any profit at all, however small. To save on capacity? What does WDW care about that? The answer is, they don't. They want to maximize profit at the expense of show. Which is why i think the better longterm strategy is to distribute people better throughout the resort. Investment has to be made in AK in particular. Im sure a LOT of fingers are crossed re: the AvLand project.