News Walt Disney World theme parks increase capacity but see longer waits and less physical distancing

[JoeCamel]

The start of the line for River Journey begins at Pizzafari.

View attachment 504736

But but but WHY?????

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Everything I’m seeing online and is there are high crowds at WDW on weekends (locals/APs) and holidays. Outside of that, it’s been very manageable low crowds during normal weekdays. Plus, someone correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t there still a lot of resorts closed? Wouldn’t Disney find a way to open them if the demand was there?

It certainly appears to me that the vast majority of potential WDW guests are either still not comfortable traveling or can’t travel due to restrictions (which is my family’s issue).

What am I missing here?

Art of Animation reopens in a few weeks. Also many people on here were in the parks with the past week or two (including myself). Pretty crowded during week days.

 

[icc2515]

The start of the line for River Journey begins at Pizzafari.

View attachment 504736

Well where is the end of the line? Dinoland?

 

[giantgolfer]

Art of Animation reopens in a few weeks. Also many people on here were in the parks with the past week or two (including myself). Pretty crowded during week days.

Possibly will be open. Hasn’t it already been pushed back once? Or was that another resort I’m thinking of?

Also, are you an AP? Local? Probably at least one of the 2 I’d assume? I’m referring to the non-AP, once or twice a year or two guests who plan their yearly vacations well ahead. These people aren’t coming or just flat out can’t come. I find it amusing that statements like “seeing people with group t-shirts” is a confirmation that people are traveling from all over to come to WDW. Everybody and their sister is making their own t-shirts nowadays thanks to those Cricut machines.

 

[raymusiccity]

Dolphins to Keep Capacity at 13,000 Despite Governor's Decision

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is allowing stadiums throughout the state to hold games at full capacity for the 2020 season.

www.si.com

thats about what they got before covid

I think the Jaguars hold that distinction!

 

[MisterPenguin]

But but but WHY?????

Probably at max (reduced) capacity because of the holiday. Line is taking up at least 5 times its normal length due to distancing. Navi's capacity is reduced to one party per boat. First thing in the morning there are only 7 rides and 1 show (Bugs) to choose from.

The wait is not extraordinarily long...

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Possibly will be open. Hasn’t it already been pushed back once? Or was that another resort I’m thinking of?

Also, are you an AP? Local? Probably at least one of the 2 I’d assume? I’m referring to the non-AP, once or twice a year or two guests who plan their yearly vacations well ahead. These people aren’t coming or just flat out can’t come. I find it amusing that statements like “seeing people with group t-shirts” is a confirmation that people are traveling from all over to come to WDW. Everybody and their sister is making their own t-shirts nowadays thanks to those Cricut machines.

Not sure about it being pushed back. We're AP's but nowhere near local. I mention the group t-shirts because to me it seems like those have always been the out of town, 10+ person groups trips that they'll take 1-2 times ever kind of people.

Most people seemed to paint a picture of the parks earlier on in July / August that it was nothing but locals and youtube content creators walking around. To me the crowd visually seemed pretty normal.

 

[JoeCamel]

Probably at max (reduced) capacity because of the holiday. Line is taking up at least 5 times its normal length due to distancing. Navi's capacity is reduced to one party per boat. First thing in the morning there are only 7 rides and 1 show (Bugs) to choose from.

The wait is not extraordinarily long...

View attachment 504806

I wondered why anyone would stand in that line? Even if it were at the entrance of the queue I would be looking for something else to do. Not worth 15 minutes and that is crazy.

 

[giantgolfer]

Not sure about it being pushed back. We're AP's but nowhere near local. I mention the group t-shirts because to me it seems like those have always been the out of town, 10+ person groups trips that they'll take 1-2 times ever kind of people.

Most people seemed to paint a picture of the parks earlier on in July / August that it was nothing but locals and youtube content creators walking around. To me the crowd visually seemed pretty normal.

I just looked it up. AoA was originally supposed to re-open August 12. Now it’s November 1st. There are also several resorts with no posted re-open date. That doesn’t inspire confidence that demand is there to travel to WDW.

I don’t mean to nitpick, but how do you visually tell if someone is a local and/or AP vs. an out of town daily ticket occasional guest?

 

[peter11435]

I just looked it up. AoA was originally supposed to re-open August 12. Now it’s November 1st. There are also several resorts with no posted re-open date. That doesn’t inspire confidence that demand is there to travel to WDW.

I don’t mean to nitpick, but how do you visually tell if someone is a local and/or AP vs. an out of town daily ticket occasional guest?

Well it’s a combination of two issues. You shouldn’t open additional resorts unless the demand is there to fill them. But at the same time you can’t open additional resorts until park capacity Increases enough to accommodate the guests from those resorts. So while there are issues and concerns regarding demand, the Covid situation has also not improved at the rate that they were hoping/planning when some timelines were orginally established. Until some distancing measures can be relaxed the park capacity will also dictate resort capacity to an extent.

 

[networkpro]

Well it’s a combination of two issues. You shouldn’t open additional resorts unless the demand is there to fill them. But at the same time you can’t open additional resorts until park capacity Increases enough to accommodate the guests from those resorts. So while there are issues and concerns regarding demand, the Covid situation has also not improved at the rate that they were hoping/planning when some timelines were orginally established. Until some distancing measures can be relaxed the park capacity will also dictate resort capacity to an extent.

Its plain to see that you're not driving the narrative. They've got a post-NBA bubble plan and are following it.

 

[techgeek]

I don’t mean to nitpick, but how do you visually tell if someone is a local and/or AP vs. an out of town daily ticket occasional guest?

I don't pretend to be perfect in my people watching, but I'm pretty confident in my general accuracy. For me, it's a lot of small observational things about a party: What they are wearing (especially footwear), what they are carrying with them, are they wearing magic bands (I noticed MB use was way down in the parks back in August, with no FP's there's not a lot of motivation for locals or APs to wear them so many non-resort guests were not)... but more then anything it's the way they interact with the parks. If you've been there a lot, you have a confidence in your behavior about the way you enter and move through an attraction queue, interact with cast members and other guests, and in the way you walk down a path.

In some ways, it's like how New Yorkers say you can tell a tourist in an instant by the way they're always looking up at the buildings walking down a Manhattan sidewalk.

 

[giantgolfer]

Well it’s a combination of two issues. You shouldn’t open additional resorts unless the demand is there to fill them. But at the same time you can’t open additional resorts until park capacity Increases enough to accommodate the guests from those resorts. So while there are issues and concerns regarding demand, the Covid situation has also not improved at the rate that they were hoping/planning when some timelines were orginally established. Until some distancing measures can be relaxed the park capacity will also dictate resort capacity to an extent.

Yeah that makes perfect sense. Although it appears that there is a decent amount of park reservation availability in November/December for resort guests, aside from Thanksgiving week at DHS. I’m assuming there are rooms available, and there is park availability, and we are seeing park hours increasing a little. Yet crowds are only heavy on weekends and holiday weeks. That leads me to believe that it’s primarily locals and/or APs that are coming to WDW.

I don't pretend to be perfect in my people watching, but I'm pretty confident in my general accuracy. For me, it's a lot of small observational things about a party: What they are wearing (especially footwear), what they are carrying with them, are they wearing magic bands (I noticed MB use was way down in the parks back in August, with no FP's there's not a lot of motivation for locals or APs to wear them so many non-resort guests were not)... but more then anything it's the way they interact with the parks. If you've been there a lot, you have a confidence in your behavior about the way you enter and move through an attraction queue, interact with cast members and other guests, and in the way you walk down a path.

In some ways, it's like how New Yorkers say you can tell a tourist in an instant by the way they're always looking up at the buildings walking down a Manhattan sidewalk.

That’s great! As a non-AP once or twice a year guest, I can confidently say that I’m not nearly aware of all of that as much as you are.

 

[brettf22]

I wondered why anyone would stand in that line? Even if it were at the entrance of the queue I would be looking for something else to do. Not worth 15 minutes and that is crazy.

I would agree. But as we all know, a lot of folks do almost no planning before walking into the parks. Case in point, as I walked out of Pandora a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed at how long the Navi line was. It ran across the bridge, and ended in front of Tiffins. I watched a group walk up to the end of the line, paper map in hand, saying to each other “What ride is this? It’s a water ride? Ok, that sounds good.” And then they got in line.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I would agree. But as we all know, a lot of folks do almost no planning before walking into the parks. Case in point, as I walked out of Pandora a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed at how long the Navi line was. It ran across the bridge, and ended in front of Tiffins. I watched a group walk up to the end of the line, paper map in hand, saying to each other “What ride is this? It’s a water ride? Ok, that sounds good.” And then they got in line.

I mean... that’s how people visit theme parks? Or they used to. On my 1st trip as a kid, I wanted to ride the Epcot monorail on the last evening. The pilot told us that illuminations (1.0) would be starting in less than an hour. We got off the monorail and I asksd if we could go watch... we had park hoppers (cause that’s automatically what you bought back then for 4+ days) and in we went.

 

[Jrb1979]

I mean... that’s how people visit theme parks? Or they used to. On my 1st trip as a kid, I wanted to ride the Epcot monorail on the last evening. The pilot told us that illuminations (1.0) would be starting in less than an hour. We got off the monorail and I asksd if we could go watch... we had park hoppers (cause that’s automatically what you bought back then for 4+ days) and in we went.

That's how every other amusement park works in the world. Disney likes to make things complicated.

 

[peter11435]

Its plain to see that you're not driving the narrative. They've got a post-NBA bubble plan and are following it.

I’m not driving any narrative I’m explaining some of the factors that ARE driving how things are being handled. Their plan has changed multiple times and will continue to be modified to best suit the needs of the time. It has nothing to do with NBA.

 

[willtravel]

I would agree. But as we all know, a lot of folks do almost no planning before walking into the parks. Case in point, as I walked out of Pandora a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed at how long the Navi line was. It ran across the bridge, and ended in front of Tiffins. I watched a group walk up to the end of the line, paper map in hand, saying to each other “What ride is this? It’s a water ride? Ok, that sounds good.” And then they got in line.

I guess I don't understand what the problem is with this group and with there decision?

 

[Ldno]

I don't pretend to be perfect in my people watching, but I'm pretty confident in my general accuracy. For me, it's a lot of small observational things about a party: What they are wearing (especially footwear), what they are carrying with them, are they wearing magic bands (I noticed MB use was way down in the parks back in August, with no FP's there's not a lot of motivation for locals or APs to wear them so many non-resort guests were not)... but more then anything it's the way they interact with the parks. If you've been there a lot, you have a confidence in your behavior about the way you enter and move through an attraction queue, interact with cast members and other guests, and in the way you walk down a path.

In some ways, it's like how New Yorkers say you can tell a tourist in an instant by the way they're always looking up at the buildings walking down a Manhattan sidewalk.

Footwear is important, they all wear Puma lolol just kidding. Hey I used to be a New Yorker and no matter what I always looked at the buildings and took pictures almost everytime lolol

I love people watching but you can tell right off the bat in WDW when they start singing real loud in queue lines because they don’t use phones. You are right most of them are last minute planners with no idea how disney works, hence the no magic bands, going up to the ticket booth to buy tickets day of, same day fast pass. I made that mistake with my Colombian family who wanted to go back in 2017 and was used to the old school fast pass system and not FP +, so it was a rude awakening for me since I couldn’t ride all the rides in one day because I didn’t score Flights of passage 6 months in advance for example.

I mean... that’s how people visit theme parks? Or they used to. On my 1st trip as a kid, I wanted to ride the Epcot monorail on the last evening. The pilot told us that illuminations (1.0) would be starting in less than an hour. We got off the monorail and I asksd if we could go watch... we had park hoppers (cause that’s automatically what you bought back then for 4+ days) and in we went.

I remember Disney from pictures and sounds to be honest, my faintest memories were from ”Epcot Center” and singing Universe of Energy like 20 times mostly because Spanish was my first language and I learned English watching Disney movies with English voices and Spanish subtitles.

But in DIsney’s defense I did watched the twilight zone in Spanish so hearing the tune and riding tower of terror with the “1” drop using the lap bar was an experience I will never forget!!! (Mostly because I was legit free floating).

I’m still curious how my mom pulled it all off because we were in legit vacations for two weeks straight, I remember Epcot Center, Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens AND Sea World in one trip!

 

[brettf22]

I guess I don't understand what the problem is with this group and with there there decision?

Never said there was “problem” with their decision. At the end of the day, if they had a good time, that’s all that matters.