Why doesn't the world's top theme park operator know how to operate theme parks?

[Darkbeer1]

DL just needs to start building up. Add new layers. Become the parking garage of theme parks. Then you can have TomorrowFloor and Main Street Lobby and Sleeping Beauty Atrium. Fireworks on the rooftop.

Alas, Disney fought for a special height restriction in the Resort area, and they have to abide with the city code. Parts of Galaxy Edge was built below grade to keep the buildings low enough. The 4th Hotel will have to be a bit shorter than the Disneyland Hotel. Tower of Terror was built, and balloon tested to verify it passed code.

Pummba's structure also has a height requirement it can't exceed.

In Tommorrowland, Space Mountain and the other buildings are right at max height.

Good idea, but won't work

 

[Curious Constance]

But how often does the park hit capacity now? If I'm not mistaken it's rare so I don't see how more capacity would change anything. If the park hits capacity it's because the demand has gone up because of SWL not because Disney can sell more tickets.

But if you build it they will come. And if ultimate capacity is increased, and new attractions are debuted, even if it's not reaching the new ultimate capacity often there are still more people in the parks on average than today. Maybe the new norm becomes the old "ultimate capacity". So tons more people on average are walking in and out of the park and trying to see parades and fireworks, etc.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I'm afraid they've left us no other option. Computer, begin Disneyland auto destruct sequence. 15 minutes, silent countdown. Enable.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

so they knew this was going to be a crowded day.

...and so did a lot of other people who went anyway?

 

[Californian Elitist]

And some of ya’ll can’t wait for GE to open. This will be 10X worse if Disney doesn’t start using the brains of the strategic people working for them.

Just another thing to add to the Disney Dummies list.

 

[21stamps]

Tip to anyone who holds annual passes to anywhere-

If you know it’s a crowded week, don’t go.
If you accidentally show up on a crowded day, stay for a couple of hours, then leave.

 

[21stamps]

As for getting your monies worth, if you live close to Knott's, for $230 a year (can be split into monthly payments), you get Theme Park admission, unlimited soft drinks and 2 meals a day (limited items, must wait 4 hours between meals. Does not including parking, but one person in the group can get it for $65. Less than a dollar a day, not bad if you can just drop off the kids for a few hours. Heck, after school, the kids could stop in for a meal and soda until the parents return home. And free Wi-Fi to boot. (every day except Christmas)

Magic Mountain is even better if you take advantage of their Labor Day weekend sale. For about $160, you get admission to BOTH MM and the water park, 2 meals and a snack from a much wider choice of food and unlimited sodas (once again time limits apply), plus free parking. A bit harder to get to (not too many homes within walking distance), but now we are under 50 cents a day. (Must pay in full when ordered).

So you can get both, add Soak City to make 4 parks for less than a Disneyland 2 park SoCal pass, which is JUST admission and half the year blocked out.

Amazing to see Knott's the few days before the Disney blockout dates (slow), and then the few days after (a lot busier), as some folks in the OC area get a Disney SoCal pass and a Knott's pass.

I thought about getting the Knott's food option, but the items are not that great IMHO, I do get the Soda option though.

My Six Flags pass is the one mentioned, and it is good chainwide, and I don't visit as often as Knott's. But when you can get freshly battered Fish and Chips, Chicken Wings, Chinese meals, and much more, well it pays for itself after about 4 visits.

Plus as a parent, since everything is pre-paid, you don't have to give the kids any extra money.

How is Knott’s? We are platinum passholders to CF.. never went to any other parks but our local one in 2017 . Already renewed platinum again, determined to hit at least 2 next year! I’ve been curious about Knotts Berry Farm looks to be the most different out of the bunch.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

But if you build it they will come. And if ultimate capacity is increased, and new attractions are debuted, even if it's not reaching the new ultimate capacity often there are still more people in the parks on average than today. Maybe the new norm becomes the old "ultimate capacity". So tons more people on average are walking in and out of the park and trying to see parades and fireworks, etc.

This is why I always come back to putting a cap on admissions. Regardless of what capacity actually means Disney has complete control over how many people it allows into the park until capacity is reached. If they were more thoughtful about regulating the flow of traffic through the gates we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

...and so did a lot of other people who went anyway?

Tip to anyone who holds annual passes to anywhere-

If you know it’s a crowded week, don’t go.
If you accidentally show up on a crowded day, stay for a couple of hours, then leave.

That it was crowded wasn't the issue. The issue was that Disney knew it would be very crowded, and decided to staff the park like it was going to be dead. A crowded park with a full entertainment schedule and proper staffing is much easier to deal with than the opposite.

 

[mickEblu]

But if you build it they will come. And if ultimate capacity is increased, and new attractions are debuted, even if it's not reaching the new ultimate capacity often there are still more people in the parks on average than today. Maybe the new norm becomes the old "ultimate capacity". So tons more people on average are walking in and out of the park and trying to see parades and fireworks, etc.

I don't disagree with this theory although I don't think this is how it will play out long term. Star Wars is still subject to the same rules. Eventually the attractions and the land itself won't be new and shiny and crowds will balance out. At that point the extra capacity will be felt.. so long as APs don't continue to grow at the rate they have. APs are the real crowd indicator. New lands and rides fade. APs are forever. Lol.

Anyway, what I was saying in my earlier post is that if the park reaches capacity after SWL opens its because the demand has gone up not because Disney CAN sell more tickets because of extra capacity. An earlier post insenuated that current park capacity was somehow limiting how many tickets Disney sells present day and my point was that the park rarely hits park capacity now.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Tip to anyone who holds annual passes to anywhere-

If you know it’s a crowded week, don’t go.
If you accidentally show up on a crowded day, stay for a couple of hours, then leave.

People go regardless and it's not that simple when DL is packed much of the year. The summertime is the best time to go because they block most of the APs. As soon as the bans are lifted, the resort rapidly fills with cars and people and you have experiences like that of the author of this thread.

 

[britain]

Parts of Galaxy Edge was built below grade to keep the buildings low enough.

Do you mean the basements in the buildings, or is "street level" in Galaxy's Edge going to be below grade?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I assume street level.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

The issue was that Disney knew it would be very crowded, and decided to staff the park like it was going to be dead. A crowded park with a full entertainment schedule and proper staffing is much easier to deal with than the opposite.

Which begs the question is this an example incompetence or a purposeful effort to maximize profitability, or something else?

 

[Curious Constance]

That it was crowded wasn't the issue. The issue was that Disney knew it would be very crowded, and decided to staff the park like it was going to be dead. A crowded park with a full entertainment schedule and proper staffing is much easier to deal with than the opposite.

Maybe they staff the park according to the Touring Plans crowd calendar?

 

[Curious Constance]

Which begs the question is this an example incompetence or a purposeful effort to maximize profitability, or something else?

I have a really hard time believing that management are clueless about the guest experience. And the crowds, lines, and at times miserable issues that people are dealing with at the parks. I think a lot of times people think upper big wigs are clueless, and don't get a lot of things, but I think while that may be true in some cases, most of it is just them trying to scour and save every last buck that they can despite current conditions.

If they don't offer parades and shows and have less workers and parks are still filled to the brim, what incentive is it for them to add more shows? That would only attract more people and make the crowding worse.

Limited entertainment, less employees working, but still breaking sales records, is probably music to their ears.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

To be fair, the OP was really asking for it not only wanting to experience HMH, but actually Fastpassing it! Fool.

I'm really sorry to all the HM employees that have to deal with this mess that is the Haunted Mansion Garbage Day, but you know what you have to do. Burn the props so that they just cancel the overlay, as with The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management.

 

[FerretAfros]

DL just needs to start building up. Add new layers. Become the parking garage of theme parks. Then you can have TomorrowFloor and Main Street Lobby and Sleeping Beauty Atrium. Fireworks on the rooftop.

Disneyland had that once, with the old northeast quadrant that included the Submarine Voyage, Monorail, Skyway, two separate Autopias, and the Motor Boat Cruise all intermingling over, under, and around one another. Sadly it's been chipped away through the years leaving us with just the Monorail (with 3 trains instead of 4), a single oversized Autopia, and the Subs with a slower-than-ever loading process

Similarly, throughout the park Disney has removed smaller things that once helped soak up crowds. Things like the Keel Boats, America Sings, Mission to Mars, Big Thunder Ranch, and countless small-scale attractions in Toontown have all been removed without ever being replaced in a meaningful way to the park's operational capacity. Disneyland has always thrived on its depth of smaller attractions to help fill out the day, but they've slowly been chipped away through the years. In isolation, no one of these losses is a dealbreaker, but in combination with one another they've made a big dent in the park's operational capacity

Similarly, that's why I find the Star Wars project so frustrating. Instead of having a variety of attractions of different scales to absorb crowds, we're getting 2 mega-attractions and vague promises of interactivity (that will surely only last a year or two after opening, once they realize the huge cost of one-on-one interactions and how much they clog the walkways). Regardless of personal preferences on theme, the planning-level decisions for this expansion are poor, and only act to reinforce the questionable path the park has been on for the last 2+ decades

 

[Disneysea05]

I love Haunted Mansion Holiday but hate what it does to New Orleans Square. That peaceful little park in front of the mansion is crammed with people.

I dread the fact that it's a small world holiday will be using fastpass this year!

 

[Sunny Blueberry]

Has anybody had trouble with the video ads? The make it really difficult to scroll down to the bottom of a page. If they don't fix this soon, I may just have to find a different website.