Another look at DHS "super crowds"

[Koogs]

And that’s where it gets absolutely miserable especially with little kids. Waiting for headliners is one thing but waiting 15 min plus for bathrooms, eater, etc becomes obnoxious.

Yeah, and it was like that. I swear we were going to get in a knife fight to get a table at Woody's lunch box on president's week.

 

[Remy is Up]

While we have obviously noticed more crowds, it hasnt effected our plans and trips nor what we do in the parks. What it has effected is that some of our favorite "quiet" places arent so quiet now. Nomad Lounge was always our get away from the crowds in AK and we could just walk in and grab a seat at the bar or at one of the tables in a comfy chair. Now it stays packed. But, we work around it.

 

[Splat10]

30 minute wait for TT, 75 for RnR, and not a single triple digit wait time on the board at 12:15 today. Seems the crowds really did stay away today (day before MMRR opens). These wait times are what HS needs to see going forward in some way. Not sure how they add capacity to the park though. There isn't any room for expansion anywhere looking at the google maps over head.

 

[OSUZorba]

but people stay and do headliners after trying for the boarding group, which makes the mornings crazy crowded at those headliner attractions, right?
if I knew I could the other headliners with shorter waits at night, I may just leave after trying for the BG.

The real issue is a 1 hour return window on the BG. Basically you have to stay in the park or you'll miss it. If you are going to have to stay in the park anyways, you might as well wait in line for a headliner, especially since everything else is closed.

 

[Surr]

The real issue is a 1 hour return window on the BG. Basically you have to stay in the park or you'll miss it. If you are going to have to stay in the park anyways, you might as well wait in line for a headliner, especially since everything else is closed.

Is the 1-hour return window new or am I just mistaken? I would have sworn we had a two-hour window when we went Feb 14th. If it is only one hour, what would you do if you had a conflicting dining reservation?

 

[mkla2015]

Is the 1-hour return window new or am I just mistaken? I would have sworn we had a two-hour window when we went Feb 14th. If it is only one hour, what would you do if you had a conflicting dining reservation?

Sometimes you'll get a 1 hour return time if it's early in the morning or later in the evening. When we had groups 14 and 22, we had a 1 hour return- both were called early in the morning but when we had group 40 we were called around noon and had 2 hours.

 

[OSUZorba]

Sometimes you'll get a 1 hour return time if it's early in the morning or later in the evening. When we had groups 14 and 22, we had a 1 hour return- both were called early in the morning but when we had group 40 we were called around noon and had 2 hours.

Do you know that when you get your BG, or only when you're called?

I thought they were all 1 hour returns now.

 

[jimim]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/02/dont-visit-disneys-hollywood-studios-right-now/
When I saw pictures of the line to just get into Baseline my mouth dropped open. As my husband said today, “good thing we took those trips and enjoyed what was our favorite park.” I said back then it would be forever changed.

Holy crap. I haven’t been looking at pictures of the park till just now. I knew it was bad but holy crap!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Do you know that when you get your BG, or only when you're called?

I thought they were all 1 hour returns now.

No, most are 2 hour windows. Some early and late BGs have had 1 hour windows. It seems CMs are honoring 2 hours in all reported circumstances.

You get a "return by x:xx AM/PM" in the notification, that's how you know if it's 1 or 2 hours.

 

[ClapYourHands]

The fp system works absolutely fine. Even for fop. We pull same day for that consistently. Just have to know when and how. The only ride we find difficult to get fps for is 7dmt and even that is doable.

But it only works “absolutely fine” for you because 1) you know when and how, and 2) because most people don’t.

With the crowds and shorter hours, Disney has become even more of a zero sum game. If everyone knew about drops and refresh, we wouldn’t be able to reliably grab those FP. We freely share our knowledge on the Disboards, but I don't think we all really want the whole general public knowing how to work the system.

Case in point: the FP and SB lines are open and right next to each other at Kali. I remember grabbing same day FPs for Kali, and cruising right past a significant SB line. I then immediately scored another FP and we walked past the same people on our way to ride a second time. Did I feel a little bad? Yes. Did I feel bad enough to stop and give them a lesson in refresh strategy? No.

RotR is similar. Yes, everyone technically has the same chances, but people can do everything right, get a glitch and not get a BG, while someone else can ride five days in a row. The one riding is only able to do so because others got shut out, sometimes within the first minute of the park opening.

Disney has guests pitted against other guests for their slice of the pie, but increased hours and full staffing of all attractions at opening could go a long way towards making a bigger pie for everyone.

 

[clutter]

While we have obviously noticed more crowds, it hasnt effected our plans and trips nor what we do in the parks. What it has effected is that some of our favorite "quiet" places arent so quiet now. Nomad Lounge was always our get away from the crowds in AK and we could just walk in and grab a seat at the bar or at one of the tables in a comfy chair. Now it stays packed. But, we work around it.

And now you broke my heart. Nomad is one of my favorite places.

 

[bryanb]

I completely get this! We are taking my adult daughter in June to see how crowded it actually is, but we are planning a trip to Disneyland with my sons who are in the spectrum in October because I think they will be able to handle the crowds there better. Even having a DAS pass doesn’t help just get through the crush of people.

Not to pour more oil on fire, but Disneyland still has backup boarding groups available in the app right now (as of 12:20pm), whereas DHS was booked solid right at opening.

 

[wilkydelts]

Backup Boarding Groups lasted until 8:54a this mornings. That is not "booked solid right at opening"

 

[disneylover102]

Wait times in general at DHS aren’t too bad today, especially considering the fact that MMRR opened today. TOT 25, RNR 15, MFSR 40, etc!

 

[ISUamanda]

Wait times in general at DHS aren’t too bad today, especially considering the fact that MMRR opened today. TOT 25, RNR 15, MFSR 40, etc!

I wonder if people avoided HS today because of the MMRR opening.

 

[Deploraboo]

Today’s a Wednesday. Wait until Sat when we’re there. Guaranteed monster crowd. Also spring break in northeast gets started in earnest next week.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Backup Boarding Groups lasted until 8:54a this mornings. That is not "booked solid right at opening"

Sort of. Regular boarding groups were indeed gone within minutes. I was at work, and missed 8:00. When I checked in around 8:04, it was backups already.

While many in the backup boarding groups will ride, only the regular BGs have the guarantee of any sort of compensation if they are unable to ride. If the ride has a bad day, those in the back up BGs are SOL.

 

[Remy is Up]

But it only works “absolutely fine” for you because 1) you know when and how, and 2) because most people don’t.

With the crowds and shorter hours, Disney has become even more of a zero sum game. If everyone knew about drops and refresh, we wouldn’t be able to reliably grab those FP. We freely share our knowledge on the Disboards, but I don't think we all really want the whole general public knowing how to work the system.

Case in point: the FP and SB lines are open and right next to each other at Kali. I remember grabbing same day FPs for Kali, and cruising right past a significant SB line. I then immediately scored another FP and we walked past the same people on our way to ride a second time. Did I feel a little bad? Yes. Did I feel bad enough to stop and give them a lesson in refresh strategy? No.

RotR is similar. Yes, everyone technically has the same chances, but people can do everything right, get a glitch and not get a BG, while someone else can ride five days in a row. The one riding is only able to do so because others got shut out, sometimes within the first minute of the park opening.

Disney has guests pitted against other guests for their slice of the pie, but increased hours and full staffing of all attractions at opening could go a long way towards making a bigger pie for everyone.

The thing about refresh club is we dont talk about refresh club.

 

[yulilin3]

Sort of. Regular boarding groups were indeed gone within minutes. I was at work, and missed 8:00. When I checked in around 8:04, it was backups already.

While many in the backup boarding groups will ride, only the regular BGs have the guarantee of any sort of compensation if they are unable to ride. If the ride has a bad day, those in the back up BGs are SOL.

Actually this is incorrect, no one is guaranteed to ride our compensation and it says so on the website and app. There's only been about 10 days that they haven't been able to get deep into the backup bg