Another look at DHS "super crowds"

[ebenmax]

Can anyone share the approximate price for Lyft going from Grand Floridian to DHS at 6:30-7:00 am? Considering it...THANKS!

 

[kylenne]

Can anyone share the approximate price for Lyft going from Grand Floridian to DHS at 6:30-7:00 am? Considering it...THANKS!

We paid about $12 from the Poly to DHS but that was way before all of this spike in people taking rideshare in the morning for BGs, I'm curious to know if anyone has seen surge pricing in effect.

 

[Splat10]

This is the question of the moment. Not only are they not running shows like McQueen and Muppets, which require lower staffing than a full live show, but they also aren't opening Olaf, Mickey, TSL characters until an hour after park open. Of all the places to be trying to cut costs, the one with the crazy crowds and few rides seems like a bad choice, but it's the one they're making.

Disney CAN fix this! It's ridiculous they are letting this continue. It's not going to get better until they:

Expand the normal hours.
Add more EMHs.
Ensure there's adequate onsite transportation.

Agreed. And open all attractions, character greets, shows at park opening.

We all know the parks are being run on a "how much can we cut and not hurt attendance" attitude so they have zero motivation to fix any of it right now. It will probably come back to bite them in the future when guests get fed up with the crowds and lack of magic but for now they can strip it right down and improve the bottom line. I think it's a terrible way to run the business but that's the direction the entire company is headed.

 

[kariyava]

We all know the parks are being run on a "how much can we cut and not hurt attendance" attitude so they have zero motivation to fix any of it right now. It will probably come back to bite them in the future when guests get fed up with the crowds and lack of magic but for now they can strip it right down and improve the bottom line. I think it's a terrible way to run the business but that's the direction the entire company is headed.

I agree this is probably the case. I hope, however, that Disney starts listening and taking a long term view of things -- if they turn people off to the parks, they will have a hard time bringing them back (or their kids who didn't grow up with Disney magic).

 

[kbelle8995]

My sister wants to go and I want see If I can do some shopping. We have FP for other rides all lined up. We will go and try and hope for the best.

 

[Robo]

We all know the parks are being run on a "how much can we cut and not hurt attendance" attitude so they have zero motivation to fix any of it right now. It will probably come back to bite them in the future when guests get fed up with the crowds and lack of magic...

A huge, unknown is how the overall general public will continue to travel and "mass assemble" if the virus scare continues.
If too many folks decide to "wait it out," the number of guests at Disney can change in a hurry.

 

[rpb718]

A huge, unknown is how the overall general public will continue to travel and "mass assemble" if the virus scare continues.
If too many folks decide to "wait it out," the number of guests at Disney can change in a hurry.

Especially if just a single case of anyone getting the virus after a visit to WDW is ever reported.

 

[Heather07438]

We all know the parks are being run on a "how much can we cut and not hurt attendance" attitude so they have zero motivation to fix any of it right now. It will probably come back to bite them in the future when guests get fed up with the crowds and lack of magic but for now they can strip it right down and improve the bottom line. I think it's a terrible way to run the business but that's the direction the entire company is headed.

Yeah, at some point the higher prices and epic crowds are going to cause more guest disappointment than they're worth. It may take longer for this bubble to burst with all the new upcoming attractions and 50th celebration. I welcome the opening of Epic Universe, the competition is needed to keep WDW in check

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a31102298/universal-orlando-epic-universe-facts/

 

[DisSurfer878]

6 months for MFSR to start using FP+. 6 months from Dec is June. So I expect either in April or May for them to open the ride to FP+ reservations for the Summer months.

Yeah I don't agree with your logic. MFSR never had boarding groups. It was always standby. Completely different system. Can't compare the two.

 

[Remy is Up]

Current crowd level is (no complaining) ....castmembers are finally getting a preview for an attraction that is castmember only. So this week crowding is deserved They have been blocked from HS for forever .
So guests be kind you might be standing next to a group of excited college interns and they need to party!

Does anybody know why bus drivers might be on Mandatory work schedule for next Friday at MK and Epcot & HS? What is going on except for final Villain party and start of Spring Breaks and Food and Wine Garden at Epcot ? Expect crowds too

Yep. They get their preview for MMRR. They are certainly excited.

 

[mattpeto]

6 months for MFSR to start using FP+. 6 months from Dec is June. So I expect either in April or May for them to open the ride to FP+ reservations for the Summer months.

The lack of FP+ is all about the the ride's reliability. When it's reliable, they will add FP and Standby.

It will eventually come but I think it's a better chance for summer 2021 then summer 2020, that's for sure...

 

[mkla2015]

Just wanted to add my experience from last week at DHS- we went on Saturday 2/15, Monday 2/17 (President's Day), Wednesday 2/19, and Thursday 2/20. Was it crowded? Absolutely!! But, it was manageable and I wouldn't discourage people from going to DHS during their trip especially if they want to ride those attractions.

We took the first bus from the Contemporary on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday at 640ish as we were trying for a boarding group on those days. We arrived to DHS around 7am and were through bag check and inside the park by 715am. Saturday and Monday we wanted to rope drop MFSR so we walked over to the entry of GE and stayed there until 8am then followed the masses to MFSR. We were off the ride by 9am on both mornings. Wednesday we attempted Toy Story Mania (we were way too late for SDD)- we waited right before the TSMM queue and once the park opened, we were off the ride by 815am. We were able to snag a boarding group for ROTR on all 3 days and rode before noon on all days. We did our FPs, saw a few shows, had lunch, played games in GE, and had a great time.

This was the most crowded I've seen the parks in the past 5 years that we've been going frequently. Spring break 2016 was NOTHING compared to last week. But, we still had a good time, we still rode everything we wanted to multiple times. I do think Disney needs to do something to help the crowds and improve guest experience- personally I think longer park hours would help out a ton but then that would limit the number of ticketed events

 

[Sarahslay]

This is the question of the moment. Not only are they not running shows like McQueen and Muppets, which require lower staffing than a full live show, but they also aren't opening Olaf, Mickey, TSL characters until an hour after park open. Of all the places to be trying to cut costs, the one with the crazy crowds and few rides seems like a bad choice, but it's the one they're making.

Of your two days next week, the Friday is 2 days into operation of Runaway Railway, so you won't have enough time to have a sense of how crowds will change in the park with another new attraction.

On Tuesday, your best bet to kill time before things start at 9 is probably to start your morning at Swirling Saucers. If you're there ready to go at 8, you should be able to ride that and get to Toy Story Mania before the line there gets bad. If things look really nuts, you'd have to pick which one you want to start with. Then, probably grab some breakfast and head to the character of your choice that opens at 9. Or, Star Wars characters are the only ones opening right at 8, so you could do launch Bay while you wait for the rest of things to get going.

To be fair, Muppets is down for a refurb/maintenance, and every time I go McQueen is broken down. It's not all about cutting costs, some things need to have work done to keep running well, and McQueen apparently has issues lol

 

[ClapYourHands]

I do think Disney needs to do something to help the crowds and improve guest experience- personally I think longer park hours would help out a ton but then that would limit the number of ticketed events

There are no ticketed events at DHS now. I assume people would be willing to pay a premium for AH or EMM, but those aren't even options at the moment

 

[skippytx]

To be fair, Muppets is down for a refurb/maintenance, and every time I go McQueen is broken down. It's not all about cutting costs, some things need to have work done to keep running well, and McQueen apparently has issues lol

Muppets is back up, has been for a couple weeks at least. It doesn't open until 10AM though which doesn't help the masses of people trying to find something to do at 8AM. Your options at 8AM are basically stand in one of 7 90-120 minute lines

 

[georgina]

I was there Weds 2/19. We got a very early boarding group for RotR, had a FP for MFSR, did Oga's, FP for Star Tours, FP for ToT, had lunch at Sci-Fi. There were no other FP available after we used our 3rd for anything we wanted to do so we left the park after lunch (rode the Skyliner to Epcot). Lines were very long and we didn't feel like waiting 90 min for TSMM.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

We were there in January over MLK weekend. On our arrival day was a Thursday, we were at HS by 2:00 pm. We had 3 FP (this is when all the headliners were still in Tier 1).
We had 6 hours (park closed at 8). We were staying at CBR so Skyliner was our transportation.
We had a junk Tier 2 FP for a show we didn't attend, so it dropped off like we used it.
Lightning McQueen
Star Tours
Walked through GE
Standby for Aliens
FP for Slinky - immediately checked for another FP - grabbed RnR for 7:15 pm
Built at Droid at 4:15
Oga's Cantina at 5:30
Grabbed some dinner
Standby Toy Story Mania
RnR - FP

On Friday - HS opened at 7:00 - huge difference than the current 8:00 opening. We took an Uber at 6:15 am to get to HS by 6:25 am
Our ONLY goals were RotR, got Boarding Group 26 and Smugglers Run. RotR was off line more than it was online that day.
Rope Dropped Smugglers. It took us 25 minutes to walk from in-front of Frozen Sing-a-long, where where we were grouped, all the way back to Smugglers and through the queue. Once we were stopped inside the queue it was another 10 minutes before we actually got on the ride.
At this point we are waiting for our BG to be called
We then went to Star Tours
Standby for Toy Story Mania
BG is called - walked through the queue, ride went off line. but they didn't kick us out of line. Got on the ride to then get kicked off. We received an anytime FP.
Disney Visa meet and greet with Darth
Did a little shopping and pin trading
Lunch at SciFi
FINALLY RotR is online. We use our anytime FP, get through almost the entire ride and it goes offline. They had to let us out of our vehicle.
We left HS by 2:00 pm, bus to AK and used our 3 FP for Safari, Everest and FOP

ALL this to say. You need at least 2 days. We basically did it in 2 half days. You have to divide and conquer. I don't think there is a way to do it all in 1 day, with how the crowds are forming each day.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

After returning from our recent WDW visit, I have to say that I am,
in large part, thinking that you MIGHT want to carefully examine when (and if) you should visit DHS.
I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "DON'T GO to DHS."
But, DHS has become very, VERY BUSY, with ridiculously long lines for nearly every attraction.
If you are averse by standing in long lines, (one-hour, two-hour, THREE-hour) and you don't have
a set of decent FP+...
And, arriving well before rope drop just to just have a CHANCE at riding Rise of the Resistance... scary!
Think long and hard.

(And, with the eminent opening of Mickey & Mickey's Runaway Railway... well, OUCH!)

I implore everyone to heed Robo's advice... DO NOT go to DHS. Especially on March 19th. NO ONE should go to DHS on that day!

 

[LSUmiss]

Yes, it's always been important to manage expectations. The difference now is that even Disney vets who are used to planning need to drastically adjust their expectations. A random Wednesday in February at HS is now as bad as the holidays of the past few years.

There was a 15-minute wait for popcorn. POPCORN.

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.

 

[FeaturePresentation]

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.

Yes! This is our first trip with our toddler, and the crowds have made it miserable. My wife waited 15 minutes to use the restrooms today at MK.

We're changing our plans for the rest of the trip. We'll just do our 3 FPs then scram and hang at the resort. The magic of wandering around and taking in the scenery has died for us.