theluckyrabbit
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
See the posts below for photos and explanation.
The order of security for DTD is 3 tents in this order: temp check, new scanner, bag check/metal detector. Going through all 3 (if you don't get stopped) takes about 3-5 minutes on average.
The long, switchback queue (which mainly happens on weekends) is due to capacity limitations in DTD. The line must be held until enough people leave the DTD District so that more people can enter. Once enough people leave, a certain number of new guests will be allowed to go through security. When large numbers of guests arrive (e.g. after work on a Friday or on a Saturday evening), there are way more arrivals than departures. Thus the long switchback queues.
Photo of the new scanners which replace dog check.It came up in the DLR Reopening Superthread that not everyone is familiar with the security/bag check process for DTD. For those who might be wondering how the procedure goes now:
From the MP DLR Update (7/13-19/20):
Arrival and screening
The new measures are noticeable as you arrive to Downtown Disney, with street signs advising that masks are required to enter the area. After parking in the Downtown Disney lot, signs guide visitors to the first of three screening tents. Disney has partnered with Hoag Health to conduct the temperature screenings, which are done with a handheld, no-contact temperature scanner.
Visitors are then asked to take any bags or backpacks off their shoulders before passing through the next checkpoint, staffed by Disney security and specially trained "vapor wake" dogs. Disney has used these dogs since 2015 to help detect explosives that might be worn on the body or concealed in baggage.
Finally, visitors go to the now-familiar bag check tents and pass their bags underneath a plexiglass barrier to a waiting cast member, who examines the bag and passes it back. After a walk through the metal detector, it's on to Downtown Disney. The whole process took just minutes during two visits last week, though the wait to get to the first checkpoint can vary quite a bit depending on how many people are in line. With groups asked to maintain social distance of six feet between parties, it's fairly difficult to estimate just how long of a wait any given line really represents.
1) Temp Check
2) K-9 Walk Through Screening Tent/Dog Check
3) Bag Check and Metal Detectors
.
