Park report: they're finally enforcing the no-running rule! + park pics

[Gaugersaurus]

Disney defines running as not having one foot on the ground at all times.

I've always felt like this is the dictionary definition of running. Even Olympic racewalkers have to always have one foot on the ground at all times or else they'd be disqualified for running.

 

[WonkaKid]

One other thing I saw on Sunday that I forgot to mention: a young couple (late teens, early 20s) was escorted out of the park by security CMs (SCMs) . There was one SCM in the lead, the couple behind her and two SCMs that brought up the rear. That's only the third time in my life that I've seen that but I spoke with an acquaintance about it later and she said that it's a daily occurrence. I suspect when things like that happen, Disney likes to keep it discreet. And rightly so.

 

[sherilaine]

What I find infuriating is parents who are running and dragging their kids along with them - teaching them the most valuable of life's lessons. My kids DO NOT RUN in Disneyland - they have been taught that just because someone else is being a jerk that is no excuse to stoop to their level. The problem is Disney is open to all - nice people and completely selfish jerks are all welcome!

 

[Sunnywho]

Thank you for the updates and the pictures!

 

[Jaina]

Great pictures! So jealous of those that were in the park these first few weeks because the rest of us were carefully avoiding this "crazy time. " Some of my friends were in that select few. Even though they failed to get a SWGE reservation, they enjoyed a very pleasant park experience!!

 

[dawnball]

FWIW, Disney defines running as not having one foot on the ground at all times. Always having one foot on the ground is much safer, obviously. I've always been a fast walker and can cover a lot of ground quickly while still remaining safe. As another aside, CMs have told me more than once that they see runners at the rope fall once per week on average.

Eh, in a crowd, speed differentials and relative mass influence safety more than how many feet you have off the ground. Fortunately, crowds are generally fairly self-organizing. Then there's rope drop and black friday.

(I'm not advocating running, just saying that "technically not running" isn't necessarily much safer.)

 

[WonkaKid]

(I'm not advocating running, just saying that "technically not running" isn't necessarily much safer.)

Well, I've never had any trouble with a fast walk and DL seems to think it's sufficiently safe since they allow it. Certainly the case could be made that walking at any speed is potentially unsafe and so people should stay home unless it's absolutely crucial that they go out.I actually had a friend who's grandmother got uneasy any time we'd go anywhere. She always used to remind us that "Yous better watch!" This was a highly insular family that trusted few outside of their immediate family and never wanted him to go anywhere.

 

[twodogs]

Maybe they are anticipating the craziness that is going to be RD after June 23, and they are preparing for it. I am literally afraid to see what happens then. But maybe PP won’t be swamped because every single human being will be mobbing SWGE!

 

[Bethany Brown]

Crowds yesterday were fantastic! I haven’t seen the park that lightly attended since… ever! ;-). As many of us suspect, the good times will end once the reservation period comes to fruition (June 24). Then let the onslaught begin! ;-).

Wait times for rides was the lowest I’ve ever seen during the day. After several attractions, we headed to Pirates. At 9:30 it was still a walk-on. We went to Mansion immediately after that and it was also a walk-on. Had a great time.

They now have new DL maps that include SWL. They’re really nice. But what was even better was the special, commemorative SWL maps. They’re done on a higher-quality card stock and look fantastic. I was told at around 7:30 yesterday morning that what they’d put out for guests was the last they had. I’d be surprised if there any even any left today. I only have one pic of both. I’ve got one or two of the nice ones at home and can take much better pics, if anyone’s interested.

Now, the big news: for years, many of us have been frustrated or, indeed, enraged by the runners at rope drop that head for PP. Yesterday a guy about 24 took off at an Olympic sprint. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone run that fast anywhere, let alone at DL. We were trying to help a friend’s nieces (8 and 10) get a good spot in line and it annoyed us. I know that I quickened my pace a bit (yes, even though I know that running is against the rules). The problem with the rule is that I’ve never seen it enforced beyond the simple pleas of “Don’t run, please. Please don’t run!” which never seem to work. Yesterday, however, as we came through the castle, a (seeming) security CM was at the PP line. He wasn’t messing around. “Walk please!” he announced in a tone worthy of a drill sergeant (and rightly so). The sprinter literally ran around him and into the PP queue. This really annoyed the guy (and me and likely dozens of others). We’ve always hated that runners (i.e., cheaters) always prosper and never suffer any consequences for blatantly breaking park rules. Yesterday, however, the security guy wasn’t having it. He called/pulled the sprinter out of line and demanded his park ticket. Since I was behind him, he also asked for mine. Again, I regret that I may have run a bit. But as many of you know, runners tend to cause others to run. The principle of scarcity kicks in and suddenly there’s a guest stampede (of sorts). The CM demanded to know why the sprinter refused to stop. He replied “I didn’t hear you.” We both knew that was a bald-faced lie. He was pissed at the guy (again, rightly so and I’m glad he was). Anyway, he had both of our park tickets. He took a pic of the sprinter’s and presumably it was later entered into DL’s notorious “Treasured Guests” database. I don’t think he scanned mine, since I was reasonable, polite and apologized. The other guy was kind of a jerk. In any case, he was pulled out of line and didn’t get anything even close to first in line. I’m glad and so were many others. Walk with intention? Absolutely. An Olympic sprint? Absolutely not.

Gotta run -- no joke intended but I'll take it anyway -- so here are some pics:

This was the POTC queue later in the day. Still hardly anyone there! These are the golden days at the park and likely won't last.
View attachment 406097

First in the park... except for those meddling kids (i.e., pesky CMs ;-)).
View attachment 406098

I believe this is new. It's near the entrance to Plaza Inn. If it's been there all along then I've been willfully blind.
View attachment 406099

View attachment 406100

Took this around 10:30. Look how many people weren't there ;-).
View attachment 406101

View attachment 406102

The new park maps. The one on the right is the commemorative/collectable/souvenier map printed on higher-quality stock. I can take better pics if anyone's interested.
View attachment 406105

View attachment 406104

I did reasonably well on Buzz yesterday. I was with a friend who's also pretty good but his first four scores of the day simply didn't come through. That's always frustrating, especially when you've got a great score. Sometime within the last month, I broke 2M on both guns and, of course, the score didn't come through. That's when you truly want to strangle Zurg! ;-).
View attachment 406103

Where did you get the commemorative map? I'm visiting at the end of the month and would love to have that map over the other one, haha.

 

[SeaDis]

One other thing I saw on Sunday that I forgot to mention: a young couple (late teens, early 20s) was escorted out of the park by security CMs (SCMs) . There was one SCM in the lead, the couple behind her and two SCMs that brought up the rear. That's only the third time in my life that I've seen that but I spoke with an acquaintance about it later and she said that it's a daily occurrence. I suspect when things like that happen, Disney likes to keep it discreet. And rightly so.

I hear Disneyland Jail is a real thing. I tell friends & family I am hoping to get in there one day-- it's the only ride I haven't been on!

It's probably a little cramped. But it does have Fastpass available all day and night.

 

[WonkaKid]

Where did you get the commemorative map? I'm visiting at the end of the month and would love to have that map over the other one, haha.

I doubt you'll be able to get one. There were only a limited number and when I was there on Sunday, CMs told me that all of the remaining maps had already been put out for guests. I suspect they were all gone by Sunday evening or perhaps as late as Monday. But the end of the month? I'll strongly suspect you'll be out of luck. Sorry.

 

[WonkaKid]

Maybe they are anticipating the craziness that is going to be RD after June 23, and they are preparing for it. I am literally afraid to see what happens then. But maybe PP won’t be swamped because every single human being will be mobbing SWGE!

That's exactly what we thought! Perhaps they decided that if they were ever going to do it, now would be the perfect time.They cut out smoking and added a new park. Since guests anticipate so many of these changes, one more shouldn't make a difference. Again, I'm glad they're doing it. Runners/sprinters have been overlooked for far too long. They run and get to be first on PP while guests who follow the rules get nothing... other than the good feeling of being a rule-follower... and a sucker.

 

[Hadmatter]

We've got a runner!!! Seriously though, I'm glad to hear this.

 

[Bethany Brown]

I doubt you'll be able to get one. There were only a limited number and when I was there on Sunday, CMs told me that all of the remaining maps had already been put out for guests. I suspect they were all gone by Sunday evening or perhaps as late as Monday. But the end of the month? I'll strongly suspect you'll be out of luck. Sorry.

I had a feeling. That's okay! Thanks for the heads up. I'll try to get one when GE opens in Florida in a few months.

 

[tarheelalum]

I had a feeling. That's okay! Thanks for the heads up. I'll try to get one when GE opens in Florida in a few months.

If you really want one and your willing to pay a ridiculous amount of cash, considering Disney was giving them away for free a few days ago, Ebay never disappoints.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/disneyland...123339?hash=item3fc3fdb38b:g:AWIAAOSwbeFc8c9K

 

[dawnball]

Well, I've never had any trouble with a fast walk and DL seems to think it's sufficiently safe since they allow it.

I'm glad you're safe. I've never seen you at Disneyland to think you're dangerous, and I'm unlikely to in the future. You seem to feel singled out, and that wasn't my intent, or my point. You're all the way up at the front, and probably don't have many people near you. If you slip and fall, you're not going to hurt anyone but yourself.

Running vs walking is the rule because it's an easy bright line test. Do you have a foot on the ground? Yes or no. Race-walkers can walk a 5.5 minute mile. Does that seem safe in a theme park? No. It's probably faster than the guy you saw on Sunday and no one would that that was reasonable, just technically within the rules.

I'd actually been musing about your statement "Always having one foot on the ground is much safer, obviously." and my earlier comments about not liking when they walk the rope. Early in the days of Carsland and Pandora, I occasionally saw early risks of crowd turbulence AND Disney diffusing them before they were an issue. Both a person fast walking and one running are likely to trigger an adrenaline rush in a high density crowd and set off crowd turbulence. Walking the rope is one way to prevent major incidents, but it increases the minor incidents, too.

Peter Pan rope drop doesn't have enough crowd density for crowd turbulence. People with strollers stop to talk to their kids (I've done this!) without realizing that someone might plow into them from behind. People squeeze into tiny gaps and WalkFast(tm) to get head in the pack. Both stopping suddenly and moving much faster than the crowd are more likely to get someone else hurt than a guy at the front running to Peter Pan instead of walking as fast as you can without running. There's more speed differential, less maneuvering room (because you're surrounded on all sides by people instead of just some), etc. The question of if that guy trying to scoot ahead is technically running or walking doesn't change the likelihood of an accident.

 

[WonkaKid]

If you really want one and your willing to pay a ridiculous amount of cash, considering Disney was giving them away for free a few days ago, Ebay never disappoints.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/disneyland...123339?hash=item3fc3fdb38b:g:AWIAAOSwbeFc8c9K

Actually, DL investigates such eBay listings. If they can trace them back to an AP holder, said holder will have his/her pass revoked (and rightly so). If they're on a monthly payment plan, they'll lose their AP and still have to make their monthly payments. I have a friend that works in a DL ticket booth and she tells me it's a regular occurrence.

 

[WonkaKid]

I had a feeling. That's okay! Thanks for the heads up.

Tell you what, @Bethany Brown : send me a direct message with your preferred mailing address and I’ll get one in the mail for you. Others: sorry, but this is an offer solely for BB. I don’t have a ton of them to throw around.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

He didn't have a black and white backpack did he? I had the exact same experience on 5/31. A guy about that age took off on a dead sprint at rope drop.

A few more runners tried to rush past us on the draw bridge. I'm a pretty big guy and took great joy in plugging the gap they were trying to run through. The next night at the SWGE rope drop I saw a not so happy dad give a guy who ran over his kid a solid two hand shove.

Disney could put an end to this quickly with a few security CM's placed in front of the castle.

 

[CO2CA]

Same thing at Fantasmic for FP areas. I just wrote a thread about it, but I'm pretty sure it's people who simply feel entitled. Far too many people out there with the mindset of "rules for thee, not for me"...