Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

[Gothemi]

So I just got back from a 5 day vacation at DLR. Stayed at the DLH and had a pretty good time except for Saturday in the park.

First off, what is the deal with setting up spaces for the shows hours in advance? This spreading out a huge blanket 3-4 hours before a show business is a bit silly. The Rivers of America look like a shanty town before Fantasmic. So much for a good photo op. I would think just for the sake of crowd control and ease of movement this would not be allowed. I can see allowing this 1-2 hours before the show, but this park is too small for that sort of space hording.

Then later that night, I walked over to Space Mountain to use my Fastpass. The CM's there seemed to be rushing things telling people to "get in quickly" and "hurry" in reference to getting out. I really can't describe the scene that well, but didn't have that fun feeling about riding this attraction. Do the CM's get a bonus for getting more riders through? I saw them bring out two additional trains while I was in line.

Just thought I would share my observations and see if anybody else has had similar experiences. I had a few other hiccups this week, but I don't want to sound like too much of a whinner.

[2DieFR]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

Then later that night, I walked over to Space Mountain to use my Fastpass. The CM's there seemed to be rushing things telling people to "get in quickly" and "hurry" in reference to getting out. I really can't describe the scene that well, but didn't have that fun feeling about riding this attraction. Do the CM's get a bonus for getting more riders through? I saw them bring out two additional trains while I was in line.

At Space, the cast members that are in charge of unloading and loading are supposed to be telling guests to move quickly. The #1 reason Space Mountain breaks down is because guests don't get in and out of the trains fast enough, and the trains get backed up behind in the station as a result, until at a certain point the ride system shuts down. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the time interval for guests to get in and out of the train at the loading gates is about 15 seconds. In order to make that happen as gracefully as possible, cast members usually do two things: 1) they tell you to move all the way to the front of the gate and be prepared to get in when they open, and 2) at the end they tell you to get ready to get out as soon as the lap bars unlatch.

So, no, CM's don't get bonuses for getting more riders through. If they were rude about it, that's a different issue because they shouldn't be, and in my experience they haven't been at all. They're just trying to keep things going without having the whole ride break down, and that is more of a reason for a guest to complain.

[elly]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

i believe i heard there is a 29second in-out limit for SM...but i've been wrong before

[Sam]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

The cms are not trying to be pushy but they have to be.... if people do not get on and off fast enough the whole thing will shut down for like a half hour, I have seen it happen. I have also been on where they let us ride again because if we had unloaded it would have stoped the system.... and for the early line up at the rivers they have been lining up EARLy for F! forever I have seen as early as 5 o'clock its something that has been going on for a long time.

[Aristocat]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

It's a shame, but I've taken to avoiding Disneyland at night. I just can't stand the crowds and crowd control. It's nearly impossible to get anywhere quickly and the suffocating crush of people is tough to handle.
Thankfully, DCA is lovely at night. And so is the Hearthstone Lounge. There's nothing a martini and snack mix can't fix!

[Spidergrrrl]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

It's a shame, but I've taken to avoiding Disneyland at night. I just can't stand the crowds and crowd control. It's nearly impossible to get anywhere quickly and the suffocating crush of people is tough to handle.
Thankfully, DCA is lovely at night. And so is the Hearthstone Lounge. There's nothing a martini and snack mix can't fix!

Hear hear! I was fortunate enough to discover the Hearthstone Lounge last weekend. It was really nice to be able to take a break from the heat while enjoying a nice cold drink and that tasty snack mix!

[barfownz]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

I was there saturday and had a magical day! ..........Except for the CM working at BTMRR, he was the rudest person i have ever met and mean! And he was a lead cm! He was reported.

[sir clinksalot]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

I actually look forward to the times when Fantasmic is Dark. NOS is so nice at night and it's sucks when it's ruined.

Regarding Space Mtn, why don't they use the first stop area for unload and the load area for load only??? They have that capability.

[DLDCALVR]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

they have campability, just not the staffing, it takes two more people to operate that position.

[CaptPhoebus]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

I actually look forward to the times when Fantasmic is Dark. NOS is so nice at night and it's sucks when it's ruined.

Don't forget being able to ride the Mark Twain at night when there is no Fantasmic!

[demento57]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

So, you're saying that your vacation wasn't "Magical" because one of the five days of your trip was busy. Well it's a Saturday... during the Summer... what did you expect?

Considering you had days not worthy of complaining about, I would consider that "magical."

[thndrmtnskp]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

i believe i heard there is a 29second in-out limit for SM...but i've been wrong before

Actually they only have a 12 second dispatch interval which isn't much time.

[Zeus]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

So I just got back from a 5 day vacation at DLR. Stayed at the DLH and had a pretty good time except for Saturday in the park.

First off, what is the deal with setting up spaces for the shows hours in advance? This spreading out a huge blanket 3-4 hours before a show business is a bit silly. The Rivers of America look like a shanty town before Fantasmic. So much for a good photo op. I would think just for the sake of crowd control and ease of movement this would not be allowed. I can see allowing this 1-2 hours before the show, but this park is too small for that sort of space hording.

Then later that night, I walked over to Space Mountain to use my Fastpass. The CM's there seemed to be rushing things telling people to "get in quickly" and "hurry" in reference to getting out. I really can't describe the scene that well, but didn't have that fun feeling about riding this attraction. Do the CM's get a bonus for getting more riders through? I saw them bring out two additional trains while I was in line.

Just thought I would share my observations and see if anybody else has had similar experiences. I had a few other hiccups this week, but I don't want to sound like too much of a whinner.

No The CM's do not get bonuses and rest assured I promise you the attraction is very safe, The reason they rush things is because there are multiple...and i mean multiple (4+) trains running on the track at once...at sometimes even 6, and if they dont dispatch a rocket every 20 seconds (trust me folks, it's 20 seconds..i'm an ex space cm:-)) than the attraction does something called "cascading" which means the rockets got too close to eachother, this than calls for an evacuation of the attraction and it goes down for up to 1+ hour(s)...so it really is for your convinience...

[goofygoof]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

It's a shame, but I've taken to avoiding Disneyland at night. I just can't stand the crowds and crowd control. It's nearly impossible to get anywhere quickly and the suffocating crush of people is tough to handle.
Thankfully, DCA is lovely at night. And so is the Hearthstone Lounge. There's nothing a martini and snack mix can't fix!

where is hearthstone lounge?

[Villains Fan]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

where is hearthstone lounge?

It's in the Grand California Hotel.

[EagleWings]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

I was there Saturday and had no problems. In fact I got a perfect seat at Fantasmic only 20 minutes early for the show.

[Deanna]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

First off, what is the deal with setting up spaces for the shows hours in advance? This spreading out a huge blanket 3-4 hours before a show business is a bit silly.

My sister and I always figured that if a bunch of people are sitting waiting for something, that's just less people in line for rides! When I was in college, we'd ride during the first Fantasmic show, then head over about 20 minutes before the next show, as the first show is emptying out. We'd get right in, great seats, and then one of us would go for coffee.

But then, we're good at making a positive out of a negative...

[Aristocat]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

where is hearthstone lounge?

If you enter the Grand Californian from DCA, you'll take the footpath around the pool, past Storytellers, and through the automatic doors into the hotel. Then you'll make a quick left. A great place to take a break during a hot day. It's usually quiet during daylight hours and you can take a load off, while getting loaded...
...or something like that.

[LlamaLover]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

Sorry to hear that some of the magic was lost on your trip Gothemi but remember, even the worst day at Disneyland is better than the best day outside of Disneyland

[clara]

Re: Recent trip "magical" Not so much.

Sorry to hear that some of the magic was lost on your trip Gothemi but remember, even the worst day at Disneyland is better than the best day outside of Disneyland

Amen to that!