Traffic in front of the castle? During Fireworks

[Yackerz]

I did have the perfect spot for fireworks because someone was nice enough to save it for me! It was dead center right in front of the castle in the front. My only protest is why do they have to keep on hustling people through the pathway right in front of the castle. This can be annoying as people try to duck under the rope and sneak into the front of the crowd to see the fireworks and the CMs keep saying in the middle of the fireworks, "Keep it moving."

They should direct people to some route more closer to Main Street where people haven't stood for as long saving a spot to give the people at the front an opportunity to enjoy the fireworks without people moving in front of them.

They could also re-route people trying to get to the other side of the park on the Frontierland path behind the castle. While the fireworks were going on Thursday night, I cut across that way from Space to BTMRR and the park was almost empty back there.

[OldSchoolMickey]

Wow, your first trip to the Park and you had to experience the seedy actions of some guests and the never-ending barks from the CM's!


Actually, the scenario that you described has been going on since at least the 50th Anniversary when they started displaying the "magic" on the Castle during the fireworks shows.

You should have presented your solution to the fine CM's at City Hall.

I'm sure they would have taken it under advisement!


Glad to hear that you had a nice trip!

[brenden]

Well...the fireworks happen in the sky and everyone's standing around anyway, so I never found it to be that big of a deal.

[Yackerz]

Ya you are right for 90% of the people watching the show, but if you are in the front like I was it becomes a bigger of a deal. I mean the CM's voices can be heard over the music at times, and so can the people in the park walking in front of you who some seem to have no regard for the fireworks. Also, having people trying to slip under the rope and sneak in the front is annoying.

Solution, just have those people cut across the bottom of the circle more towards main street and completely block off that section of traffic after a certain time say 10 minutes before the show.

[WestsideCM99]

I get the feeling that the guest control administration have yet to solidify a foolproof method for controlling the crowds. Also, the guests themselves don't seem to help the situation. Guest control cast members are instructed not to shout things like 'Keep Moving' during the show unless they see a guest stopping anywhere within the designated moving traffic areas. The ideology is that if you allow one guest to stop and stare up into the sky, then 10 or more people will be doing the same thing in less than a minute as they see Mr. "Gazing in Awe" doing what they now think is okay to do, then before you know it you have a cluster funk in the hub. So if you're ever bored during the fireworks or fantasmic, you can always count the times you hear a CM shouting over the show and the total at the night will equal the number of disobedient guests not doing what they are supposed to.

[Yackerz]

hahaha.. well I don't think I would ever be that bored. However, if you saw the show 5 + times maybe you could be.

[mechurchlady]

I rather hear the barking CMs yelling at people sneaking into the crowd than them letting everyone at the last minute squeeze into the crowd. I am short to average height so for me that prime view disappears fast if tall people stand in front of me.

I wish the CMs would stop milling around before the fireworks and keep the crowds moving. I got stuck on Main Street one evening and nobody could get by because of people parking in the walkways.

If you are annoyed then take it to the lac CM or City Hall/Guest Relations.

[Yackerz]

I'm not that annoyed at the CMs. I'm more annoyed by the traffic flow. I guess it is one way at the top of the hub from Tomorrowland to Frontierland and one way back on the bottom of the hub from Frontierland/Adventureland to Tomorrowland.

There really is nothing they can do I guess unless they built a tunnel that went under the hub or something haha, which they aren't about to do.

The only solution would be to shut down the hub entirely when the fireworks start and require people to go around the Frontierland trail behind the castle or use the train or something. It wouldn't be that big of a deal except some people probably would get blocked out of seeing the fireworks that maybe coming a little bit late to the hub. At that point in time, there really isn't much room for them anyhow on busier nights I'm guessing.

It would only be shutting down the hub for 30 minutes max though which isn't that bad.

[Gregmh48]

Forcing guests to go all the way around Thunder Mountain to head to the westside of the park would never work. Most of them would be lost and confused and the rest would rather push their way through the viewing areas than cooperate. As it is now, many guests leaving Tomorrowland and irritated that they must walk around the hub to head down Main Street towards the exit. If that seems too far for them, they will not consider going around Fantasyland.

[Yackerz]

Forcing guests to go all the way around Thunder Mountain to head to the westside of the park would never work. Most of them would be lost and confused and the rest would rather push their way through the viewing areas than cooperate. As it is now, many guests leaving Tomorrowland and irritated that they must walk around the hub to head down Main Street towards the exit. If that seems too far for them, they will not consider going around Fantasyland.

O ya you are right. I forgot about guests trying to exit the park. Ya closing down the Hub would completely prevent that. Well, so much for that idea.

[What Would Walt Do]

My family and I did the same thing on our last trip - camped out for hours right in front of the caste. I will NEVER do that again.

The crowd moving constantly in front of us was a distraction visibly, but the noise was even worse. Not only the barking CMs, but the mass of people talking - competing and overpowering the show audio. Combined with people jumping the line and trying to pack in front of us - this was a huge disappointment overall. I spent most of the show elbowing people, protecting my 3 year old from being squished and just being angry overall by the experience.

I'm not one to usually complain, but they really should do something about this.

[Goover]

First of all, the spot you explain is not the "perfect spot."

The real premium place to view the fireworks is taken up at around 7:15 and is in fact the second curb from the castle (facing the backs of Walt and Mickey).

This spot, being a curb, allows your height to be boosted a good 6 or so inches so that the castle's visibility is maximized even infront of tall crowds.

I too learned the hard way.

[TP2000]

O ya you are right. I forgot about guests trying to exit the park. Ya closing down the Hub would completely prevent that. Well, so much for that idea.

I think the guiding principle here is for us to remember that Disneyland has been operating for 54 years, they have the best theme park operators in the world on the payroll, and if there was a better way to do it they would already be doing it.

The current crowd control on a busy summer night is not pretty, but it's the best option there is for the physical structures they have to work within and the 50,000 paying customers there each night.

I'm sure lots of nice people think about some improvement they could make to Disneyland as they drive home at night after a casual visit, and then they go back to their careers and lives that have nothing to do with theme park operations. But the reality is that the experts in theme park operations have already thought through it all, and are currently using the best options they have available to them.

[OldSchoolMickey]

^^^^^^

[MonstersGoBoo!]

They used to have the traffic go through the Hub, but I haven't seen this done since February. On busier days it seems like they have to use the entire circle for congestion reasons, and it seems reasonable.

That front portion of the viewing area isn't as great as say where Goover described or further back. Sure, you won't be able to see the show projections on the castle that well if you were close to Main St. or on it, but it beats hearing the CM's constantly telling people things and have people's heads get in your pictures.