Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "its odd to me that they didn't plan better for this. Fantasmic has been a hit show for 16 years and the crowds get insane. it cuts off some of the park's biggest attractions." Hence showpass for WOC, right?
Originally Posted By WorldDisney I think the showpass is a good idea! At least for the first few months and/or busy seasonal months to control crowding and also agree that any DL hotel guest and the surrounding hotels that have ties with Disney, it should automatically be included with their stay like all the ones who participate in the Magic Mornings. In fact, Disney should advertise that fact to get more people in the hotels during the Spring. I think it should be first come and first serve for everyone else AFTER the hotel guest, especially Apers. Unlike the hotel guest who may come once a year at best, THOSE people will get their chance. Maybe not today, maybe tomorrow, but most likely Thursday lol. Seriously, they will get their chance within a week or two if they have patience for it. The people who come from Ohio after saving for a year and spending several grand at the hotel, they SHOULD get to see the show. Hell, and this just occured to me, but maybe Disney could do one better and make it a special after hours show for the hotel guest sort of what they do for the Magic Mornings, but now AFTER DCA close like 11:00 or something and have a show just for them . If people are THAT concerned about all the Apers crowding this thing, then instead of trying to cut off the Apers for the regular hours, you just make it exclusive for the hotel guest after hours . Again, NOT all year round, just the first few months it starts and just every few days like the Magic Mornings days are done now, until the initial rush dies down. They can make it a big deal, sell their usual snacks and souvenirs during the show and even open up a few counter service restaurants before the show as well. Just a thought . But it definitely SHOULDNT be a lottery either. This is coming from a person who has tried SEVERAL times to get a ticket for a stage show at TDL...and never got a ticket once . It just feels sooo unfair and yes, I didnt have an AP there either, I was a day guest everytime, so it sucks to be passed over and over again because a machine deems you unworthy for some reason. And with Fantasmic going down until June, THIS is definitely going to be the show to see and all the Disneyland crowds, for the first time in resort history, will actually be moving to DCA at night lol. Did anyone ever see that happening? So yeah a showpass would be a great idea! Even maybe a FP system once the crowds die down and that would be like Aladdin and their other stage shows where other people are simply a guranteed a prime seating area but still seats for others if they simply get there early enough. One or both of those would work well IMO. And yes, like evvverything, change is hard! People will be angry and confused by it, but then they will adapt and accept it in time.
Originally Posted By Ohana To be fair I’m not sure what more they could have done for the area. Paradise Pier is not cut off in the current design; there is the bridge before the WOC area which will allow people to get to Paradise Pier, although I don’t envy the poor CM whose job it will be to keep people moving in this area. Also the large walkway behind the WOC area will allow people to go around the long way. But Fantasmic technically has a way to get around it too... but it doesnt work, its a mess. i guarantee the bridge to PP will be jammed with lookieloos. And as for the potential showpasses, that wont stop the crowds from congregating either. the traffic there will choke the whole area like Fantasmic did.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney ^^True Ohana, but its still better than nothing! I think no matter WHAT is done, there will be congestion. I was at DCA two fridays ago waiting for the MSEP with another LPer and it was still packed with people and the walkways were congested and they are still waaay wider than what you find on Main St. when waiting for a parade at Disneyland of course. But when its busy, its still a problem. Frankly, my new idea #3, I dont understand why Disneyland doesnt do certain shows until the hour the park closes like WDW does? Not ALL shows, but big night time ones like this, Fantasmic, even the Fireworks? That way, you dont have to worry about congested walkways with people going back and forth because the rides are basically closed and most people wont congregate in that area until later that night instead of coming to a place at 7 or 8 pm to park it in the middle of busy land in that time to wait for a 9 pm show. When the shows over all traffic will simply flow to the exit instead of trying to get direct traffic in all directions. Maybe IF they have one show at night, this could be a better solution. DCA NEVER closes that late anyway, so you close it at 9 or 10, make this the last for the night and dont have to worry about getting people in and out of PP all night OR shut down any rides if that has to happen during the show. This works well for Epcot and MGM anyway. Disney DOES have options, we just proved that, but no matter what they do, its always going to be packed and a little chaotic on some level in places never designed to hold these kind of shows in the first place in the middle of a theme park.
Originally Posted By Westsider As a reminder, the Showpass idea was first floated in an Al Lutz update on Miceage. Lutz was the first one to mention this concept, and thus far Disney hasn't said one word publicly that it's a real concept coming to DCA in 2010. I know there are many people that will want to keep that in mind, so they can be extremely skeptical that Showpass is a legit concept coming to DCA. Lutz may have made this whole thing up out of thin air and he's now just hoping that Disney creates something called Showpass for World of Color. Remember, a broken clock is still right twice per day.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney ^^Well weather its true or not, its still a decent idea. The more I think about it, the more I hope its true or at least being considered, because after being in the parks a few weeks ago and trying to catch shows like Fantasmic, Fireworks show, MSEP and etc just to witness the pandomunium before and after each one, something needs to be done. I tried to enter DL around the same time the Christmas parade began out of coincidence and the crowding was so bad, they opened the backstage of Main St so people can get to other areas. I didnt realize this until later and it took me about 30 minutes to get to Splash Mountain...which normally takes about 5-7 minutes from there. There is nothing that can be done for stuff like parades but future night time shows like this might find a better way to reduce people in the area and especially the ones who will sit there for 5 hours clogging the whole area just waiting around. A showpass would minimize a lot of that.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Side note.. Epcot does usually close with Illuminations, but not always. Each week it has extra magic hours that keep the park open until midnight. The attractions simply don't close and the resort guest crowd is significant. At the same time, Epcot can still "dump" down the central corridor from World Showcase with only SSE's entrance being passed directly - all of the other rides and shows are off in their own little world. That's something not built into DL and for some reason, not built into DCA either. Many of their rides and shows have their queues begin directly from a major pathway. WDW is full of courtyards and plazas and such. Even World Showcase which has to operate through 2 showings of Illuminations on NYE and also the EMH nights has all of the attractions well insulated off the main arteries. Fantasmic at DHS is shown after the park closes fairly often - the show starting 30mins after the park has closed officially. It's not a problem because the theater is designed to exit directly to the parking lot via a bypass. And they do often have showings of Fantasmic scheduled during EMH, so it's technically for resort guests - though I've never heard of them throwing out the day guests from the show, since they can spare the capacity in the seating area most nights.
Originally Posted By Hista98 I think that this is a stupid idea, so what GRRs fp is going to be shut off while they give these out. that doesn't seem fair to those who want to use fp in the day they need to wait til they run out to use them. and what if they don't run out does that mean that grrs fp won't be avalible that day? plus what if people go into grr hoping to get fps and wind up with a WoC ticket talk about confusing especially if grrs fps are on a sometime basis and no one knows if it will open that day. why not just sell the ticets at guest relations or another more common area. I like the idea but it shoudn't interfer with another ride.
Originally Posted By Hista98 i like the idea of a first come first serve basis for seating thats the best way to do it, especially if people don't know about needing tickets for WoC. (ehcih honestly will happen. especially if its in an area far away form WoC to me this seems like it will cause headaces
Originally Posted By mousermerf They could simply rope the area off prior to showtime - Epcot does this with it's "sitting room only" raised central viewing area. They rope it off though because they can only clear it to be sat in just a few mins prior to the show depending on the wind conditions (otherwise it's a prime location for fallout from the perimeter shots).
