Theater Loading (Or WDW Herding Cattle)

[asta]

Shows are bad but haunted mansion is the worst. It really is like herding cattle after you leave that room. When the pushing starts I always say "MOO".

Our strategy of hanging back and let others go first to avoid the pushing did not work very well at Haunted Mansion because the next holding room emptied before our room had a chance to narrow down. We were left at the front of the pack of a new group pushing to be ahead of us.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Well I really don't mind if people do that to make sure their kids are with em.

To a point, I agree. Very small children can and should be led by the hand in these situations. But a group of 9 does not have to all hold hands to ensure the safety of the small children. They can break into smaller groups.

 

[JRawkSteady]

Yeah, I don't see how this is an issue with Disney. CMs are not going to be able to stop people from acting a certain way. We do the hang back as well, so we can get better seats. I have zero interest in sitting on the side, so we kindly let people walk through to the end so we can get our center seat. Avoiding crowds - check, Better seats - check, we're good to go.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

Yup Philharmagic is pretty bad but not as bad as "It's Tough To Be a Bug." That queue is absolutely horrendous. People shoving each other up against doors, CM's screaming at people that they can't stand by a particular door and need to go all the way down which creates even more of a mass of humanity. For some of the movies, like Hall of Presidents, not only do I hang back, but then when I go in, I walk all the way down and around to the other side of the auditorium and all the seats are completely empty with almost nobody around me. So incredibly peaceful, quiet, and cool.

 

[ttintagel]

Yes, this is incredibly frustrating, especially as a visually impaired person. The only solutions I can think of to combat the guests' behavior are to redesign the lobbies/waiting areas or to add more CM's. the second option is problematic on two counts: Disney is never going to pay to increase the workforce, and a lot of people just plain aren't going to follow directions. That means CM's would have to touch guests to steer them in the right direction, which could lead to ALL kinds of problems.

I guess they could work up some kind of system where you scan your Magic Band upon entering the holding area, get an assigned seat, scan again at the seat, and it only folds down if the right band is scanning it. If you have a special medical need like I do, a CM could assign you the seat that you need.

However, until somebody actually gets hurt in the crush or something, changing the status quo is probably not going to be high on their priority list.

 

[BalooPA]

I love making cattle noises when we are in one of these kind of crowds. I may be 41, but I'm still a kid!

 

[goofy4tink]

It is a little bit Disney's fault. Every time, for the past few years or so, I've done any kind of show the guests are told to move all the way forward, allow no space around you, please move all the way forward filling in all the spots. It is wall to wall people, and it's not pretty! Then, particularly with Philharmagic, as people arrive a bit later, they are allowed to just stay over to the right, not shoving up to the front.
I prefer to hang back a bit, not be in that first miserable crunch through the doors. And if it's crowded, and CMs are telling everyone to move all the way down, yet some guests feel that doesn't apply to them, and plop down smack dab in the middle of the row? Sorry but their feet are going to get trampled. I very nicely say excuse me, but this wouldn't have happened if you had moved all the way down.
Haunted Mansion? If I'm not right at the door when it opens, I wait until the stretching room is close to empty. Otherwise, it's really hard to stay with anyone.