To the woman and child who fell on the asphalt...

[Zippa D Doodah]

In Hollywood Studios this past Monday morning as a herd of us were dashing to Slinky Dog.

I didn’t see you fall, but I heard a collective gasp. Then I saw you and your young child 15’ to my right. I paused and immediately felt a crunch on my own shoulders as the herd crashed against me. I wanted to go over and stand over you so you could get up, but I didn’t. Honestly, I couldn’t. By the time I extricated myself from the cluster of people it was too late. I feared for your safety. I am just hoping a CM got to you and you were safe. I’m sure it must have been a traumatic experience. If only there were a better way. When I saw the pre-opening crowd lined up almost all the way up Hollywood Blvd at rope drop I knew it was going to be crazy. Sure enough, it was.

Let me tell you what you missed while you were gathering yourself on the asphalt and no doubt worried to death about your child. When we all got into Toy Story Land people used strollers as battering rams to knock the ankles of other guests. Families with young children on foot were separated as one family member would try to run ahead. When I made it into the queue I looked around and saw looks of disgust, fear, and relief on the faces of my fellow guests. It was as if we had collectively survived an ordeal, which I guess it was.

I’ve been thinking about you a lot the past couple days. You have taught me a lesson: Absolutely no attraction is worth that kind of ordeal. It’s not what I want on a vacation anymore. I don’t want to be even a peripheral part of harming someone else because I’m caught up in such a rush. I’ll avoid those traps at WDW from now on and just stick to what I can do in a more sane and relaxed manner.

In closing, please accept my apologies for not having been more help. May you be well and prosper.

Peace...
Zippa

 

[vinotinto]

There has to be a better way to control the rope drop crowd. For the safety of everyone.

 

[Brett Wyman]

This should be added to every post about "Is Rope Drop the Best Way to Ride SDD?". Its a madhouse. Ive witnesses it a couple times. Not sure why Disney doesn't have better control on this like they do at Fantasyland and Pandora.

 

[epcotobsessed]

Rope drop is a terrifying experience at HS and AK especially and it is shocking to me that Disney doesn't do more to establish and enforce effective crowd control.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

I shudder to think what rope drop for Galaxy’s Edge will look like. WDW is absolutely crazy if they don’t come up with some kind of organized system. A free-for-all is just downright dangerous!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

This should be added to every post about "Is Rope Drop the Best Way to Ride SDD?". Its a madhouse. Ive witnesses it a couple times. Not sure why Disney doesn't have better control this like they do at Fantasyland and Pandora.

I think it is the distance between where they hold the crowds and the actual entrance of SDD queue

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I shudder to think what rope drop for Galaxy’s Edge will look like. WDW is absolutely crazy if they don’t come up with some kind of organized system. A free-for-all is just downright dangerous!

Yeah, I’m out on GE rope drops. After what happened Monday I can’t take that anymore.

 

[NWOhiogal]

Wow, that's crazy. I did rope drop for FOP and it wasn't anything like that. Everybody was quiet, calm and orderly. But then it looked to me that most of the people around me were adults without strollers, so maybe that's why.

And yeah, Disney needs to figure out how to control those crazy people. Put up a rope with a CM at each end and have them WALK the crowd to SLL. Otherwise somebody's going to get hurt.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I think it is the distance between where they hold the crowds and the actual entrance of SDD queue

I mean if they have to set up a roped off path way between the entrance of SDD and where the walk begins then they should.

 

[GillianP1301]

I have not been to a RD in nearly a year, so I don't have first hand experience on what is happening at HS, but the ones I did participate in, kept the speed of the crowd controlled by walking across the walkway in front of the crowd. Is this not the case anymore?

OP is right though, no ride is worth that level of stress, anxiety and risk of injury. I love SDD, but with fastpasses, special ticketed events, there are options for those who really want to ride. And then there is always good old fashion just waiting in line for something you want. I know that goes against the majority mentality of this day and age of instant gratification, but maybe everyone taking a few steps back and re-evaluating is really what is in order and not additional crowd control measures, which I think are more than plentiful. We should be asking for accountability of individuals and their actions, not demanding more fail safes to be put in place to compensate for those who refuse personal accountability and wait for others to enforce it for them.

 

[Klayfish]

If someone shoved them, that is absolutely horrible. I don't rope drop and haven't in several years. But when we did, this was definitely not our experience. It's crowded and yes sometimes people bump into one another, but it's not like a riot. I'd hope that WDW does/will do something to help keep it orderly.

Wonder if it's also possible that the woman simply tripped on her own feet or on someone elses. I've seen this happen...and, well, it's happened to me. In a rush, wearing flip flops, foot not raised high enough when walking = Ouch. Not saying that's definitely what happened here, but OP said they didn't see the person fall. So don't want to rush to judgment and assume the worst, it could have been a simple accident.

 

[Darklord77]

I shudder to think what rope drop for Galaxy’s Edge will look like. WDW is absolutely crazy if they don’t come up with some kind of organized system. A free-for-all is just downright dangerous!

It might be worth the overpriced admission ticket just to see the SWGE rope drop every morning. I think I might have just thought of a new revenue stream for Disney. SWGE Rope Drop Viewing Breakfast Dessert Party! $109 for adults and $79 for children 3-9.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I keep hearing these horror stories, but I did TSL RD in April and it was nothing like that. It was very orderly and uneventful, in fact. CMs walked the crowd back very slowly into the land. There was no running, pushing, or shoving. I was prepared for the worst after hearing many reports like this, but was pleasantly surprised. Guess I got lucky!

 

[epcotobsessed]

I keep hearing these horror stories, but I did TSL RD in April and it was nothing like that. It was very orderly and uneventful, in fact. CMs walked the crowd back very slowly into the land. There was no running, pushing, or shoving. I was prepared for the worst after hearing many reports like this, but was pleasantly surprised. Guess I got lucky!

It is a crapshoot. Last August we did RD at MK and it was terrible - lots of running and shoving and cutting people off, and this was with CMs around to tell people to slow down. I think most RDs are orderly but when they're not, things can go bad quickly.

 

[NickC]

Wow. Sorry to hear that. We've never RD SDD and don't really plan to. When everyone is rushing for SDD, we are usually walking over to the relatively peaceful ques for ToT and RnRC...both of which are much better attractions.

 

[mckennarose]

While I haven't RD HS, I have experienced RD at AK twice, the most recent was last month. Both times I wasn't there to RD a ride, I had FP for 9AM-ish and was there by 8:20AM so I was able to observe the RD crowd and the chaos. I think the CM's do a good job at the front of the madness and sometimes a few scattered along the way....however I have personally had MANY, MANY people pass me at a full run while I was walking from the entrance, through the Oasis, by the tree and along the path by Tiffins to Pandora. A full run! People weaving at full speed, pushing strollers while running, little kids trying to keep up, older people trying to keep up with their parties...it is insane. The problem there is that while they are keeping order at the front of the line, there's still chaos the entire way up to Pandora. Not everyone knows that RD actually starts an hour or more before park open, so a lot of these people think they're getting there early enough at 8:30 AM and then panic once they see the park open and people already ahead of them.

People are people and while some will act considerately, others won't. That's just the way it is. But I do think Disney could and should do more to keep control. And I do think SWGE is going to be crazy and they need to figure something out.

 

[KyleAfterAWhile]

There has to be a better way to control the rope drop crowd. For the safety of everyone.

Until there is a lawsuit and Disney has to pay, I am afraid it will remain the same.

 

[b5sgqueen]

I didn't see anyone go down, but was terrified back in March RD SDD. I started a row back from the front, but kept getting pushed backward as people ran into me. This threw me into others who then got mad at me. I had one very large man start to yell at me and I told him I was sorry, someone was pushing me, what did he want me to do? I will never again do that.

 

[brockash]

There has to be a better way to control the rope drop crowd. For the safety of everyone.

Something as simple as letting ppl. walk to wherever they want to go as soon as they scan their tix seemed to work pretty darn well last August. - We didn't have to the whole enter ppl to hold them like sardines in one place... they started scanning tix about 850 and they let us go. It was the most peaceful entrance I've had in any park in a long time. I don't understand why they don't always do this. We had a nice fast walk, but with a good amount of personal space all the way to slinky dog - it was great.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

1. Safety
2. Courtesy
3. Show
4. Efficiency

Seems we’ve lost sight of all four pillars here.

Regardless of how that poor woman ended up on the ground, it’s shameful no one close to her gave her and her child a hand. I’d say it’s unbelievable, but sadly it’s not.