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zapppop
01-04-2002, 07:46 PM
I believe Disneyland can hold up to 80,000 guests but even when it's only around 50,000 it's wall to wall people and the lines are very long making your visit quite unpleasant. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been for the guests who watched the alleged final performances of The Main Street Electrical Parade.

Should Disneyland lower it's maximum occupancy ?

mousey_girl
01-04-2002, 07:50 PM
I have been there on maxium days... an hour wait to rode STORYBOOK LAND!!! So I would have to say YES!! It isn't safe when it is that crowded.

MickeyD
01-04-2002, 07:50 PM
How often are they at maximum occupancy?
How often is there more than 50,000 people there?

tinkfreak
01-04-2002, 07:50 PM
If you think it's unpleasant inside, imagine a third or so of those folks outside, after they've been turned away. UGLY!!!

tinkfreak
01-04-2002, 07:53 PM
Originally posted by MickeyD

How often are their more than 50,000 people there?

All the freakin time. Way too much.

zapppop
01-04-2002, 07:56 PM
Originally posted by mousey_girl
It isn't safe when it is that crowded.

That's an excellent point to bring up. If there were a fire or some sort of disaster and the park needed to be evacuated, can you imagine all the people that would be trapped inside or be trampled on ? People can die.

mousey_girl
01-04-2002, 07:59 PM
The night we were there and it was that full I was so thankful we had The Boy in a STROLER! hehehe (sorry, couldn't resist the dig)

Seriously, to this day I feel that if he hadn't been in the stoller that night he would have been trampled when 50,000 people were headed for the exit after Fantasmic and Believe.

I no longer include a Saturday night in our trip planning.

Ace
01-04-2002, 08:41 PM
that's why you always leave early (or at Disneyland, stay later) regarding the end of a show. People follow other people...
Disneyland actually has a maximum capacity??? I didn't know that, but it makes sense (fire codes and all).... you'd wonder what would happen if there was a need for an evacuation...it'd be like a stampede of people, rushing through those 2 small gates and through the turnstiles... not pretty.

ripplededge
01-04-2002, 08:47 PM
zapppop:
"I believe Disneyland can hold up to 80,000 guests..."

Do you mean 80,000 guests and still be able to move around, or 80,000 should be the max? Because there has been times when it has reached 100,000 or came extremely close to it.

Nigel2
01-05-2002, 10:23 PM
In 2000 they reached max occupancy afew days between christmas and new years I believe.

coronamouseman
01-05-2002, 10:32 PM
I recall a one scary night in the MK park at WDW during one summer when the crowd out in front of the castle was packed together for the fireworks - afterward, my elderly parents and small child were almost trampled and swept up by the "moving mob" .......

I believe one has to exercise their own good judgement on when the park is too full or not - all Disney can do is cut off admissions to the park. Once guests are inside, however, they really don't have any control as to where the bulk of the guests end up (obviously, Fantasmic and the parade routes when those are running)

JRob2k1
01-06-2002, 01:37 AM
Originally posted by Squinky
you'd wonder what would happen if there was a need for an evacuation...it'd be like a stampede of people, rushing through those 2 small gates and through the turnstiles... not pretty.

There are many gates Disney would use in the event of an evacuation....not just the front. There are one's in Critter Country, near Small World, and probably Tomorrowland!

They had these mass evacuation plans on 1999/2000 New Years in case the Y2K bug hit and they needed to mass evac. Because there is no way they can herd 80,000+ people through the main gates!

-JRob

socabch
01-06-2002, 08:45 AM
We were at DL & DCA on 01/02/02 and it was kind of crowded in both parks. A CM told me that DL had to shut the entrance gates on NYE or NYD (he didn't remember which) because they reached the limit.

blubayou33
01-06-2002, 08:49 AM
I heard that Disneyland has a max. occupancy well above the actual number of people that could fit onstage. When the fire marshal determines these things they take into account the entire area of the park: back stage and all. So there must be some manager/supervisor somewhere that calls the shots about when to close the gates.

Last time they closed the gates was Dec 27 of last year (2001) at 87k. (lucky me, that was my first parade shift that day:( :eek: :crying: :mad: )

socabch
01-06-2002, 09:07 AM
blubayou33 re: that was my first parade shift that day

Do you work the parade all the time? My hats off to you. That can't be an easy job. I have noticed over the years that the personalities of the guest are changing. Some are getting more selfish and demanding.

Nigel2
01-06-2002, 01:53 PM
Originally posted by JRob2k1

They had these mass evacuation plans on 1999/2000 New Years in case the Y2K bug hit and they needed to mass evac. Because there is no way they can herd 80,000+ people through the main gates!

-JRob

They also said that Peter Pan would not run at midnight as well as innoventions (at leas the elevator but I am not sure about the on in club 33) since both attractions would trap guests if the Y2k bug had disabled their systems. Also I remember once the CMs using a backstage path to heard the guests towards Main Street and the exit, but I think that was during Light Magic's opening days.

Morrigoon
01-06-2002, 02:35 PM
As I understand it, during the final performances of MSEP, the park once reached a capacity of somewhere in the neighborhood of 103K+. I heard once that once capacity reaches a certain mark (it's either 80K or 90K, probably 90K) Disneyland is required to inform the fire marshal, who then has to come down and force DL to close its gates, for the park does not do it until ordered by the fire marshal. (It has even been said on the news that Disneyland prides itself in not turning anyone away (unless the law forces them to!)) So, depending on how long it takes for a)the call to the fire marshal to go through, b)the fire marshal to respond, and c)how fast guests are coming into the park, it is entirely possible for the park's capacity to exceed 100K.
Incidentally, 50k is busy, but not really all that bad. 60K starts getting pretty crowded, and anything over that is when you start feeling uncomfortable. The average Saturday in summer can be anywhere in the 60's and 70's, so using you knowledge of summer saturdays as a benchmark, you can see how the park handles crowds. Really, I'm often amazed at how many people the park can hold invisibly. Ever been on a rainy Tuesday in February? Sometimes 10K or less people... the place is a GHOST TOWN. But think about it... 10 THOUSAND people are in the park, and it feels empty. The park really has a pretty amazing capacity.
It was pretty crowded yesterday, I was surprised to note. Probably because this is the last holiday weekend I guess. Don't know what the actual capacity was, (couldn't find any of my CM friends to ask) but it was probably in the 50's. It's busy, sure, but 50K is not unreasonably so. What irked me most was the park closing at 11... you should have SEEN how many people were still in the park at that hour!

Nigel2
01-06-2002, 02:42 PM
I think they also call the FM since he probably informs Caltrans to put up the sign on the freeway so that people don't come to the park. (I only heard they turn on a sign for that)

Ace
01-06-2002, 08:06 PM
I cannot imagine being there on a hot summer day with 70k people there.......I went to six flags on a hot, crowded summer day and ended up so bored and tired that I watched the animal action show 3 times....

PhilMP
01-06-2002, 09:36 PM
Originally posted by Squinky
that's why you always leave early (or at Disneyland, stay later) regarding the end of a show. People follow other people...
Disneyland actually has a maximum capacity??? I didn't know that, but it makes sense (fire codes and all).... you'd wonder what would happen if there was a need for an evacuation...it'd be like a stampede of people, rushing through those 2 small gates and through the turnstiles... not pretty.

Ummm...there are more ways of eggress other than main gate. Perhaps rippleridge can better answer this since he's security, but we do have the ability to divert Guests from onstage areas to backstage areas and eventually off property.

I once remember during MSEP days that Guests were being diverted through the gate by the Mad Hatter at Town Square, past the old administration building, and out Tomorrowland gate.

Phil

80S ERA
01-07-2002, 07:17 AM
Crowds these days could be deceiving...

Often, there are times I visit and get the impression that the park is packed. But -- many forget that there are less attractions in Disneyland combined with numerous fastpass attractions placing more guests in the aisleways and shops.

Speaking of crowds, I really like how DCA was designed with large, wide aisleways -- something that seems to be shrinking in the hub area in Disneyland. :mad:

jslivinski
01-18-2002, 12:47 PM
This is from an article from Jim Hill (link below) that addresses this topic.

....Another interesting side effect that was evidently caused by Disney’s virtual queuing system was revealed in Anaheim last year during the week between Christmas and New Years (typically a time of year when DISNEYLAND sees its highest daily attendance levels). The folks who were operating the park were startled to find that – now that thousands of people no longer had to wait in line to ride rides, thanks to FastPass – DISNEYLAND’s maximum capacity numbers had to be lowered.

Previously, the park had been considered full but manageable with 65,000 people inside. But, put the same number of Guests inside DISNEYLAND while FastPass is in full swing, and the Anaheim theme park is no longer the "Happiest Place on Earth." People were literally body-to-body inside the theme park, which made DISNEYLAND a very unpleasant place to be. That’s why park management actually had to close DISNEYLAND on five different occasions last December, turning away hundreds of disappointed Guests. All because FastPass has changed forever how people experience the Disney theme parks....


Hill Street News (http://www.amusememntpark.com/ap/archive/hill/H2001/08/08030101_hill.html)

Ace
01-18-2002, 10:32 PM
someone tell me what MSEP means....I've seen it so many times.... I'm sure I already know...

Nigel2
01-18-2002, 10:39 PM
It is the old name for the Disney Electric Parade, AKA Main Street.

zapppop
01-19-2002, 03:54 AM
Originally posted by Squinky
someone tell me what MSEP means....I've seen it so many times.... I'm sure I already know...
Main
Street
Electrical
Parade

It is THE name ;) of the parade.