Just wondering what you think.

[StephM]

Hey everyone. We just came back from 4 days at WDW for our anniversary. Great time. The people watching and SG observation was the best ever. :D: We did the Keys tour and that was very interesting.

Anyway, something happened that I was kind of curious about. I think it was Tuesday night. We went to MK and we arrived as the first run of Spectro was starting (we hit town square just as Mickey's float was finishing the circle). It was crowded, but not horrific. We were about to head down Main Street on the Bakery side when we noticed that they had the gate next to Tony's wide open. They were directing guests out through there, down behind Main Street and then back onstage near the Plaza restaurant. Everyone.

It was nice to get through unimpeded and I DO realize they were trying to move people efficiently, but if I had my little kids with me, I think I would have wanted to go the other way. We did notice a CM was near the pin cart in front of the chapeau, grabbing people and directing them backstage to go down Main, so I don't know if we even COULD have gone down Main Street.

I don't know, it was weird. John says I am a goof, but something about it just bugged me. Maybe it was the fact we had gone on the Keys tour that morning and the Guide spoke alot about show.... but I was wondering what you all thought. :)

[Shorty82]

Hey everyone. We just came back from 4 days at WDW for our anniversary. Great time. The people watching and SG observation was the best ever. :D: We did the Keys tour and that was very interesting.

Anyway, something happened that I was kind of curious about. I think it was Tuesday night. We went to MK and we arrived as the first run of Spectro was starting (we hit town square just as Mickey's float was finishing the circle). It was crowded, but not horrific. We were about to head down Main Street on the Bakery side when we noticed that they had the gate next to Tony's wide open. They were directing guests out through there, down behind Main Street and then back onstage near the Plaza restaurant. Everyone.

It was nice to get through unimpeded and I DO realize they were trying to move people efficiently, but if I had my little kids with me, I think I would have wanted to go the other way. We did notice a CM was near the pin cart in front of the chapeau, grabbing people and directing them backstage to go down Main, so I don't know if we even COULD have gone down Main Street.

I don't know, it was weird. John says I am a goof, but something about it just bugged me. Maybe it was the fact we had gone on the Keys tour that morning and the Guide spoke alot about show.... but I was wondering what you all thought. :)

Aww! The dreaded Main Street Bypass! They open it up during Spectro when the park is crowded because MS gets nearly impassable. I hate that thing as it goes right behind my area where a number of CMs talk on their cells and smoke during their breaks. Also, frankly, it is UGLY and sorta nasty back there.

There used to be large, rolling planters with hedges in them back there that would be rolled into place to hide things but I've only seen them there once in the last few months and that was during the Fourth of July week. IMO they should be kept back there at all times and used every time the bypass is open. If, for some reason, they need to be removed then don't operate the bypass until they are back.

[glendalais]

We do the same thing at Disneyland Park. Though it's on the other side of Main Street. Guests enter just to the right of Coke Corner and exit out over by the Emporium, or vise versa.

We have spruced up that area a little bit with some of the Magic Backstage stuff (basically the stuff used in Casting advertisements) to hide the nitty gritty. However, it still feels weird. And I hate to say this, but it's also really often because the GC CMs are lazy and don't want to do traffic control on Main Street.

[Cranbiz]

I did not know the planters were gone. That shows you how long it's been since I have taken a break at Pluto Park.

While I understand that the motovating factor is safety, a guest should be allowed to choose. Most times when the bypass is open, there is little choice. It is really bad show and at least the planters did a decent job of hiding a lot.

[Shorty82]

I did not know the planters were gone. That shows you how long it's been since I have taken a break at Pluto Park.

While I understand that the motovating factor is safety, a guest should be allowed to choose. Most times when the bypass is open, there is little choice. It is really bad show and at least the planters did a decent job of hiding a lot.

I can see the need to use the bypass occasionally just to keep the crowds moving as Main Street just can't handle the crowds sometimes but that area was designed as and is a parking lot and a loading/unloading area for trucks. By it's design it is ugly as sin and shouldn't be seen by guests except in extreme circumstances and in those cases everything that can be hidden should be hidden.

Ideally the only guests who would ever see Park 1 are the ones being escorted to and from the security offices and those on special tours.

[Cranbiz]

I agree, thats what the potted plants were susposed to do.

Then again, if you know that you may need a bypass, why not construct one? It's something Walt would have insisted on.

[Big Wallaby]

It's something Walt would have insisted on.

Sadly, he's not around. Honestly, I would rather see them do what it takes to widen Main Street by twenty feet than send people backstage. It's called "Backstage" for a reason. Just as most in attendance to a U2 concert don't go backstage to get to their seats, neither should our guests go backstage to get around.

And I bet if they were hit with the necessity of widening Main Street, I bet they could do it in a matter of two weeks.

Whaddaya bet if Walt came back, we'd be closed for about four months just to get things back up to his standards?

[Shorty82]

Sadly, he's not around. Honestly, I would rather see them do what it takes to widen Main Street by twenty feet than send people backstage. It's called "Backstage" for a reason. Just as most in attendance to a U2 concert don't go backstage to get to their seats, neither should our guests go backstage to get around.

And I bet if they were hit with the necessity of widening Main Street, I bet they could do it in a matter of two weeks.

I wish but that'd be next to impossible to do, especially because of the tunnels. It'd be nice though, the entire problem is that Main Street just isn't wide enough.

Two weeks? Even if they did the work do you really think they'd want to spend the kind of money to do it that fast? Hell, it is going to take two weeks and people working all three shifts (yes, during the day too) to rebuild the Liberty Square Bridge. If they really wanted to they could probably do that in a few days at most but that costs more and God forbid we actually spend money! <sarcasm>We're only a multi-billion dollar company, that's all!</sarcasm>

Whaddaya bet if Walt came back, we'd be closed for about four months just to get things back up to his standards?

Could be. There's no way of knowing though. I believe, for the most part, Walt would be happy with what's happened since he passed on. Of course there will be things he doesn't like but that's to be expected, not everybody who has gotten into a position of power in this company are followers of Walt.


At least they've put up walls to hide what can be hidden permanently back there and now whatever idiot had the planters removed needs to have them brought back as they do a good job at hiding everything else. While not ideal the bypass is the best solution we have for when Main Street is packed, such as during Spectromagic on a very busy night.

I've seen the boards and all around talking about "You asked, we did" or something like that where CMs have reported some problem and it is fixed. I wish I knew who to actually contact for that. If i did I'd report the planters and see what happens.

[mechurchlady]

As a tourist it would be nice to get a free behind the scenes tour.

If someone said I had to go through backstage to get to where I wanted to go I would have my ECV on full throttle and would be taking the path of least resistance. You are an employee so that back rooms are yawn. I found it interesting to enter one defunct restaurant via the back door and past the kitchen. People pay big bucks to go backstage. Check the price of tours.

[SmartGuest]

I have a friend who doesn't want to take any of the park tours because she wants to "maintain the magic." Me, my goal is to take every tour offered at both the DLR and WDW because I love to learn the hows and whys of things. I took the Backstage Magic tour at WDW in April and could have stayed all day in the Costuming Department. However, I can see where guests who want to maintain the magic, especially with younger kids in tow, would not want to be routed backstage. I have a niece who absolutely loves Splash Mountain and would ride it all day if we let her. After being backstage at Splash during the KTTK tour at WDW I'm glad they have a minimum age limit of 16 as it would definitely kill the magic for her.