Stupid Guest Tricks

Yes, it is illegal to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk, AND it is illegal to not wear a helmet when riding as well. But nobody here in the OC ever pays any attention to laws. Frankly, we need more bike lanes around here, but I can just see the NIMBYs coming out of the woodwork, along with the excuse, "But it costs money!" No duh, Sherlock! Of course it costs money! You don't get anything for free, you know!

When I was a kid back in the early 60s, we were taught to ride facing traffic; now you have to ride with the traffic flow. The idea behind riding a bike facing traffic is that if a driver comes towards you, you can see them in time to get out of their way. What "genius" thought of riding with traffic? Some drivers rearend bikes, you know. If you can't see them, how can you avoid them? Not everyone uses rearview mirrors on their bikes.

There's also people who, when you cross in a crosswalk on one side, someone else crosses from the other side, and they are coming towards you; you move to one side to get out of their way, and they move over to your side, like thy're trying to run into you! What are they thinking?????

felinefan wrote:What "genius" thought of riding with traffic?

It was probably the same genius that determined:

- Driving is all about expectations: Motorists making a right turn onto a busy street are going to be looking left, not right, to make sure the coast is clear. They’re not going to see the wrong-way cyclist until his or her face is smashed against their windshield.

- Because of the increased momentum of a head-on crash, the impact from a driver hitting you will be more severe than if you are to get, say, sideswiped.
- If you ever want to make a right turn, you’re going to have to move to the other side of the street anyway. How safe will you feel crossing in front of two lanes of oncoming traffic?

Riding against traffic may seem like a good idea because you can see the cars that are passing you, but it's not. Here's why:

Cars which pull out of driveways, parking lots, and cross streets (ahead of you and to the left), which are making a right onto your street, aren't expecting traffic to be coming at them from the wrong way. They won't see you, and they'll plow right into you.
- How the heck are you going to make a right turn?
- Cars will approach you at a much higher relative speed. If you're going 15mph, then a car passing you from behind doing 35 approaches you at a speed of only 20 (35-15). But if you're on the wrong side of the road, then the car approaches you at 50 (35+15), which is more than twice as fast! Since they're approaching you faster, both you and the driver have lots less time to react. And if a collision does occur, it's going to be at a faster relative speed.
- Riding the wrong way is against the law and you can get ticketed for it.

One study showed that riding the wrong way was three times as dangerous as riding the right way, and for kids, the risk is seven times greater.

Nearly one-fourth of crashes involve cyclists riding the wrong way. Some readers have challenged this, saying if 25% of crashes are from going the wrong way, then riding the right way is more dangerous because it accounts for 75% of crashes. That idea is just wrong. First off, only 8% of cyclists ride the wrong way, yet nearly 25% of them get hit -- meaning wrong-way cyclists really are three times more likely to get hit than those who ride the proper way. Second, the problem with wrong-way biking is that it promotes crashes, while right-way biking does not. For example, cyclists running stop signs or red lights is 17% of their crashes. But do we therefore conclude that not running signals causes 83% of crashes?! (Hint: No.)

I lived in the North East for over 30 years so I am accustomed to heavy traffic. One Winter it took me 12 hours to get home on my daily 75 mile commute because of icing on the road.
I go to the parks years round and know that heavy traffic is of the park's experience, especially during the peak seasons. I prefer to avoid the parks during these times because people visiting the parks go into what I call "the Disney fog". Anyone that works in the parks will know what I am talking about.
I won't get an ulcer over the foot traffic, but it still is annoying and one of my pet peeves. At least when I was working there I got to tell them to move along, so that foot traffic could flow. ;)

avengador1 wrote:I won't get an ulcer over the foot traffic, but it still is annoying and one of my pet peeves. At least when I was working there I got to tell them to move along, so that foot traffic could flow. ;)

I just use my "Disney voice" to ask pedestrians to "move aside please". It's amazing how well it works, especially if I pitch my voice low.

We've been to WDW on Easter and Christmas and it really wasn't bad on the actual holiday. I figured Easter would be nuts but Easter day was pretty light for Magic Kingdom. I am guessing everyone spent the day at Church or went home. Even in the afternoon it still hadn't picked up that much.


I have to say I haven't seen much of the parades. I would like to see them but several things stop me. One of which is my hubby, but I won't count him. I hate having to pick out a spot an hour ahead of time, especially if it's a daytime parade sitting in the sun. And then I also despise having picked out that spot having to defend it from people who didn't pick a spot an hour earlier and want to muscle in. It's the other guests who keep me away from the parades. I just don't want to deal with them.

hobie16 wrote:

:twisted:

In case no one noticed, all the Disney parks were at capacity yesterday. Even the new Legoland Park was full. I bet it was really hard to get around yesterday and the lines were very long for the rides.
Here is an article from http://www.easywdw.com

Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom Closed to Capacity

by josh on December 28, 2011


If you had looked over the December Crowd Calendar during Christmas week, you may have noticed the following for December 28th:



The spacing between Epcot and the other theme parks is used to emphasize “how bad” the other theme parks are compared to Epcot. Indeed, today is the first time in recent memory that both Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios have closed to capacity over the course of the day, in addition to Magic Kingdom. All three theme parks saw Phase 2 closures.

Wait times are the following:

Animal Kingdom:

DINOSAUR: 80 minutes

Expedition Everest: 120 minutes

Kali River Rapids: 30 minutes

Kilimanjaro Safaris: 140 minutes

Primeval Whirl: 80 minutes

Epcot:

Living with the Land: 30 minutes and offering FASTPASS, which is extremely rare

Maelstrom: 20 minutes

Mission: Space Orange: 50 minutes

Soarin: 130 minutes

Spaceship Earth: 25 minutes

Test Track: 80 minutes

Hollywood Studios:

Rock n Roller Coaster: 140 minutes

Star Tours: 90 minutes

Tower of Terror: 100 minutes

Toy Story Mania: 160 minutes

Magic Kingdom:

Astro Orbiter: 60 minutes

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin: 90 minutes

Big Thunder Mountain: 110 minutes

Haunted Mansion: 50 minutes

it’s a small world: 50 minutes

Jungle Cruise: 80 minutes

Peter Pan’s Flight: 90 minutes

Space Mountain: 150 minutes

Splash Mountain: 70 minutes

HLN ran a piece today saying that visitors to theme parks yesterday encountered busy places and long lines. Apparently, this passes for "news" to a major cable network.

avengador1 wrote:all the Disney parks were at capacity yesterday.

We have been way over for a week now. I called out @ 1100 & manager stated DL was already sending gusts to DCA.

Main Streeter wrote:We have been way over for a week now. I called out @ 1100 & manager stated DL was already sending gusts to DCA.

So Disneyland CAN Control the weather Blowing the crowds over to the other Park is Genius! ;)