Why are cast members putting so many people in a ride vehicle?

[shelby3hearts]

Once we were squeezed 3 people in one car on big thunder and one of my friends was halfway sitting on another's lap. It was so dangerous. She could stand up during the ride

 

[TinkGirl28]

I was at Disney from Dec 2-11 and also thought the cast members seemed to be squeezing people on certain rides. The one that really stuck out was The Great Movie Ride where we were squished into the row practically sitting on the laps of strangers. That felt very weird, especially because the wait was only 5 minutes.

 

[MouseMomx2]

We are here now and haven't had an issue. Today was a super-busy holiday Saturday in the MK. On Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion we were seated 2 per row with our extra person in his own row/car and on boat rides they have put the appropriate number of people in each row. We chose to put three in a car on Mermaid, but were not asked to. We are all an average size with a couple of skinny teens in the group so they could try to squeeze us tighter, but they haven't.

 

[Eastern]

And I agree with everyone else's comment about the new PotC boats...they've really turned it into a water ride! If you're in the front or back, you're likely to get drenched!

Is it just the very first and very last rows? I do not want to get drenched on this ride.

Hope someone knows!

 

[Eastern]

We are here now and haven't had an issue. Today was a super-busy holiday Saturday in the MK. On Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion we were seated 2 per row with our extra person in his own row/car and on boat rides they have put the appropriate number of people in each row. We chose to put three in a car on Mermaid, but were not asked to. We are all an average size with a couple of skinny teens in the group so they could try to squeeze us tighter, but they haven't.

Yeah, sometimes I think it is just the personality of the CM.

 

[AColdSarsaparilla]

This happened to my husband and me on pirates back in January of last year, I thought it was a fluke! They had us get in a row and shoved two more adults in with us. When we went down the drop my leg slammed into the side of the boat (we were in the front row) and I got a nasty bruise. It was way too cramped, Im refusing to sit like that again.

 

[JanaDee]

Is it just the very first and very last rows? I do not want to get drenched on this ride.

Hope someone knows!

If you're sitting on the outside edge in any of the rows, watch out, too.

 

[Eastern]

If you're sitting on the outside edge in any of the rows, watch out, too.

 

[anelson81993]

When we went in mid-November, we were put three to a car in the Haunted Mansion. We were traveling with six adults, so two cars total. My car was especially uncomfortable--three 5'10" adults, none of whom could be reasonably defined as "skinny," crammed into the car. I actually ended up only halfway crammed into the car, as the other half was mostly actually riding on the outer rim of the car. We discovered halfway through the ride that the lap bar wasn't technically "locked," which seems like a safety hazard to me, but at least we shortened the line by a little bit! Our other car was a little better off, since two of the individuals in it are shorter (of course, the third is 6'4", and he was quite uncomfortable), still not great, but their lap bar did lock. We had never been more grateful to get off the Haunted Mansion in our lives, and it's usually one of our favorite rides.

No one else tried to stuff us into a too-small space on a ride, and we were okay with that.

 

[Planogirl]

I was at Disney from Dec 2-11 and also thought the cast members seemed to be squeezing people on certain rides. The one that really stuck out was The Great Movie Ride where we were squished into the row practically sitting on the laps of strangers. That felt very weird, especially because the wait was only 5 minutes.

We were at WDW at the same time and that happened to us on the GMR too. It seemed odd.

 

[old lady]

I was forced to sit with my overweight parents in the middle of a doom buddy. I am not thin either but seriously did it have to break down while I was backwards looking at the raven in graveyard.

 

[BlovesC]

I was forced to sit with my overweight parents in the middle of a doom buddy. I am not thin either but seriously did it have to break down while I was backwards looking at the raven in graveyard.

No, you were not forced. You got in with them. You could have very easily jumped into the buggy behind theirs by yourself. No castmember is going to force three adults into one buggy...they usually do nothing more other than say "watch your step." Like most instances in this thread, the overcrowding was a result of guest confusion, not ruthless CMs.

 

[BrianL]

^Yeah, on HM they don't really assign you a car, you just get in. POTC and such they do group you into loading rows, but it doesn't seem to me like 4 adults is unreasonable on that. I always thought they were wasting space when they put me alone in a row when I went solo.

 

[surferdave]

No, you were not forced. You got in with them. You could have very easily jumped into the buggy behind theirs by yourself. No castmember is going to force three adults into one buggy...they usually do nothing more other than say "watch your step." Like most instances in this thread, the overcrowding was a result of guest confusion, not ruthless CMs.

Quite a few people in this thread were very clear that CMs told them to crowd in or get off the ride. It's plain that some people did get crowded in by other guests, but that doesn't change what the other people experienced.

 

[DebbieB]

When I travel with 2 friends, we will sometimes say we are a party of 2, then 1 so that we don't get squeezed. Or we will all say 1 like on Buzz Lightyear.

 

[MichelleVW]

No, you were not forced. You got in with them. You could have very easily jumped into the buggy behind theirs by yourself. No castmember is going to force three adults into one buggy...they usually do nothing more other than say "watch your step." Like most instances in this thread, the overcrowding was a result of guest confusion, not ruthless CMs.

I agree. I really have a hard time believing that a CM would say, "cram in or get off" Especially on the ones that are constantly moving like Haunted Mansion, People Mover etc. The people behind you can't get past you until you jump in a car. On the Haunted Mansion we will cram in if we have 3 only because my girls aren't that big and I hate riding by myself.

Half the time they don't even make the people that stop in the middle of the rows move all the way across...I just can't see them denying a ride to someone that didn't want to squish.

They sure tried to squish us in on this last trip..but we were nice and just said, "no" and split up our party of 6 in a way that made sense.

 

[BlovesC]

Quite a few people in this thread were very clear that CMs told them to crowd in or get off the ride. It's plain that some people did get crowded in by other guests, but that doesn't change what the other people experienced.

I'm sure those who posted such experiences believed they were being told to cram in, but I think they really just misunderstood. Sorry, but I'm just not going to buy that a CM told people they must sit three adults in one BTMRR car (which is dangerous), or three people in one Spaceship Earth car (when it's built for two).

I'm not trying to be a Disney apologist, I'm just in the parks often and witness a great deal of guest confusion. The CMs know how many guests their rides are optimized to hold, and I don't think any CM working a ride, however long the line is, would choose to jeopardize guest safety and comfort to 'push the line through'.

The boat rides are one thing, because they're totally subjective and require the CMs to estimate (five adults from one family may be comfortable in one row while only three adults from another family may be crammed), but many of the other rides are just a matter of safety, common sense, and paying attention.

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

On our last 2 trips (not high season- September and early December), we felt "crammed" into some rides. POTC was one example. DH and I are medium-sized people and we were placed in a row with 2 other adults who were much larger. It was very uncomfortable. We were also crammed at Living with the Land, the regular Safari, and the Sunrise Safari (which was the most disappointing as it was a paid tour and we stayed CL just for this). We did ask for a different seating arrangement for both safaris and was told no. We are not pushy people, but I told DH that I'm standing my ground in the future because I'm not going to be uncomfortable to the point where I can't even move an inch in the ride vehicle (especially one that I paid extra for). Hope CMs are reading this thread! No one likes to be jammed in with strangers!

 

[MichelleVW]

I'm sure those who posted such experiences believed they were being told to cram in, but I think they really just misunderstood. Sorry, but I'm just not going to buy that a CM told people they must sit three adults in one BTMRR car (which is dangerous), or three people in one Spaceship Earth car (when it's built for two).

.

Agreed! Loading on the Safari is really confusing...sometimes I think people cram in when they should have probably waited until the next one. I know when there is two of us on the Safari we usually end up sharing a row with another couple, but not always.

 

[blondemom]

This happened to my family this past August. We are a family of 4. Two slightly heavier than average adults, a 6 foot tall teenager, and a 10 year old. We fill a row on Living with the Land comfortably. They squished 6 into our row. Also on Great Movie Ride, there was room for another personal to fit, they put 2 extra adults and a child with us. We were so uncomfortable that none of us could enjoy the ride. We had another person added to our row in Pirates. It was awkward being jammed up against a stranger. Next time, we will get off. We all pay a ton of money and should not have to be squished. It takes the enjoyment out of the ride. All I wanted to do was to get off so I wasn't "cheek to cheek" with a stranger.