How to Avoid These Magic Kingdom Disasters

sure you can have an absolutely perfect day in disney world's magic kingdom but what about those times you don't think everything is sunshine and rainbows over in the kingdom think again we've got some serious disasters you want to avoid and how to solve them if they do happen [Music] hey everybody it's aj for disney food vlog now you've spent months or maybe even years planning your perfect disney world trip you're finally there ready to take in the rides the food the castle and then disaster strikes well we're sharing advice for dealing with magic kingdom now as well as problems you could run into in the future if normal times return now from small hiccups in your plans to downright day ruiners we're going through the biggest things you want to have on your magic kingdom radar first up let's cover a few common health issues you could run into the park these are things that our team mentioned sort of happened on the regular and those were folks who used to work in the magic kingdom and folks who've been there hundreds of times so first one is mom twisted her ankle walking down main street believe it or not a lot of common injuries happen all the time in magic kingdom one big culprit that's even taken down members of our team is main street usa the trolley tracks to be more specific we see it all the time guests are looking at the castle looking on their phones or just not paying attention to where they step and boom man down the tracks are set down in the street and are easier than you think to catch an ankle a stroller wheel and more thankfully right at the end of the street to your left just past casey's corner is the first aid center for the park first aid centers are staffed with nurses who are well equipped to handle anything from headaches to much more severe ailments like heat stroke twisted ankles and more if you're unable to walk or make it there safely just alert a cast member and they'll be happy to call for assistance all right now i'm sure more than a few of us have had this happen little timmy had one too many churros before riding mad tea party motion sickness and all those disney world foods we love can be a recipe for disaster first things first if someone in your group or maybe it's you has what disney likes to term a protein spill don't panic it's actually a lot more common than you think alert a cast member and they'll call for help and take steps to isolate the mess and get it cleaned up cast members want to help any way they can and if that means helping the person who doesn't feel so well get a clean change of clothes or a snack to settle their stomach they should be happy to help they may also direct you to first aid to get checked out or just to rest for a bit in the air conditioning all right our third ailment that we're going to talk about before we move on to other magic kingdom disasters is heat stroke now heat stroke is basically when your body starts overheating which is easy to do when you're walking miles and miles in the hot florida weather especially if you aren't used to it so if you start to feel dizzy or nauseous your heart rate increases you start to get a throbbing headache slow down and find somewhere to cool off heat stroke is a serious condition you don't want to disregard and it does happen in disney world we tell you all the time disney world fast food locations give out free cups of water they don't want you dehydrated or coming down with heat stroke in the park so be sure to use this free option if heat stroke does happen alert a cast member immediately they'll get you out of the heat typically indoors possibly get you something to drink and help get you to first aid first aid is well stocked with sports drinks to help with this and they'll likely want to monitor you for a while if your symptoms are mild if you're in a more serious condition say heatstroke made you pass out or something life-threatening is happening a cast member will likely call for emt services in this case an emt crew will show up to assess the situation and get the individual the care they need now keep in mind first aid isn't just for sprained ankles and more serious issues they stock many over-the-counter products like tylenol band-aids and acids and more and they're happy to provide you with anything you need to feel better if they don't happen to have something you're after they'll likely direct you to the nearest large gift shop likely the emporium to find a larger variety of otc meds all right next disaster that happens to a lot of folks you've been waiting in line for seven dwarfs mine train for an hour and your kid has to go to the bathroom first of all been there it happens when you gotta go you gotta go right so you have three options here get out of line to go to the bathroom and try again later not the best option but certainly a choice you can make if you've only been in line a short time this is probably the right choice next option find a bathroom in the line now this is very rare so don't count on this but some rides with long queue lines do have restrooms in the queue flight of passage in animal kingdom has a bathroom mid queue if you need it we recommend telling the people behind you you need to pop into the restroom so they know you're coming back you shouldn't move too far in that time and you'll probably be able to get back to your spot if you have multiple people in your group then have the others wait in line so you can catch up whereas the resistance in hollywood studios has access to a restroom in line but you need to ask a cast member to take you to it the cast member will walk you out of the line to the restroom and walk you back to line when it's finished now your third option is to tell a cast member if you can find someone let them know your situation and they'll likely work with you so you don't have to wait in the full line again they might issue you a return pass so you can come back and ride later if you waited in the majority of the line there's no real policy we can figure out about this but cast members are always willing to help and if it's very clear that you've already waited in a long line they may be able to help you get back where you were without having to wait quite so long and it never hurts to ask now of course your best bet with this one is preventing it in the first place even if you don't have to go or timmy doesn't have to go have everyone in your group take a bathroom break before hopping in line this is especially important if the line is longer than 30 minutes or so no one wants to be cross-legged and struggling to hold it in line before they board a ride it's not going to be a fun ride now you could say if you've got a whole family in line that dad and timmy could go out of the line into the bathroom but sometimes these lines are so twisty turny and snaky that it's kind of hard to get back to where you were it'd be really hard to find mom and siblings or the rest of your party after you went to the restroom so the best thing to do is let a cast member know and see what their advice is all right another disaster that happens to way too many people way too many people you're so excited to ride splash mountain but when you get there you realize it's closed for refurbishment this is an easy one to prepare for but can still be a huge bummer if it coincides with your trip we cover all the refurbishments and construction each week so you can plan around what's going to be close disney tells you when they're going to close these rides so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter stay on top of what's open or closed when you visit and disney has a whole page for refurbishments on their website and you can always keep an eye on that some closures are easy to work around it might mean walking a bit further or not getting to ride a ride some are more of a pain like construction on cinderella castle we remember when the hub was being expanded a few years back and the whole area in front of the castle was a hot mess we ended up walking in circles trying to find a good spot to get a photo of the castle we certainly weren't the only ones it's unfortunate when construction can impact those family photos but knowing in advance so you can prepare can take a lot of the sting and surprise out of the trip all right now this next disaster is a particularly difficult one right now you can't find where the lines start due to social distancing lines are very spaced out meaning they often extend way beyond the actual queue when this happens you can feel lost wandering around wondering what each long line is for and accidentally hop in line for splash mountain only to realize you're actually in line for big thunder mountain it's an easy mistake to make right now we're in the parks every single day and trust us it's still super confusing for us at times and it's not just rides most smaller stores have a dedicated entrance and exit like momento mori near haunted mansion but bigger stores like the emporium have a lot of doors and each is labeled either enter or exit it can be confusing really fast wondering how to even get in it's such a big deal in fact that we made our own maps to help you out we noted all the entrances and exits and where the lines typically start for rides in all four parks so you can go ahead over to our website we've got all of those map sections in blog posts and we'll also put the links down here for you in the description now some biggies that you want to be aware of big thunder's line extends down past where you load for tom sawyer island almost to the entrance of pecos bill seven dwarfs mine train line can get very long if you can't find where it starts go to the entrance then head left like you're going to gaston's tavern usually the line wraps counterclockwise around the ride itself we usually see cast members with a sign on the bridge near be our guest for space mountain head all the way to the right almost like you're going to the bathrooms to the right of space mountain the line starts here and snakes around outside a good bit before you enter the actual queue depending on the wait time it's a small world sometimes goes backstage to the far left of the ride closer to the tangled bathrooms it usually starts about here too when the line gets long for peter pan's flight check out the entrance to the still closed columbia harbor house there's usually a sign saying the line starts there and you'll wind around inside of the restaurant before exiting and entering the real peter pan q alright i'm sure this has happened to just about all of us you're ready to scan your magic band into magic kingdom when you realize you left the magic band in your hotel room believe it or not this happens all the time we've had family forget their magic bands and realize once we're at the park trying to get in but you don't need to hop back on a bus or car back to your hotel if you forget your magic band or your key to the world card simply hop in line to speak with someone at guest relations it's the windows to the far right of the entrance of magic kingdom a cast member can look up your ticket in the system and give you a new card to use or there's a new option that makes this even easier to solve disney just released magic mobile this is essentially a way to use your phone as your park ticket if you have my disney experience on your phone and you should it's basically a necessity in the parks now you can pick a magic mobile key card design and hold your phone up instead of a card or magic band to enter whenever fastpass returns you'll be able to use this to scan your fast passes to get on rides as well keep in mind if you lose your magicband in the park in our experience it happens more than you'd think with our small kids you can always head to city hall in the front of main street to get a replacement card to use or you can use magic mobile but you want to be sure to go into your my disney experience account and deactivate the band you lost so that nobody can use it to buy anything the bands do have a pin number associated with them so if someone tried to use it they need to know it to make charges but better safe than sorry okay the next disaster that i'm sure has happened to many of us but it's hard to figure out what to do next space mountain broke down with you on it and now you're two hours late for dinner well ride breakdowns happen all the time in disney world and the level of severity of the breakdown can mean a couple of different things for you if you're in line or on a ride and a ride breaks down usually cast members will try to assess how bad the breakdown is if they can get it up and running in the next 15 minutes or so you'll likely just wait in place cast members typically come on the overhead announcements letting you know what's happening or walk the line letting everyone know if it's something more involved going on they'll likely evacuate the ride this can be a lengthy process depending on the attraction this means if you're in line you'll likely be instructed now to exit if you haven't been waiting too long you'll probably be told to try again later if you've been in a line a while cast members will often be ready to scan your magic band at the exit and give you a fast pass to return any time the ride is running later note that fastpass isn't happening right now but the fastpass cues are being used for guests with disability access passes or those using rider switch they can also be used in situations like this if you're on the ride a cast member will come retrieve you and help you safely exit in many cases you'll get a fast pass to return to the ride later as well if you happen to have plans elsewhere that you missed say another fastpass whenever they return or a reservation at a restaurant explain your situation to the cast member there these things happen all the time so if you let them know the ride you were on broke down and you were stuck they will do whatever they can to accommodate you whether that's change your reservation to a later time or waive any sort of cancellation fee okay this next one is always kind of a surprise to people when they first go to disney world say you're trying to get to tomorrowland but you're stuck waiting for a parade to pass well first things first keep in mind you're never really trapped in any part of the park there's usually always a way to navigate out and these tips will help when there's a full-fledged parades happening in the park for now cavalcades are running at random times typically starting near splash mountain and ending at the start of main street these are often super short though lasting just a minute so they don't tend to clog up getting from a to b the way major parades do and regarding major parades festival of fantasy typically runs daily at 3 pm starting in frontierland when parades are back now where guests feel like they're stuck during a parade tends to happen in certain parts of liberty square frontierland or adventureland basically most of the left-hand side of the park where the parade route typically runs there are a few spots that can be tougher than others to navigate though and we're going to help you get out of some of those tight areas in frontierland there's a walkway right against the water that when crowds form can be difficult to get through your best bet if stuck here is to make your way to the haunted mansion then you should be able to escape through fantasyland that same walkway is your best escape if you get off splash or big thunder mountain and find a parade blocking you in stay close to the water and you should be able to make your way towards fantasyland if you're in certain parts of liberty square think about the areas like liberty tree tavern you can often walk as far back from the street as possible and make your way toward the hub then take the bridge on your right to adventureland from there you should be able to cross the hub before the parade blocks the road if you're in frontierland remember those shortcuts there are two one next to country bear jamboree that crosses over to aloha isle in adventureland and the other is the walkway halfway through frontierland that houses bathrooms and opens up an adventure land near swiss family tree house both of these routes can be used to escape to adventureland then cross the street if you're trying to get down main street during a parade you can still typically make your way through the shops on main street to get around the parade just be mindful which doors are designated entrances and exits and also keep in mind that when parades are blocking the road if you let a cast member know you need to get by they'll usually do their best to help you you might have to wait for a break in the parade but it's best to work with a cast member instead of trying to run across the street yourself those are big floats there's a lot of people in that parade and things can definitely go downhill fast if you're not kind of minding what's happening out there all right now this is a disaster that happens to everybody it's the end of the night and there is a sea of people trying to get back to their hotels keep in mind this one may feel like a disaster but it's a well-known one if you leave the park at the same time most other guests do typically near closing or just after a parade or fireworks you're pretty much guaranteed that you're gonna have to deal with transportation woes knowing what you're in for and possibly planning around it the best you can can definitely help though if you're looking to go back to your car or room at the end of the night here are your options monorails run to the monorail resort hotels and are intended for resort guests this is folks staying at the grand floridian contemporary and polynesian though the monorail isn't currently stopping at the poly due to construction right now this route does stop at the transportation and ticket center though so if that's where you're parked you can absolutely take this monorail the express monorail runs just to the ticket center and back to magic kingdom a lot of guests tend to queue up for this option at the end of the night the ferry boats are big and do hold a lot of people but they're slow at busy times they typically have two running so you won't wait too long to board but this is a popular option with guests getting back to the ticket center as well there are small water taxis directly to the deluxe resorts in the area this includes the grand floridian the polynesian wilderness lodge and fort wilderness these only hold a small number of guests meaning it can take a number of cycles before you get to board if you're hoping to take a ride share out of magic kingdom keep in mind these pick up at the transportation and ticket center not at the magic kingdom so plan accordingly there are also buses buses run directly to every disney hotel and a number of non-disney hotels offer pickup here as well don't forget there's a bus that goes straight from magic kingdom to the transportation and ticket center and not a lot of people know about that one so it may be your best bet keep in mind if you have plans for dinner at disney springs you won't be able to take a bus from the magic kingdom at this time your best option here is to take a bus to a hotel and transfer to a bus going to disney springs the most stress-free option is just walking if it makes sense for where you're trying to go you can walk to the contemporary straight from magic kingdom it's a super quick easy walk you can grab a bus to disney springs from there or you can get on the monorail and go to the transportation and ticket center or you can now take the walkway from magic kingdom to the grand floridian this route connects to the polynesian and ends by the transportation and ticket center this walk takes about 15 minutes in our experience to get from magic kingdom to grand floridian it's quiet and there are rarely many people walking on it so if you just want to get away from the steve crowds this is a great option keep in mind if you're wanting to walk to the transportation and ticket center this is the only way to do it but it is a lengthy walk that whole wall could probably take you a little over half an hour there are a lot of ways to exit magic kingdom though so assess your stress level and get in line or walk accordingly all right this is a new disaster that people are experiencing more and more often right now it's taking forever to get your food at meal times since the parks reopened mobile order is the norm and it's almost required right now and that means mobile ordering from fast food restaurants you order your food from your phone and you don't enter the restaurant until your food is ready this means if you're hoping to stand in the line and order your food disney would prefer that you stay outside and place a mobile order now of course you can stand in line and order your food but it is usually reserved for people who need to discuss allergies or who need to pay cash for their food mobile order sounds great in theory but in practice right now we've hit some big road bumps that's not a good thing when your family is hangry and you have to wait a long time so first deal mobile order lets you select a time window to get your food these time windows can fill up fast at popular times and this can mean eating later than you'd like or waiting a long time to get your food at peak meal times about 11 to 2 for lunch and 5 to 8 for dinner it can seem like the whole park is trying to eat at these places so plan ahead you can order your food first thing in the morning before you're even in the park and then you'll get a wide selection of return times and can plan your day around when you'd like to eat if you do wait till the last minute it's worth noting some locations don't accept mobile order meaning you can hop in the regular line and grab something to go these spots might not have full meals but you can definitely get something to hold you over relatively quickly okay this next disaster happened in 2019 big time but this is some really important stuff to know for the future your special night at mickey's not so scary halloween party got rained out now in 2020 both mickey's not so scary halloween party and mickey's very merry christmas party were put on hold but whenever special ticketed events return this one's a great tip to remember what about when you're at one of these events and the weather really doesn't cooperate it can be a total bummer to feel like you wasted a hundred dollars on a ticket and didn't get your value out of it well don't give up hope if the event is a rain out they won't cancel the party but you won't get the full experience we've definitely seen the special party exclusive parades and fireworks cancelled in the past so if this happens to you check your my disney experience account we've opened up the app during a rainy party only to find we'd been assigned a raincheck voucher these vouchers basically convert your special event ticket into an extra one-day ticket you can use within one year you also have the option of calling to see if you can convert the ticket into another special event ticket say you're still in disney world and there's another special party that you'd like to attend we've also been handed this as a voucher card as we've exited the park before when in doubt ask a cast member before you leave if your event was rainy enough the vouchers were being issued okay now talk about a serious serious disaster you're walking around fantasyland when you realize your kid isn't with you anymore the dreaded lost kid this is the worst disney world is actually super familiar with this situation though it happens a lot the biggest thing to do is not panic your kid isn't lost in the random grocery store back home they're in disney world and this happens all the time talk to your kids before your trip and have a plan if this happens explain to smaller kids what cast members look like you can identify them by their oval name tags and to go to them if they get lost be sure to stay put in the area where you lost your child when a cast member finds your child they usually take them to the spot they were lost to see if mom and dad are nearby if you can attach your phone number to your child even better many brands make adhesive tattoos that you can write your number on so that if your kid is lost someone can call you to find them if your kid is old enough to memorize your phone number practice before you go now be sure to let a cast member know immediately what has happened they can check if your child has been located and will help reconnect you remember that in disney world kids never get lost the parents do at least that's what cast members will tell your kiddo they do everything they can to not let them get scared and assure them that they can just sit tight until mom and dad aren't lost anymore if you can't be found in the area they were lost the cast member will escort them to a location to be reunited typically the baby care center located between crystal palace and main street older kids can sometimes be taken to city hall at the front of main street when in doubt check baby care first but frankly whatever cast member you tell will stick with you until you find your child whatever happens making sure you and your child remain calm is key cast members are angels and will do everything they can to help get things resolved very quickly okay so what if you head to a restaurant you've been dying to try and there's nothing on the menu you can eat ever sat down at a restaurant scan the menu only to realize there's zero your kid will eat there or maybe you have a dietary concern and are worried you can't eat something off that menu well disney is incredibly accommodating with special dietary or picky eater needs ask your server what can be done this is something they hear 20 times day if you're on a special diet or you're allergic to an ingredient they can show you the allergy menu to help make your choices if necessary the chef will come out to speak with you and see what they can do we've seen chefs make special meals just for guests that can't eat off the menu if you're allergic to a particular ingredient the chef might be able to modify the recipe for you so you can still eat the food safely as for those picky kiddos hey or maybe it's you no judgment here you have options too talk to your server often they have choices for children not listed on the menu your kid is likely not the first picky eater they've encountered we've had servers hook us up with chicken nuggets and fries or mac and cheese at restaurants where it wasn't on the menu if you ask you might be surprised what they can do for you also i always try not to be a pain in the rear end but if there's something on the menu that i know my kid will eat or if there's something on the menu i'd like to try i have been known to ask a server if it's not too much trouble to try that thing or to get a entree-sized portion of that for my child if that's one of the only things that they want to eat on the menu okay another disaster for caretakers you got your kid to ride the big roller coaster but now they're freaking out we see this one a lot this happened to me in disneyland my two-year-old wanted to ride big thunder mountain railroad and then we we realized this was the version with all the dynamite and the fire and he basically didn't ride another ride for about three years after that so we see this one a lot parents want to do it all in disney world and if this is their kid's first time riding any given ride they don't know what to expect you the adult might be able to handle it just fine but for a kid they can think they're legitimately dying our biggest advice here is to do your research before you go sit down with your kids show them those ride-through videos on youtube of attractions and also show them photos ahead of your trip so they know what to expect and if it's something they want to do or not i know i've told you this before but my kid really liked cars and we were thinking that he may be old enough to ride radiator springs racers now i told him there's a part in the ride where there's a loud noise and a bright light and it's where the truck is honking at you i just wanted him to be prepared for it and he decided he wasn't ready to ride because he didn't want to be scared by that well that was probably the right decision and about a year later he rode test track for the first time which of course has the same kind of scary truck blaring its horn at you and having that bright light and he told me to warn him when it was coming up which i did and he was fine with it so you know your kid best prepare them for the things that might be scary for them specifically and genuinely ask them if it's something they want to ride if they're ready for that yet now if your kid isn't ready then use disney's rider switch service with this you'll let a cast member near the entrance know that your child doesn't want to ride and they'll let an adult stay with the child while other adults ride they'll typically scan your magic band to set this up once they return the adult that waited will switch and get a turn to ride without waiting in the full line again and if you have other kids who do want to ride they may get lucky and be able to ride twice and rider switch can also be used if your child is too small to ride a ride but be sure to measure your kids before you go in the shoes they plan on wearing disney world's website has a list of all the rides with height limits and what they are so make note ahead of time what rides they can and can't ride so there are no surprises and possibly tears once you're standing at the entrance to the ride all right so what if there's a legitimate disaster so far all the disasters we listed aren't real disasters in the truest sense of the word but what if one of those real ones does happen it's rare but on occasion things have happened in disney world that required the parks or rides to be quickly evacuated on 9 11 the magic kingdom had been open for a few hours by the time the decision to close the park happened the parks were at the time considered in danger and in an abundance of caution they evacuated them quickly cast members escorted guests off rides and out of lines in restaurants then formed human chains slowly walking toward the center of the park they efficiently and quickly got all the guests out of the park guests were given a complimentary one-day pass that day and a little over a year ago in disneyland a small fire broke out backstage causing a portion of the park to be evacuated in a similar fashion cast members united to safely escort guests out of the affected area and adventureland and to main street and fires occur in disney world rarely two in 2011 the enchanted tiki room then the short-lived under new management version of the attraction had a small fire breakout in the attic in all these cases no guests were harmed but they were still very serious situations that needed to be handled properly and needed guests to stay alert we all think of disney world as a safe magical place and it is but it's still in the real world where real problems can happen so as we always say keep your wits about you be aware keep an eye on your family and your valuables and if something looks weird to you be vigilant but hopefully no serious disasters will happen to you and all you'll have to deal with is being a little bit late for a reservation because you got stuck on space mountain i hope this has helped you guys like i've said in many videos this is what i love to do in our youtube channel is figure out situations where i've been stuck things that i've dealt with that i don't want you to have to deal with and give you the solutions to those problems before you even find yourself in those situations so hopefully this has helped you guys today as always this is aj for disney food blog and we'll see you real soon you

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Keywords: disneyfood, disney, disney world, disneyland, disneyvideo, disneyvacation, food, disney parks, disney travel, disney tips, disney guides, disney planning, disney trip, disney how to, disney vlog, disney vlogger

Id: LX1ZR94k72c

Length: 27min 12sec (1632 seconds)

Published: Mon May 03 2021