Theme_Park_Insider
05-05-2009, 11:50 AM
By Robert Niles: This story was told to me my first summer in attractions at the Magic Kingdom (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/reviews/walt_disney_world's_magic_kingdom/). I assume it to be apocryphal, but I really, really wanted it to be true, because, like many apocryphal stories, it perfectly illustrates the way that theme park employees - and visitors - often feel about crowds in the parks.
Three cast members were "playing in the park" on their day off. For fun, they decided to queue up in front of the door to the riverboat lead's office, around the corner from the Hall of Presidents entrance, in Liberty Square. Sure enough, within a minute, a couple walked up to them.
"What are you in line for?" the man asked.
"I don't know, but we're first!" the leader of the three replied, while the others did their best to keep straight faces.
The man turned to his partner, shrugged, and joined the line.
Within minutes on this busy summer day, two dozen others had joined the queue, which was now snaking toward the stockade. When the line reached the riverboat, cutting off the path toward the Haunted Mansion, the original three grinned at one another and the leader nodded. He turned to the first man who'd joined the queue.
"Darn it, it's almost time for our lunch reservations at the castle. Gotta go."
With that, the three walked over to the riverboat landing, suppressing laughs the whole way. The leader waved at the riverboat greeter, whom he knew, and said, "I don't know what's going on, but a huge queue is forming in front of the lead's office. You better check it out."
The three then ran for it, as the greeter walked over to the front of the queue, wondering why a line would have formed in front of a unmarked (though well-themed) utility door.
"Excuse me, sir," he asked the man who'd first joined the queue, "but what do you think you are in line for?"
"I don't know," he replied. "But I'm first!"
More cast member stories (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/search/?cx=partner-pub-9404307255807136%3Ah95qvn-s5kq & cof=FORID%3A10 & ie=ISO-8859-1 & q=%22Theme+park+cast+member+stories%22 & sa=Search)
More... (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200905/1190/)
Three cast members were "playing in the park" on their day off. For fun, they decided to queue up in front of the door to the riverboat lead's office, around the corner from the Hall of Presidents entrance, in Liberty Square. Sure enough, within a minute, a couple walked up to them.
"What are you in line for?" the man asked.
"I don't know, but we're first!" the leader of the three replied, while the others did their best to keep straight faces.
The man turned to his partner, shrugged, and joined the line.
Within minutes on this busy summer day, two dozen others had joined the queue, which was now snaking toward the stockade. When the line reached the riverboat, cutting off the path toward the Haunted Mansion, the original three grinned at one another and the leader nodded. He turned to the first man who'd joined the queue.
"Darn it, it's almost time for our lunch reservations at the castle. Gotta go."
With that, the three walked over to the riverboat landing, suppressing laughs the whole way. The leader waved at the riverboat greeter, whom he knew, and said, "I don't know what's going on, but a huge queue is forming in front of the lead's office. You better check it out."
The three then ran for it, as the greeter walked over to the front of the queue, wondering why a line would have formed in front of a unmarked (though well-themed) utility door.
"Excuse me, sir," he asked the man who'd first joined the queue, "but what do you think you are in line for?"
"I don't know," he replied. "But I'm first!"
More cast member stories (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/search/?cx=partner-pub-9404307255807136%3Ah95qvn-s5kq & cof=FORID%3A10 & ie=ISO-8859-1 & q=%22Theme+park+cast+member+stories%22 & sa=Search)
More... (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200905/1190/)