Theme Parks and Crowd Strategy

There are many places across the planet that is filled with crowds. Popular cultural sites such as Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower are almost always busy. If you’re heading to a big festival you can be sure there will be many other people in attendance. It is also seasonal based; cozy cafes are more likely to fill up in winter while ice cream shops and parks tend to see increased attendance in summer. For many of these places, there is little that can be done to limit crowds. This can also hold true with other popular locations, such as theme parks. But some theme parks are taking a swing at limiting overcrowding while still maximizing profits.

For example, Disney recently announced the rollout of seasonal prices. This means that a single, day pass will change in price depending on if it is a “peak” “regular” or “value” day. Visitors are able to look at a calendar in advance of a trip to see what type of price they will have to pay to get in. The goal of this is to spread out visitors to the park more equally. This has been met with both praise and criticism. Some welcome the chance to spread out the visitors, while some call the decision price discrimination, stating that it’s just another way for Disney to raise its prices. A few months prior to this, Disneyland announced an increase in their prices and the elimination of some annual passes. This was another attempt to control crowds. By changing the seasonal passes, it allows pass holders to visit less often, or to visit as often as they want at a higher price.

When the crowds are already in the park, theme parks often have strategies to try and manage them. Universal, for example, keeps posted signs up alerting attendees of line wait times. This can encourage guests away from busy zones until the lines become more manageable. Parks may notice certain areas becoming overcrowded. If a line gets too long, costumed characters may be sent over to act as a distraction. If a restaurant is too busy, additional registers may be opened.  For some lines games are set up along the way to distract people as they wait.

Crowd management is all about keeping crowds happy. If the crowds can’t be lowered, theme parks are doing all they can to spread those crowds out and keep their customers happy.  

Vote "No" for Poor Crowd Control

With the presidential election coming up this year, primaries and caucuses are in full swing. Voter turnout can be challenging to predict. Some states see small numbers at the polls while other states are overwhelmed. Take the Democratic caucus in Colorado for example. Buildings were at max capacity, forcing hundreds of voters to wait outside to be let in one-by-one. Some didn’t feel safe in the large overwhelming crowds and left. Some were even turned away.

When it comes to elections, crowd control needs to be a priority. Every eligible citizen should have the opportunity to voice their opinion in the elections, but that becomes difficult when crowd control is lacking and citizens are unable to cast their vote.

Predicting crowd size is the largest flaw in terms of crowd control. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about it. There are other steps that polling locations can take to decrease wait times for citizens, though.

The first step is to set up as many machines as a site can hold. This allows the entire process to move much more quickly, even if voter turnout is lower than expected. Another step that can be taken is to bring in more workers and volunteers to voting sites to help citizens. Individuals often will arrive to vote who are not registered, or arrive at the wrong polling location. More staff allows these people to be helped more efficiently. Of course, keeping crowd control barriers up and visible is incredibly important. Having the proper signage also lessens confusion and makes the process smoother.

To avoid extra work on election night, counties should do their part in educating voters far in 

advanced. Information can be made available in print formats, online, and through media such as radio or the news. Encouraging residents to register in advanced and find their correct voting station will make the process much smoother.

Voters themselves can attempt to take steps to beat the crowds on election days. Voting during an off-peak time can go a long way; however some polls have a very limited timeframe that voters can work with.

Voting is an American right. Don’t impede on citizen’s ability to vote. Have a crowd control plan in place to allow everyone’s voices to be heard.