Father of One Seen Counting Guests Ahead of Him
A park guest was recently spotted counting the guests in front of him in the queue for the Mad Tea Party ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. He appeared to be trying to figure out whether there would be enough tea cups for him and his daughter.
“It doesn’t look like we’ll make it this time, honey,” Ben Flint said to his daughter. “We’ll get on next time though.”
Ben Flint is a guest who was enjoying the Magic Kingdom on that warm summer day we met up with him. When we spoke to him, he was hopeful he’d get on the ride soon. However, he didn’t think his chances were very good of getting on the next round.
“It’s a mathematics problem,” Flint said. “There are 16 teacups, each with a capacity of up to four people. The ‘unknown’ is how many people are going to cram into each tea cup. It’s not as simple as counting out 64 people [assuming the maximum four riders per tea cup].”
Although each tea cup can handle up to four guests, many choose not to ride this way. On the afternoon we were at the park, we noticed several tea cups with only one or two riders.
How Do They Know How Many Guests to Let Out?
If you’ve ever been on this ride or even walked passed it, you know that a large gate opens up allowing a sea of guests to rush to their desired tea cup. The gate closes and the ride begins – somehow with just enough riders to fill all 16 tea cups. How do they do it? For this, our research team met with Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III, one of the Cast Members operating the attraction the day Ben Flint and his daughter rode.
“I just kind of guess and it all works out,” Geronimo said nonchalantly. “I do a rough estimate and somehow most guests find a tea cup. If they don’t… well, tough titties.”
Our research team noticed a counter in Geronimo’s hand and asked him about it.
“Oh, this?” Geronimo said, pointing to the people counter in his hand. “I just like the clicking sound it makes,” he said before pausing. “I suppose it would be a good idea to use this to actually count the guests.”
Ben Flint and his daughter were able to get on the next round of tea cups because some little shit ahead of them chickened out.
