Inaccurate Wait Times

[bakerworld]

The posted wait times occasionally are correct (LOL - although we often wish they were not correct) but the worst is a line that says 35 minutes and takes 75 = yuk! My aching back.

 

[set88]

If "staffing issues" is at the root of the increase in wait times from 2019 to 2022, then it stands to reason that either Disney IS allowing more guests into the parks than staff can manage OR Disney is inflating overall standby times (possibly in order to make Genie Plus more attractive).

I was saying staffing issues are the root of the park reservation system... but I would disagree that increased wait times = more guests than staff can manage. Disney may not share guest opinion of what wait times are unreasonable/unmanageable. That is kind of a subjective thing.

It's pretty inarguable that Disney is inflating wait times deliberately because of Genie+, since they were doing it for years to the same degree long before Genie+ existed. I would say it's primarily about 1) wanting to underpromise and overdeliver 2) simple miscalculation 3) controlling crowds (particularly in the case of inflated wait times at night when Disney wants people to leave.)

 

[Tyler's Dad]

Start and end of days are going to be the most off, because the wait time system takes into account the number of unused Genie + reservations for standby. Early in the morning, there are a full allotment of LL reservations that the system sees as unused, so they need to add time in case they all show up relatively close together. In the evening, there are a ton of unused ones that are never going to be used, but the system doesn't know that. Add in the fact that cast members that load estimated waits don't want tons of people in line at the last minute, since Disney won't kick you out of line at park close and you can see why those times are inflated.

 

[RoseGold]

They conveniently forget that Disney has always inflated wait times. I mean, I know Disney is full of horrible decisions and am all for calling them out for every last one of them but come on, lets not call them out on the ones where they aren't out to get guests.

OK, so it was always a lie. The lie feels a lot grosser when there's an upsell to "fix" it.

 

[Parkhopstacker]

OK, so it was always a lie. The lie feels a lot grosser when there's an upsell to "fix" it.

Yes it’s always been a lie and I don’t think Disney made them even more inaccurate in order to sell genie+ When it came out. Remember I don’t know of very many people seeing high wait times an hour before closing and they just then decide to buy genie+.

Now Disney is not going the other way though, right? Like they aren’t trying to make wait times more accurate because this whole inflated times thing is a very convenient problem Disney has. Sure it sells more genie+, but they aren’t going to improve wait time accuracy … for sure not now with genie+.

 

[stinkpickle]

Their posted wait times have been wrong for years. That's why I use the TP Lines app.

 

[ghtx]

I always thought that part of the reason that they posted the wait time longer than their best estimate is that they didn't want guests to be disappointed. I.e., you're happy if it says 30 minutes and you only wait 15, but you're mad if it says 15 minutes but you have to wait 30.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

I'm really disappointed in the inaccurate wait times. Why have a system and not update it?! At 8pm in EPCOT the wait times showed 60 min for Soarin. I walked right up to the cast member. Are they just showing long wait times to sell Genie +? This was almost every ride in EPCOT.

My guess is that in your case, it was either a glitch in the system and/or just a user input error. It appears as if the ride was showing high wait times 8-8:30 but the usual 20-minute evening wait time before and after this - https://wdwpassport.com/past-crowds/august-2022/22 . Granted, at this time of day the wait times for Soarin' are basically walk-on anyway.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Disney intentionally inflates wait times near the end of the day to discourage late riders. The intention is to steer guests toward the gift shops and eventually the exits. We first learned about these techniques in the 1998 Unofficial Guide so it’s nothing new.

Quite often, the posted waits are about 4 times the actual wait.

As an example, a few weeks ago we hit Rise of the Resistance about 1:20 before closing time. The posted wait was 85 with an actual wait of 15. We rode a 2nd time and the posted wait was unchanged but the actual wait was down to 5.

We could have made a 3rd trip (posted wait had dropped to 40) but opted for Tower of Terror instead. There the posted wait was 80 with an actual wait of 10.

Not a bad way to close a park and a pretty efficient use of an hour and a half.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Night wait times are a complete joke. I did 7D with 60 minutes posted and it was almost walk-on. It's not like they don't know that.

7D has been this way since the day it opened. We like to save it for a late ride, and our longest wait ever was 20 minutes during opening week in 2014.

 

[JayMass]

Just used the Lines app from Touring Plans last week in all four parks and thought it was WAYYY more accurate than Genie. However, that was also true BEFORE the pandemic.

 

[danceintherain]

Disney has always been aware that guests in line aren't spending money. That's why FP was designed in the first place.
I'd much rather that they inflate the times than underestimate. We had a couple instances at Disneyland in May where the wait time was A LOT longer than posted. It was really frustrating. It's particularly annoying when the wait time on the app is significantly lower than the posted wait at the ride, then the actual wait is even longer than that.

 

[sleepymouse]

Just used the Lines app from Touring Plans last week in all four parks and thought it was WAYYY more accurate than Genie. However, that was also true BEFORE the pandemic.

When using the Lines app, do you just look at the "expected wait" or do you mean that you reference wait times entered by other users that day?

 

[SkipperDave]

Rode Kali River Rapids last week. Standby time was posted at 75 minutes. I decided to time it.

We were walking across the dock into our raft at 74:48.

Man, I was pissed.

 

[Upatnoon]

Disney could start shutting the lines earlier in the evening so the last riders get off the attraction exactly when the park closes.

By shutting down the lines earlier, Disney could use more accurate wait times and not be accused of inflating them to sell Genie+ at the end of the evening.

This would make the park visitors happy, knowing they have perfectly accurate wait times.

And the park staff would be able to clear out the park in a timely manner without having to run an attraction an hour past closing time.

Disney may lose some sales from guests who like to buy Gene+ late in the evening to beat the lines during the last hour or so of park open, but Disney may actually save even more money by paying less staff overtime to keep the rides open late for those people who get in a long line a minute before park close and expect to ride.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We use the ability to hop into line right until park close, almost nightly. I’m thankful they allow this so that I don’t have to guess if an attraction line is still open or, when it might close. I’d be much more disappointed if we ‘hurried’ (not easy at the end of a day) to an attraction to find the line closed 45 mins before park closing. (E.g. Last night we did 5 headliner attractions at DCA in California in the last 2 hours the park was open, arriving at the last attraction 4 mins before park closing.)

Yes, at the end of the day the return times are inflated but our experience is the lines move very quickly at park close, especially those that offer LL at other times of the day as it’s all standby guests at park closing.

Disney plans for popular attractions to be staffed for a certain amount of time after park closing just as certain stores on Main Street are staffed for x amount if time after park closing.

 

[SkipperDave]

Disney could start shutting the lines earlier in the evening so the last riders get off the attraction exactly when the park closes.

That's a terrible idea. The last thing Disney should be doing is giving people LESS value for their money.

The park closes when it closes. It's the guest's prerogative to make the most of every single minute, even if that means joining a queue with only seconds before closing.

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

Has anyone actually seen a red card in the past few years….? genuinely curious!

 

[Disneylover99]

I always thought that part of the reason that they posted the wait time longer than their best estimate is that they didn't want guests to be disappointed. I.e., you're happy if it says 30 minutes and you only wait 15, but you're mad if it says 15 minutes but you have to wait 30.

Yep. I prefer inflated wait times over accurate wait times.

 

[BlancheNeige7]

We are on Day 16 of our Disney trip and can say that most wait times are greatly inflated in all the parks. As mentioned, while wait times are inacurate throughout the day, they are completely unreliable nearer to the end of the day.