Rumor: FP (or virtual queue) return

[sethschroeder]

You named 2 rides that actually were over an 80 minute wait, and didn’t provide what the posted wait times were for those rides at the time their wait was over 80 minute. Not exactly a gotcha moment there.

Who said they didn't know going in?

You stated:

Plus, I highly doubt the wait times were actually 80 minutes

I posted the factual information people were waiting for longer.

And as for virtual lines, what are people supposed to do while waiting on that virtual line? Wait on other lines. It really won’t cure any issues and will still make the standby lines so much longer in both length and wait times.

Depends on what is not in the virtual line. A few ideas are:

See shows
Go on high volume rides that are not filling up today
Eat lunch
Grab a snack
Shop
Walk around
Watch performers that are just around
Relax wherever you want instead of being confined being forced to move 6 feet every 30 seconds for an hour

 

[skeeter31]

Who said they didn't know going in?

You stated:


I posted the factual information people were waiting for longer.



Depends on what is not in the virtual line. A few ideas are:

See shows
Go on high volume rides that are not filling up today
Eat lunch
Grab a snack
Shop
Walk around
Watch performers that are just around
Relax wherever you want instead of being confined being forced to move 6 feet every 30 seconds for an hour

There are no performers that are just around, there is only 1-2 shows anywhere on property, lunch can take a long time with mobile order waits, shopping can also fill up with virtual queues. Just showing that it would be much harder than what you’re saying.

And yes, wait times will be longer, but people have to ready for it and prepared for it. FP will not fix that, that’s the main issue. Gone are the days of only waiting 10-15 minutes for rides. If you’re going now, you’re going to wait.

 

[sethschroeder]

There are no performers that are just around

So there has been the Dapper Dan's at MK, Muppets were back performing in MK as well.

shopping can also fill up with virtual queues. Just showing that it would be much harder than what you’re saying.

Which I outlined then as the parks being too crowded. If everything is 60+ mins its even worse and capacity has to be lowered.

If Disney needs to raise prices to offset the reduction in capacity so be it.

It's fairly simple concept lower waits.

but people have to ready for it and prepared for it

And my point is Disney has to fix it.

 

[Eric Smith]

This is exactly why I cancelled my trip. Disney is offering deep discounts to hotel guests to try and get people to go but nobody is going to pay that money to wait in those long lines and possibly not get on their best new ride because it’s a lottery. They took away every hotel incentive and need to bring them back if they want to sell their hotel rooms. The only hotel guests that are going are DVC members who would lose their expiring points if they didn’t go

I don’t think that is the issue with hotel guests. I think the problem is that people aren’t willing to travel en masse in a pandemic, especially with how bad it was going. Honestly, we wouldn’t go at all if we weren’t DVC members. I doubt off property hotels are doing any better than Disney hotels.

 

[DL1WDW2]

off property... I was at Gaylord on Monday night .... 12% percent occupancy and they said over the weekend (just after Thanksgiving Day it was around 50%...
But I had a blast and think more should look for off property for their holidays.
Gaylord has nightly light & holiday music shows free (Starting at 6:15) from interior courtyard but you will pay for parking. Plus a small Cirque Dreams performance that has free seating if you wait in line to be seated.
It is wonderful
The atrium courtyard is nice area for kids to explore with alligator pond. Certain nights the feeding time is posted to watch as a person enters to feed them and amazing to see they have been trained to obey !

Plus the new PopUp Movies walk thru ($$ reservation required) is worth the price and an area to play snowball games or slide down an icy slope seemed reasonable. Everybody was having fun and lots of photo for families to take with beautifully decorated holiday trees.
Also recommend Give the Kids The World Donation to enter Night of a Million Lights . So incredible generous and beautiful walk thru neighborhood plus ice cream and hot chocolate and music.
Very close to WDW...
plus holiday Bar for specialty drinks and a restaurant that has huge screens for Sports watching!
And large outdoor fireplaces!

 

[MJJME]

There are no performers that are just around, there is only 1-2 shows anywhere on property, lunch can take a long time with mobile order waits, shopping can also fill up with virtual queues. Just showing that it would be much harder than what you’re saying.

And yes, wait times will be longer, but people have to ready for it and prepared for it. FP will not fix that, that’s the main issue. Gone are the days of only waiting 10-15 minutes for rides. If you’re going now, you’re going to wait.

And that’s why we won’t be going.

 

[ED9]

I hope it comes back!

 

[DisneyJade]

I am not confident that crowds are going to magically disappear in January. With capacity only 35%, I will not be surprised to see parks hit that capacity in January and beyond, especially on weekends.

To me, the issue isn’t just the long waits, it’s also the lines extending into the walkways, changing the scenery and crowding walking areas.

Everyone’s mileage will vary, but for me, I absolutely won’t wait in lines for 80+ minutes, as I just won’t feel I’m getting my dollar’s worth if I can only get on 5 or 6 rides in a whole day. I totally understand that other people may not care about getting on rides right now, but that is a huge part of the value for me.

If waits have not been addressed in the next couple of months, we will cancel our trip. I wish I could say reschedule, but our family needs a vacation so badly, I think we are likely to take our money somewhere else.

 

[rteetz]

I am not confident that crowds are going to magically disappear in January. With capacity only 35%, I will not be surprised to see parks hit that capacity in January and beyond, especially on weekends.

To me, the issue isn’t just the long waits, it’s also the lines extending into the walkways, changing the scenery and crowding walking areas.

Everyone’s mileage will vary, but for me, I absolutely won’t wait in lines for 80+ minutes, as I just won’t feel I’m getting my dollar’s worth if I can only get on 5 or 6 rides in a whole day. I totally understand that other people may not care about getting on rides right now, but that is a huge part of the value for me.

If waits have not been addressed in the next couple of months, we will cancel our trip. I wish I could say reschedule, but our family needs a vacation so badly, I think we are likely to take our money somewhere else.

I went roughly a month ago now. Nov. 5-10th. I never waited more than 45 minutes for really anything at WDW or Universal. What you are seeing now are peak times. You just finished the Thanksgiving rush. Weekends are just always busier. Even during the holiday rushes you can still get a lot done. You need to know that its different though. You need to have different expectations and different planning skills. This is not the same as a pre-covid trip.

 

[tlmadden73]

I am not confident that crowds are going to magically disappear in January. With capacity only 35%, I will not be surprised to see parks hit that capacity in January and beyond, especially on weekends.

To me, the issue isn’t just the long waits, it’s also the lines extending into the walkways, changing the scenery and crowding walking areas.

Everyone’s mileage will vary, but for me, I absolutely won’t wait in lines for 80+ minutes, as I just won’t feel I’m getting my dollar’s worth if I can only get on 5 or 6 rides in a whole day. I totally understand that other people may not care about getting on rides right now, but that is a huge part of the value for me.

If waits have not been addressed in the next couple of months, we will cancel our trip. I wish I could say reschedule, but our family needs a vacation so badly, I think we are likely to take our money somewhere else.

That's my worry as well: the reduced experiences and on top of that - the longer wait times I've heard about it .. and I am worried about the value of my upcoming January trip .. especially when going as a "normal" vacation with the young kids (age 4 and 8)

While I feel the wait issue may need to be taken care of, I definitely think (and hope for my own trip) that January/February will be slow. The extra draws (of Christmas decorations, character costumes, Christmas shopping) aren't there. Add in COVID fears, and take away the RunDisney events .. and the parks should be pretty empty despite another resort opening up.

But .. ya .. I am worried of going in this age of no Fast Pass but should be just like it was when I was a kid. No fast pass, less attractions and I remember waiting in long long lines (prob 30-60 minutes) for things like the Speedway, Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, and Pirates.

My sister in-law's family went in November and they are not regular goers (last time was in 2015). Having only gone once in their life (and weren't Fast Pass veterans) .. They didn't even know what they were missing, had to wait in a long long line for (Frozen) .. but they had no complaints besides the 3 year old being very sad to not be able to talk to the princesses.

 

[DisneyJade]

That's my worry as well: the reduced experiences and on top of that - the longer wait times I've heard about it .. and I am worried about the value of my upcoming January trip .. especially when going as a "normal" vacation with the young kids (age 4 and 8)

While I feel the wait issue may need to be taken care of, I definitely think (and hope for my own trip) that January/February will be slow. The extra draws (of Christmas decorations, character costumes, Christmas shopping) aren't there. Add in COVID fears, and take away the RunDisney events .. and the parks should be pretty empty despite another resort opening up.

But .. ya .. I am worried of going in this age of no Fast Pass but should be just like it was when I was a kid. No fast pass, less attractions and I remember waiting in long long lines (prob 30-60 minutes) for things like the Speedway, Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, and Pirates.

My sister in-law's family went in November and they are not regular goers (last time was in 2015). Having only gone once in their life (and weren't Fast Pass veterans) .. They didn't even know what they were missing, had to wait in a long long line for (Frozen) .. but they had no complaints besides the 3 year old being very sad to not be able to talk to the princesses.

I appreciate this perspective from your extended family, as that’s something for me to consider. As a parks veteran, I know the difference, but my small children will not. Still hard to justify the cost for what your dollar buys right now. I’m very torn!

 

[Krandor]

I went roughly a month ago now. Nov. 5-10th. I never waited more than 45 minutes for really anything at WDW or Universal. What you are seeing now are peak times. You just finished the Thanksgiving rush. Weekends are just always busier. Even during the holiday rushes you can still get a lot done. You need to know that its different though. You need to have different expectations and different planning skills. This is not the same as a pre-covid trip.

Yeah. I'm going in january for what would have been marathon weekend and have park days Sat-Tue. I was very careful on which parks I picked on which days right now. I normally liike to start a trip with MK but this time specifcially picked Epcot for the saturday park and pushed DHS/MK to the monday/Tuesday slots. It isn't the order I'd prefer to do the parks but with no FPs and only limited hopping have to be a bit strategic on what days for what parks

 

[MJJME]

Everything Ive read is that you should do HS on the weekends because its at capacity every day so going on weekend vs weekday doesn't matter where opposite is true for Epcot and MK.....Epcot and MK are much less busy on Mon-Wed

 

[tlmadden73]

I appreciate this perspective from your extended family, as that’s something for me to consider. As a parks veteran, I know the difference, but my small children will not. Still hard to justify the cost for what your dollar buys right now. I’m very torn!

And that is MY main worry as well.

I worry it will be less magical for the kids who are used to walking on MOST rides due to how I've used the FP system for their benefit.

I won't mind waiting 30+ minutes for Little Mermaid -- but when my kids have ALWAYS just walked on that (and most rides in MK), it could be a very grumpy day.

But .. my in-laws had a 3 yo, 7yo, and 9yo and they seemed to have a good time. I didn't hear complaints about transportation, closed attractions or overly long lines. Wearing a mask all day was "exhausting" was the main complaint, but no complaints on what they did do. The only other complaint was overly strict enforcement of mask wearing (my brother in-law was talked to by a CM that told him to ONLY pull his mask down (while sitting in a restaurant) when actively eating/drinking. He found that obviously ridiculous and seemed inconsistent with every other restaurant he was at.

They enjoyed the cavalcades, they enjoyed seeing characters from afar and getting photo ops that way. They enjoyed the dining .. (including lunch at Be Our Guest with a Beast appearance). They didn't get on Rise (they just didn't realize that you had mere seconds to get in a boarding group and so didn't try very hard). They are a very casual Disney group (and find my style and knowledge a bit overwhelming (as was apparent last time we went together in 2015)).

 

[Lurkerin]

I swore I would never wait in a line over 30 minutes. This isn't Disney from 2012. Our Park 4 level in January ended up at a 9. I sat in Slinky Dog for 80 minutes. Kiddos wanted it and we got some great unplugged bonding time. Park Interest is high and still will be throughout the 35% ceiling. Tier 1s on a Peak day will always be 60+ minutes go forward without a Fast Pass solution.

 

[The Jackal]

Correct there was 74 on Smugglers Runs, 105 on Slinky, 72 on TOT, 70 on Jungle Cruise, 65 on Seven Dwarves, 84 on Frozen, 72 on Navi, and FOP was at 56 before opening at 8:50 (posted waits were substantially higher later).

These were actual wait times based on timing with a tracking app so could have been worse or better other parts of the day.

So you are right not 80 just lots rides around 80 and even worse.

Oh and did we forget this is December 5th only likely to get worse from here on out until the 2nd of January.

Well when we went on Splash back in mid November the app said 70 minutes. Actual wait time was 35, so half. I’m not sayin that all wait times were half, but every line we got in the actual wait time was less than posted. It varied 5 to 35 minutes less, not one was actual, which as a good thing. Even the super long line for Haunted Mansion was 15 min less than posted and started in Frontier Land. 7DMT line was long at the end of the night posted 65 min, actual was 47 min.

 

[sethschroeder]

Well when we went on Splash back in mid November the app said 70 minutes. Actual wait time was 35, so half. I’m not sayin that all wait times were half, but every line we got in the actual wait time was less than posted. It varied 5 to 35 minutes less, not one was actual, which as a good thing. Even the super long line for Haunted Mansion was 15 min less than posted and started in Frontier Land. 7DMT line was long at the end of the night posted 65 min, actual was 47 min.

Again those are actual waits not posted times. Waits that people actually timed through the Touringplans app and reported back for everyone to see. It also was not a single person typically either but a few different people coming in with times around that length.

Yes posted waits by Disney can be inflated and I would treat that as fact.

 

[sethschroeder]

Park Interest is high and still will be throughout the 35% ceiling.

35% is not actually 35% though

The 35% Capacity Represented by Normal % of Capacity
AK - 63%, MK - 55%, HS - 51%, Epcot - 30%

Math: Park Capacity (Average Crowd)
MK - 100k (55k avg crowd)
AK - 60k (38k)
HS - 60k (31k)
Epcot - 110k (34k)

Current crowds if at capacity for 35% would be X% of normal crowds:
AK - 56%, MK - 63%, HS - 65%, Epcot - 116%

Our Park 4 level in January ended up at a 9. I sat in Slinky Dog for 80 minutes.

And I wouldn't wait. I would have gotten a FP+, looked to see what rope drop was, or constantly refreshed the app until I got a FP+ (got multiple on my trip last year across FOP, Frozen, Mine Train during the 10 days). Worst case I do it the next trip and plan on making sure at 60 Days + 10 I was on to book that FP+ right away.

 

[MK2010]

Just got back last week.
12/3: DHS- got a boarding group. Rode ToTx2, RnRx2, MMRR, MFSR, ST and TSMM. The line for SDD was ridiculous. Chose to not ride/see Muppets, AS saucers, Frozen. Very leisurely pace. Several coffee/snack breaks + afternoon break to ride Skyliner to AoA. No lines great than 60 (except SDD) although most wait time were inflated by 10 minutes or so.
12/4: MK- Longest wait at this park was 45 minutes. Rode Splashx2, BTMRRx2, 7DMTx2, Space, Buzz, Carousel, JC, POTC. Took a 6 hour break in the middle of the day. Wait times VERY inflated in this park. Sometimes as much as double.
12/5: Epcot- crazy crowded hard to maneuver. Rode TT, Soarin, Figment, and SE. Saw VoL. Strolled through the rest of World Showcase. Left early about 7 or 8. Did TT at RD. Wait time for Soarin was inflated by maybe 10-15 minutes. Figment wait time was doubled.
12/6: Spent the morning at Disney Springs because crowds are crazy at night. Strolled in to AK about 12. Rode KS, EEx2, Dinosaur, FoPx2. Wait times for most of the rides were an hour. Left just before close. Wait times very close to accurate.

Im used to FP+ and making sure to RD, take an afternoon break, then close down the parks. I have found that my old tried and true method does shorten the wait times as compared to now. I went in September and then last week. However, without FP+ I find myself actually DOING more rides, just because I'm willing to wait in the line. I would be willing to pay for MaxPass. Next Trip is end of February.

 

[SalBrocato]

I just saw some pictures of The Haunted Mansion Queue and Pirates of the Caribbean Queue with newly installed plexiglass dividers. Do you think Disney is doing this because they need the FastPass lines because they are bringing back FastPass+?