Why are lines so long?

[spleuchan]

So I am here right now, leaving tomorrow. This is our 5th trip in the last 10 years and the lines and transportation have been the worst we have seen. In the past, we rope dropped and were able to grt so much accomplished in the first two hours, ate lunch, returned to the hotel for a few hours of rest and pool and then had dinner/used fast passes and life was good. This trip the rides seemed packed with long waits in the first hour and we have not been able to accomplish much except the morning we did Epcot. One morning we rope dropped to btmr and splash, but both were down and no one told us until we got there. By the time we got to space mountain the wait was already 40 plus minutes.

Previous trips buses have been plentiful and relatively empty. This trip we have had to wait a while for buses and/or drivers (sometimes a bus would pull up quickly but we had to wait for a new driver or once we had a packed bus, but sat waiting for 20 minutes for the bus driver to get permission to take us to our hotel). Pretty much every bus we have been on packed.

The food has been great (free dining) and so has the resort, but why are the lines so long and transportation so bad compared with years past? Is Disney cutting back, are people getting smarter and planning better, are crowds up? Something else?

Im thinking this will be our last disney trip unless it goes back to the good ole days.

 

[MaC410]

Can't speak much on ride lines but what resort are you staying at? I notice a huge difference in bus service depending on where I'm staying.

 

[gumbydom]

Cheaper flights, more tourists, better informed visitors from boards like this?

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Nothing is ever as bad as it seems nor as good as you think. Is this the same time of year you've gone in the past? Has there been free dining when you've been there in the past? Many things, unfortunately, can have an impact on our trips.
I hope you still made great memories on this trip!

 

[Nick6300]

I'm not on here super often, but it seems like I repeatedly saw posts on why have the wait times been so low. This is one of the few I've seen to contradict that - outside of ToT maintenance and rainstorms affecting indoor attractions at MK and such. And I was bewildered because we've been tracking, several times per day for several weeks and the attractions seem pretty busy to me. EP right now is understandably not popular since before F&W, the construction, nothing new yet. Would have thought this would have been a calm before the storm of people. But maybe people are wanting to go before the craziness starts. During summer vacation instead of the holidays.

We are going this Thanksgiving and the opening of RoR with in-laws in tow (only their 2nd visit). Yikes.

 

[RamblingMad]

Try heading over to Universal for rope drop. I was there last weekend, and I didn’t experience long wait times in the morning. However, I did see large crowds at the Disney resorts I visited for planned dinners.

Your wait time experience is what I went through five years ago. We have since switched to only doing Disney on the west coast. However, the Disney app is far better today. Are you having trouble getting fast passes?

 

[spleuchan]

We are staying at boardwalk so we can walk/boat to epcot and HS, which is nice. Rain/thunderstorms have been more often (we had really good luck in the past). Two years ago we went over July 4th and lines/transportation seemed much better.. The other times were ltwice late august and once early december,, which were better times to go, but with kids being older are no longer possibilities.

 

[RamblingMad]

We are staying at boardwalk so we can walk/boat to epcot and HS, which is nice. Rain/thunderstorms have been more often (we had really good luck in the past). Two years ago we went over July 4th and lines/transportation seemed much better.. The other times were ltwice late august and once early december,, which were better times to go, but with kids being older are no longer possibilities.

I experienced rain in the afternoon and evening. It rained almost every evening with the worse of course being when we were at the Fort. So we aimed to get as much done before 2p.

Have you tried single rider lines?

 

[Scubadaddy32]

The wait times on the app don't look all that out of whack for this time of year. It's just busy... Plus, if you pick the wrong park on the wrong day you are in for long lines.
MK looks like tough park today, but the times are not that outrageous from what I usually see this time of year.
EP - Soarin is a 20 minute wait, Test Track 65 and Frozen 60 that's on the low side for summer.
HS - 90 for Tower, 70 for Rock'in and 80 for Slinky. Very typical for summer
AK - 145 Flight, 65 Dinosaur, 80 Everest... A little above average as well.

Looks like EPCOT would be the place to be today.
That's why you buy park hopper, if one park is crazy check out the app and move to one that's not!

 

[Disneypro1]

Lots of folks vacationing. The economy is booming. Great times in this Republic. We always go in early May. So it is very slow and minimal lines. You couldn’t pay me to go during school summer break. Too busy. DL is also much better in May. Someone mentioned single rider lines. Our family uses them all the time. More so at DL.

 

[Nick6300]

I experienced rain in the afternoon and evening. It rained almost every evening with the worse of course being when we were at the Fort. So we aimed to get as much done before 2p.

Have you tried single rider lines?

Ugh Aug rain at WDW. So frequent, but at least it's hot when it rains. We frequently come to WDW in Aug. and if possible, try to go towards the end of Aug., so that school is back in session for the locals. The end of this Aug., of course, will likely be a different story w/ GE.

Did you guys go to the park with EMH or did you go to a perceived lower crowd park ea. day (i.e. day after EMH park)?

May have to stick to FPs, SDFPs, RD and last ride, with shows and lower interest attractions at peak wait times. We don't like to RD EP anymore, even on Thurs with early EMH, because there's not as much there to hit early or FP with the tiering.

 

[DisneyArkie]

This week is the National Assemblies of God / Fine Arts convention. Brings in adults and kids from all over.

 

[Turk February]

I think you really answered your own question at the end of your post. It's a combination of a bunch of factors. Free dining, operational cutbacks, better planning, etc. Wait times don't seem very excessive for this time of year though.

 

[Turk February]

The wait times on the app don't look all that out of whack for this time of year. It's just busy... Plus, if you pick the wrong park on the wrong day you are in for long lines.
MK looks like tough park today, but the times are not that outrageous from what I usually see this time of year.
EP - Soarin is a 20 minute wait, Test Track 65 and Frozen 60 that's on the low side for summer.
HS - 90 for Tower, 70 for Rock'in and 80 for Slinky. Very typical for summer
AK - 145 Flight, 65 Dinosaur, 80 Everest... A little above average as well.

Looks like EPCOT would be the place to be today.
That's why you buy park hopper, if one park is crazy check out the app and move to one that's not!

The difficult thing with that for a lot of people (like myself) is that Disney has conditioned us to plan so far in advance with dining and FPs that unless you're willing/able to adjust on the fly, you're kinda stuck with what you spent half a year planning on any given day.

 

[DisneyOma]

This week is the National Assemblies of God / Fine Arts convention. Brings in adults and kids from all over.

That's not on Disney property though, is it?

 

[DisneyArkie]

That's not on Disney property though, is it?

Lol, no it’s at the convention center, but it brings in tons of people who on their free time or free days will go to Disney.

 

[Mainemama]

I am here now (arrived 7/25) and have been having different luck. We have had great transportation luck, and are finding the crowds very manageable. It sounds like you ran into some bad luck. MK this morning was busier than last Friday, but we rode Buzz, Small World, Tea Cups, Big Thunder, 7Dwarves, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Splash, and Space between 8:00 and 12:00, which feels like manageable crowds. We have also picked up evening FPs this week on Frozen, Soaring, Flight of Passage, and Peter Pan. I hope things go more smoothly for you later.

 

[Nick6300]

The wait times on the app don't look all that out of whack for this time of year. It's just busy... Plus, if you pick the wrong park on the wrong day you are in for long lines.
MK looks like tough park today, but the times are not that outrageous from what I usually see this time of year.
EP - Soarin is a 20 minute wait, Test Track 65 and Frozen 60 that's on the low side for summer.
HS - 90 for Tower, 70 for Rock'in and 80 for Slinky. Very typical for summer
AK - 145 Flight, 65 Dinosaur, 80 Everest... A little above average as well.

Looks like EPCOT would be the place to be today.
That's why you buy park hopper, if one park is crazy check out the app and move to one that's not!

It's Fri - MK EMH early day. So it makes sense if MK is busier. EP should be the low wait park fairly regularly for a while with the refurb, lack of new attractions or events. We definitely use park hopper... but it doesn't help that much, if 3 of the 4 (except EP) is pretty busy ea. day. You could PH with what you get SDFP (i.e. FoP, SD, 7D), but also losing that hr for transit. We like to PH from the early EMH day to the low crowds park and PH to the late park in the evenings, but I think many plan to do that as well, as Turk February stated.

 

[DisneyOma]

Lol, no it’s at the convention center, but it brings in tons of people who on their free time or free days will go to Disney.

That's true of any convention down there though, and there's a constant stream of them in Orlando. It's the ones that are onsite that make the difference.

 

[DisneyArkie]

That's true of any convention down there though, and there's a constant stream of them in Orlando. It's the ones that are onsite that make the difference.

I’m familiar with the convention center being a busy place. What your not familiar with is how many youth attend this week long event which could cause this week to be busier. I’m not a rookie I know Disney is always busy. I just suggested this event could be a factor with others things already mentioned.