WOW - wait times

[The Foolish Mortal]

Sounds like you zigged while we zagged. The line for Haunted Mansion was 50 min. We left at 3, before party guests arrived unless they have day passes. MK overall was much less busy during our July 4th trip.

Probably. I rode HM three straight times as a walk on, but it was right when the park opened to general admission. I actually received the caretaker card for being the first rider of the day!

 

[choirbird]

Probably. I rode HM three straight times as a walk on, but it was right when the park opened to general admission. I actually received the caretaker card for being the first rider of the day!

I didn’t know this was a thing but now I want it! (Unlikely as we are staying offsite…and getting to park open is tough with a baby in tow)

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I didn’t know this was a thing but now I want it! (Unlikely as we are staying offsite…and getting to park open is tough with a baby in tow)

I am not much of a memento kind of person, but I plan to hang out to this card (even though it got a little water damaged by the torrential downpour later that day).

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Probably. I rode HM three straight times as a walk on, but it was right when the park opened to general admission. I actually received the caretaker card for being the first rider of the day!

Yeah, rope drop lines are usually great especially when you’re not doing headliners. That’s awesome about the caretaker card!

 

[weather_lady]

I was there

wow. The wait times look insane today, even MK on a party day.

Can anyone there confirm it’s crazy crowded? I’m surprised by the wait times given how the rest of the month has seemed. Is something going on I’m unaware of? Nervous for my trip starting next Thursday !

I was there all last week. I can confirm that it was NOT crazy crowded.

While it's true that actual wait times are higher than they could or should be (because Disney is reacting to the lower crowds by running rides at reduced capacity), we found that actual waits were typically 50%-66% -- that is, half to two-thirds -- of the posted wait times, especially for the more popular rides. During the last hour of park opening when Disney is discouraging people from getting in line, wait times were inflated to ludicrous levels (e.g., posting 45 minutes at Jungle Cruise and Millennium Falcon when both were walk-ons).

One can't help but wonder how many ILLs and G+ purchases Disney tricks people into buying, when they see those wait times and think they "need" them. It's fraud, dressed up as an amenity.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I was there

I was there all last week. I can confirm that it was NOT crazy crowded.

While it's true that actual wait times are higher than they could or should be (because Disney is reacting to the lower crowds by running rides at reduced capacity), we found that actual waits were typically 50%-66% -- that is, half to two-thirds -- of the posted wait times, especially for the more popular rides.

This info is very accurate. The couple rides where I actually compared the posted time versus the actual wait, Peter Pan was posted as 30 minutes but was actually 12, Buzz was posted as 20 minutes but was actually 8, and Pirates was posted as 20 minutes but was actually 5. And that doesn't include multiple other lines that had posted times but were actually walk ons

 

[Happyjen27]

Any thoughts on whether wait times listed being greater than actual waits to help console nervous shareholders about a slow time?
In addition to the fact that they run rides slow, fewer tracks or cars, less staff, etc.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Any thoughts on whether wait times listed being greater than actual waits to help console nervous shareholders about a slow time?

Shareholders are not basing their conclusions on posted wait times. They use much better metrics to make their decisions

 

[parasail_of_congress]

I was there

I was there all last week. I can confirm that it was NOT crazy crowded.

While it's true that actual wait times are higher than they could or should be (because Disney is reacting to the lower crowds by running rides at reduced capacity), we found that actual waits were typically 50%-66% -- that is, half to two-thirds -- of the posted wait times, especially for the more popular rides. During the last hour of park opening when Disney is discouraging people from getting in line, wait times were inflated to ludicrous levels (e.g., posting 45 minutes at Jungle Cruise and Millennium Falcon when both were walk-ons).

One can't help but wonder how many ILLs and G+ purchases Disney tricks people into buying, when they see those wait times and think they "need" them. It's fraud, dressed up as an amenity.

I always find it hilarous that people think Disney needs to be fradulent on posting inaccurate wait times to make money.

Are the wait times inflated? It depends on numerous factors, but during the regular part of the day, under regular circumstances, they are reseasonably accurate (within 10-15 percent). At the end of the night, they discourage people from getting into line near when the park closes. If rides are down and/or come back online, or other random things that happen, the wait times will not always be accurate at that particular time.

Touring Plans is more accurate, but you can compare the daily graphs and see that they aren't drastically different over time.

 

[weather_lady]

I always find it hilarous that people think Disney needs to be fradulent on posting inaccurate wait times to make money.

Are the wait times inflated? It depends on numerous factors, but during the regular part of the day, under regular circumstances, they are reseasonably accurate (within 10-15 percent). At the end of the night, they discourage people from getting into line near when the park closes. If rides are down and/or come back online, or other random things that happen, the wait times will not always be accurate at that particular time.

Touring Plans is more accurate, but you can compare the daily graphs and see that they aren't drastically different over time.

Respectfully disagree. I don't know what the statistics are for other dates and seasons, but as I stated, in our experience last week, the wait times reported by Disney were inflated by 30-50% consistently, and by as much as 1000% during the last hour of park operation -- and yes, we timed them to see. You may try and argue that our experience is not typical, but it's what happened.