I agree with KPeveler that WDW having mostly mainstream lines makes a difference compared to
Disneyland.
In many cases, the waiting area is just a separated off part of the regular line, like this one for the the Circle of Life movie at The Land in Epcot.
There are also mitigating factors, such as crowd levels and individual ride factors, such as staffing at the time.
How many accessible ride cars are running at the time can affect both those waiting for the accessible ride car and those not. If there are 2 running, those waiting in that area will wait a shorter time than if there is only one. Some have no way to 'pull forward' those who are not waiting for the accessible ride car, so their wait is dependent on how many are in that line, not how many are waiting for the accessible ride car.
And some, like Dinosaur, have a small area for boarding and no accessible ride car. Someone who walks, but needs to use the elevator to get to that area is going to have to wait the same as someone using a wheelchair who used the elevator.
Many attractions are only allowed a certain number of guests with special needs inside the ride at one time.
And, on Toy Story Mania, CMs have told me that the accessible ride car is the only one generally brought into the accessible boarding area. If they are running with one accessible ride car, that means one is loaded there about every 7 minutes (which is one ride circuit). If there are 2 accessible cars running, the wait will be half that.
The exception is that they are allowed to 'pull' one regular ride car pod from the line when they have to convert the accessible ride car for use with a wheelchair. This is because it can take almost one ride circuit to convert the ride car for use with a wheelchair and back.
Timing can also make a big difference. We have arrived at Toy Story when there are people waiting all the way from where the ramp begins.
We have also occassionally been really lucky and gotten there when we came right into the accessible boarding room, with only a few people waiting there.
That is what can make the biggest difference in the wait.
I agree 100% with KPeveler that it is difficut to judge as there are so many Factors that come into play.
Like Piper reports that she always waits longer but only posts every once in a great while that she is waiting for the wheelchair accessible ride vehicle. That makes a HUGE difference in your wait! And is important to know, at least in my opinion it is. Because I don't typically wait nearly as long. I usually have very short waits, but I do not need the special ride vehicle like she does, so therefore, I don't have to wait as long because I am not waiting for that particular 'ride car' or boat.
It may or may not make a difference.
And, if it does, it is usually only one ride circuit (the time it takes to cycle the accessible ride car thru the ride, along with whether or not they are running more than one accessible ride car).
For example, at Small World, if you are in the accessible line, it does not usually make much difference whether or not you are waiting for the wheelchair accessible boat. The waiting line is narrow, so it is difficult to pull anyone from farther back to put them into a boat ahead of someone waiting for the accessible boat.
We are waiting for that boat and have sometimes been pulled to wait out of the line when we get to the front and let others by us who do not need that boat (but only when we have worked our way down to get to the front).
This is a picture of the Small World accessible line - the picture is taken from where we were waiting for the accessible boat after we got to the front of the line. The guests on the left would get on the next boat. The guests on the right side of the picture are waiting in the accessible line.
At the time that picture was taken, it went all the way to the top of the ramp. Some obviously have guests with wheelchairs or
ECVs in their group. Others did not and had a Guest Assistance Card.
The wait in that accessible line can sometimes be much longer, whether or not you are waiting for the accessible boat.
For example, on our trip in October 2012, my husband and daughter did something else while I went on something DD could not go on. We planned to meet up at Small World. It took me a little longer than planned and by the time I got there, they had already been waiting for 25 minutes (I know when they got into line, because DH texted me when they got into the line).
That line was filled all the way to the start of the line - some guest with wheelchairs or ECVs, some with children with a GAC - I saw several show their GAC and get into line as I was deciding what to do. Because the line was so full, it would have been hard to get to DH and DD, as they were about 15 feet from the boarding area. So, I got into the regular line and arranged that DH and and DD would go for something to drink since they would be done before me.
I waited for 20 minutes in line before boarding. As it turned out, the boat they were loaded into was only 3 boats ahead of the one I got loaded into; we were done within about 2 minutes of each other.
DH told me that they were
not 'held' while others were loaded ahead of them for that line. Anyone in that line at the time did wait 25 minutes MORE than they would have in the regular line, regardless of whether or not they needed the accessible boat.
I also noticed when I was there 2 weeks ago that they are starting to load Toy Story Midway Mania much more effectively!!! Woo Hoo!!
For example, we were a party of two and there was an opening for two so they pulled us out of line and filled in the empty car with us. So they are trying to send the ride vehicles thru as full as possible instead of worrying about the party order. Where before they would have left those seats empty if the next party was more than two. Now they are working on effectively filling the seats!! It really makes better sense and in the end moves the line even faster overall for everyone in the HC accessible line there. I commented to mgt that I was glad to see that change implemented, and honestly it was about time someone figured out how to do it!
That is not new.
They have always done that.
The 'regular' ride car pods at Toy Story can hold 8 guests. There are 2 'pods' in a ride car and each pod has 2 rows, back to back that can seat 4 guests.
The accessible ride car pod can seat only 6 because one of the rows is part of the access for accessibility.
When we ride with 2, 3 or 4 in our party, they have always pulled other people to fill the ride car IF there are any groups of the right size to ride with us.
As people turn the corner entering into the accessible boarding area, the CMs do ask how many are in each party and whether or not they can transfer.
Many times, there are no groups they can combine because all groups are 5 or 6. There are times also times when the groups are too tightly packed to get anyone from farther back to the front, especially if someone who is using an
ECV or wheelchair, but can transfer would need to get by a number of other wheelchairs.
When we get to the front, while we are waiting for the accessible car to come thru, they often pull us forward into a holding area past the gate so they can board others who don't need the accessible ride car. This is when they call for a non-accessible ride car.
How many parties load ahead of us depends on the size of the groups who are waiting. If there is one group of 8, they will take the whole regular ride car.
If it's less than 8, they will take groups that equal 8 to fill up the ride car.
This was even in the beginning, when the ride first opened.
When it is very busy, we have even seen them pull guests from the regular line to board in the accessible area to fill cars as much as possible. Since the regular line boards on one side of the ride car and exits on the other just ahead of the accessible area, they have some guests walk thru the ride car to the exit side and then board at the accessible area.
This picture shows the accessible ride car in the process of having the seat removed for a wheelchair to load.
Our party of 2 was waiting to the right of the open gate area for them to convert it so DD and I could load into the wheelchair car.
You can see the other car in the pod already has people loaded into it. They were part of another group of 4 who were loaded into our same ride car to fill it up. They were taken out of order because the group right behind us was too big.
The cars other than those 2 are in the regular track. The boarding area is toward the middle of the picture (you can see people boarding between the accessible ride car and the one just above it, which has people in it who will get out when the ride car reaches the boarding/unload area.
When there is a special boarding area or line, we usually watch the people getting into the regular line right ahead of us. Often we can see them getting off when they are done, so we know that we waited at least one ride cycle longer than we would have if we could have used the regular entrance.
We also have times when we are with a larger group and some of us are in the regular boarding area and some in the other area. Most of the time, the people using the 'regular' access are done at the same time or sooner. Specifically at Toy Story, I have been with the 'regular' group and could see DH, DD and the grandmas still waiting at the accessible boarding area when we got off.
I am NOT saying there will always be an additional wait, just that guests should not plan that using a GAC will save them time. It was designed for giving assistance related to a disability, not shortening waits.