At this point, I honestly am not sure if this is actually what I read, or what I’ve extrapolated - perhaps mistakenly - from what I’ve read, so please correct me if it’s wrong… my understanding was that the LT data was conducted by watching tap-ins at HM, with the assumption that a blue light = DAS user, and then those who immediately follow the DAS user are their party.
I haven’t ever paid attention to the color of other people’s tap-ins, so despite my frequent park visits, I’ve not got even anecdotal data on that for comparison. I can say that HM is one of very few attractions at which I’ve ever seen a LL backup, so I understand using it as an example… but at the same time is it a fair comparison with the dozens of other attractions at which the LL rarely if ever back up? This feels like math and I’m not math-y.
One other thing I keep thinking about is perception of wait time and when does a LL wait end. Using HM as the example again, I’ve sometimes happened to arrive at the LL right behind multiple other parties and it takes a few minutes for them all to get tapped and into the actual queue: I don’t consider that part of my wait time. Once I’ve tapped in, I consider the LL wait time to be the walk from tapstiles to the point where LL merges with Standby - where we all congregate as a mass in the courtyard before the entry doors. Any additional waiting in that courtyard, in the stretching room, in the indoor portion of the queue, I do not consider part of the LL wait time, though it is part of my total amount of time waiting to board the ride. That distinction, depending on the attraction, can be a difference between a 5-min wait or a 20-min wait. I’d like to have a better understanding of what these reports of rampant 30+ minute waits for LL users are based on, because while a 30+ minute wait could be problematic for a DAS user in general, if only 5 mins of that was in the actual LL lane, the DAS/LL isn’t the problem. Maybe it’s a problem in that if most of that HM courtyard is full of DAS/LL users, it’s causing longer waits in Standby, but reducing the number of DAS parties entering via LL isn’t going to change how long the wait is from merge point to ride boarding for everyone: that’s still going to be filled to capacity on a busy day, as are the stretching rooms and indoor queue. ETA: I mean to mention, too, that I frequently submit wait time data to the TP app and it specifically wants users to wait to hit Submit until they are *about to board*, so their data is including the LL AND the merged wait when LL wait time data is entered by users.
… uncertainty is the worst and being afraid something that was really amazingly wonderful might lose that amazing wonder is that is an awful place to be.
