How accurate are posted wait times?

[mtemm]

I know wdw often tends to overstate a wee bit. Does DL? I am going in a month and have been watching wait times off and on and wondering how accurate they are, or even something that shows “if line for x is here, it’s typically this long”

 

[ctjsowens]

I know wdw often tends to overstate a wee bit. Does DL? I am going in a month and have been watching wait times off and on and wondering how accurate they are, or even something that shows “if line for x is here, it’s typically this long”

We're here now and for example Big Thunder was saying a 60min wait, was actually about 25. Radiator Springs Racers was showing 120 but we were actually in line in excess of 200 minutes

 

[DLRExpert]

I would say on average it is 5-10 minutes less than the wait time shown.
However, if you get in line just before the wait time increase it will be longer.

 

[ONeilcool]

We're here now and for example Big Thunder was saying a 60min wait, was actually about 25. Radiator Springs Racers was showing 120 but we were actually in line in excess of 200 minutes

Using Radiator Spring Racers as an example is a little unfair since it almost certainly broke down while you were waiting in line. In general the wait times are huge over estimates unless there is an issue.

 

[mtemm]

Thanks! Ouch to radiator springs. I’m especially interested in how accurate haunted mansion has been about 9am. I know hmh is popular but wow it climbs fast!

 

[ctjsowens]

Using Radiator Spring Racers as an example is a little unfair since it almost certainly broke down while you were waiting in line. In general the wait times are huge over estimates unless there is an issue.

Actually it did stop but for only apx 5 minutes. I find that wait times are usually way off both at Disneyland and Disneyworld. I've got to the point that I don't look much at times anymore. If I want to ride it I'll wait as long as it takes.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Thanks! Ouch to radiator springs. I’m especially interested in how accurate haunted mansion has been about 9am. I know hmh is popular but wow it climbs fast!

Haunted Mansion appears fairly accurate. You can see the hoards of people snaking all over New Orleans Square when the wait time is that high. It was 180 minutes today at one point and it looked it.

Side note: I really truly love HMH but I don't for the life of me know who are these people waiting 180 minutes for it.

 

[mtemm]

Haunted Mansion appears fairly accurate. You can see the hoards of people snaking all over New Orleans Square when the wait time is that high. It was 180 minutes today at one point and it looked it.

Side note: I really truly love HMH but I don't for the life of me know who are these people waiting 180 minutes for it.

I have never ridden HMH and cannot imagine waiting that long for it (or anything, really)

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

I go by the look of the line. I use wait times as a rough idea. One thing for sure is that if a big ride has a rare low time posted it will be get bombed with people fast, so I wouldn't rush across the park for a low posted wait time.

 

[Angel141925]

Also another thing to keep in mind is posted times are from the time you get in line until the time you reach the ride vehicle so rides that have a lot of preshow stuff like rise may feel shorter because of all that.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Wanted to add that Web Slingers is almost always longer than the posted wait time, sometimes significantly longer. It’s a brutal queue.

 

[mtemm]

I go by the look of the line. I use wait times as a rough idea. One thing for sure is that if a big ride has a rare low time posted it will be get bombed with people fast, so I wouldn't rush across the park for a low posted wait time.

Good point!

Wanted to add that Web Slingers is almost always longer than the posted wait time, sometimes significantly longer. It’s a brutal queue.

I’m hoping I can single rider web slingers so maybe not too awful

 

[pharmama]

Good point!

I’m hoping I can single rider web slingers so maybe not too awful

SR is a decent option for WS timewise but the outdoor portion of the queue is still brutal if it's hot/sunny out as it's not very well shaded. And you tend to stand in one spot a bit longer than in the regular queue as the SR queue is only funneled through one of the preshow rooms (so it's only every other preshow room loading that they pull SR guests in). I felt like I was getting roasted by the sun against the brick wall in the SR queue for WS on my September visit.

 

[Angel141925]

Wanted to add that Web Slingers is almost always longer than the posted wait time, sometimes significantly longer. It’s a brutal queue.

I hate that que!!!! It’s so deceiving.

 

[DLgal]

It's almost always more accurate to eyeball the line when you can. But that takes a lot of experience.

In general, I find wait times overstated by about 20%. However, if there seems to be a mismatch between what the app shows and what you can see with your eyes, go with what you can see with your eyes.

 

[lalasmama]

Good point!

I’m hoping I can single rider web slingers so maybe not too awful

If you're willing to do SRL, that's often the way to go for RSR. However if the SRL is to the overpass/bridge/trestle thing, that's about 45 minutes, so come back Ideally, wait to do RSR SRL until you can't see the SRL.

 

[mtemm]

If you're willing to do SRL, that's often the way to go for RSR. However if the SRL is to the overpass/bridge/trestle thing, that's about 45 minutes, so come back Ideally, wait to do RSR SRL until you can't see the SRL.

Thank you! That is helpful info

 

[katyringo]

We didn't do a lot of standby this trip because the crowds were high. The few that we did we found the wait times to be fairly accurate. What I would watch for is how long the LL is. When it got backed up, the standby would freeze for a bit.

 

[twodogs]

We didn't do a lot of standby this trip because the crowds were high. The few that we did we found the wait times to be fairly accurate. What I would watch for is how long the LL is. When it got backed up, the standby would freeze for a bit.

This seems especially true on Web Slingers (and somewhat true on RSR). When the ride goes down, the line builds very quickly for SB. But then all the ILL$ folks would rush back to use their ILL (this was prior to last week when it stopped being an ILL$), and they would put nearly all people from the ILL$ line in (which I agree with since they paid for it). The ILL line snaked all the way back around the building to the exit of the ride!! I knew the SB wait was going to be 2 hours or more at that point, and it literally did not move for 10-15 minutes at a time. We just went ahead and left the SB line because it was so hot.

I agree with others that if you have been there enough, you can judge just by looking at the line yourself. But that doesn’t help an infrequent visitor….It is very helpful to me now that I have been a few times, as sometimes they over or understate it. I think WS is very often understated and takes much longer than posted.