Am I less of a hard core Disney Fan, as I don't want to wait (long)?

[Alison Newnham]

This has been interesting reading and took me back to our last WDW visit all of 17 years ago. We did wait in lines for a LONG time despite having index cards with strategies for each day gleaned from a guide book I'd devoured. But I remember having fun chatting to people around us, eating biscuits and enjoying the theming which far surpassed anything we have in the UK. Plus we Brits love to queue! It's a national obsession, or so we're led to believe. Also, when you've come all that way (and back then a family holiday to Orlando was usually a one-off special affair) and you haven't understood about planning ahead of course you're going to wait it out if it's your only chance to ride that ride or meet that character.
I'm back in July with my sis, nephew and my youngest, so 3 adults and I doubt if we'll stand in line for as long as we did back then. But we just might.....

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

prove it.

I want to ride 7 dwarfs at 2:00pm tomorrow and I have no FP.

Share your hardcore fan secret of how to make the 90 minute line a 30 minute line.

I love how everyone on this thread is making outrageous claims....but no one will tell you how they accomplish this impossible task.


The only way to not wait 30 minutes or more is to avoid all headliners from 10AM-10PM.

I'm not paying $5,000 to spend my day watching Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. I'd love to spend my vacation riding nothing but headliners with less than 30 minute waits! Please, be specific and share your hardcore secrets!

Anyone who claims they can ride Space Mountain in the afternoon with no wait and no FP+ is a liar.

Why so spicy? I think all any of us are saying is that, as you infer, we ride E -tickets early and/ or late, or else we use FP+.

I don't know that it is a secret per se, but our usual pattern of touring at MK is to lineup FP+ for late morning (11:00am or so) thru early afternoon (2pm). That means we have three biggies in the middle of the day. After the FPs are used we go to the kiosk and get some more for stuff like Jungle Cruise, POTC, IASW, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz, Ariel ride, etc. We have had great success in getting FP+ for these rides in nearby time windows. We fill in the gaps in time by eating, shopping, watching parades and shows, and so on. If for some crazy reason we can't get on something without waiting less than 30 minutes, 99 times out of a 100 we skip it until next time. Wash...rinse...repeat. This is how we do an MK day.

PS: They do still offer additional FP+ after you have used your three, right? I haven't been to WDW since March so I may have missed something.

 

[JoWilly]

Just lately seeing the waiting times for some rides, I was really starting to wonder why do people wait that long..

Who are these people and what drives them to wait 4 hours plus for Soarin' and other rides.

I remember checking waiting times before my 2014 trip in the weeks leading up my departure, for SDMT and Elsa and Anna meet and greet. the coaster was 4 plus hour and at one point the M&G was 6 plus.

Now I have to caveat this as my trips are normally 2 weeks and I have a ticket throughout so technically that's 42 FP+ (and now with the potential for an extra 1 a day that could add up to a whopping 56).

Also I try to avoid the "peaky" peak seasons like Summer and Christmas.

Lastly I don't have the pester power yet as DS is only 2 and a half. Although even though I'd die for him there is no way I'm waiting 7 hours for him to meet someone.

I do love Disney and try to visit every chance I get. Once one trip is over I trying to frantically save up for the next one, but I can never imagine waiting these sort of times.

Honestly if it's above 60min I just avoid it totally!!

Now that just me and anyone can spend (and should spend) their Vay-cay time however they chose and if waiting is you thing then it's your thing - I'm just wondering why and am I missing out on a essential right of passage of Disney if I don't wait?

I refuse to stand in line longer than 20 minutes. We've been doing multiple trips annually for years and I have never broken that rule. We plan, do rope drop, take advantage of the summer rain fret that most other guests have, and of course FP.

 

[Cotton's Parrot]

I refuse to stand in line longer than 20 minutes. We've been doing multiple trips annually for years and I have never broken that rule. We plan, do rope drop, take advantage of the summer rain fret that most other guests have, and of course FP.

Yup, we're the same way. We've been there enough times, and know we'll be back, that we're just not going to wait for anything longer than a 20 minute standby time. We have enough "oldies but goodies" attractions that we love that usually have minimal wait times and we'll just head to one of those. For us, it's more about just being in the parks and soaking up that WDW atmosphere. Now obviously if you're taking a once in a lifetime trip, your attitude will be quite different. In that case, plan, plan, plan. Book your FP's early and often. Get to the parks at rope drop. Take advantage of EMH's. Go during slower times (if your schedule permits.) There's no mystical secret for avoiding the long lines, just smart planning.

 

[VACamm]

30 minutes is the absolute max we will wait for anything. Honestly, anything more than 20 and we are like "seriously?!?" We go every year. We go during quiet times of the year because we like being spoiled with short lines.

This is us to a tee. We don't wait longer than 20 min... we usually ride during rope drop early morning times and then switch to FP only. We go every year so we are fortunate not to have to feel like we NEED to ride everything each visit. Waiting 60 minutes for anything sounds like torture.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I can't imagine waiting 4-6 hours for anything, but I know we waited 90 minutes for several rides during our first trip. We knew how to work the Fastpass system, and we could have come back another time. However, we had plenty of time (14 night trip), and we believed it would be a one time trip (foolish mortals!). It was also a Christmas trip, and all of the lines were long. However, we took advantage of the extended hours, and considered the longer hours as a trade-off for longer lines. We brought little games to play in line and had a fabulous trip.

 

[DougEMG]

So you come back before 10:00AM or after 10:00PM. So, tell me, what do you do for the 12 hours between 10-10 when lines are longer than 20 minutes?

We use about 4-5 FP+ a day. While walking around we'll only enter lines that are 20 minutes or less. Once we're out of FP+ and the standby lines get too long, we'll leave the park. So we might only be in the park for 4-5 hours which lets us do about 4-6 things. After that we'll leave the park. We go for long trips and we've been and done everything lots of times, so I'd much rather do just about anything else (swim, read, eat, watch TV, shop, go for a walk, resort hop, etc.) than stand in a long line.

 

[DougEMG]

I want to ride 7 dwarfs at 2:00pm tomorrow and I have no FP.

You will be out of luck.

 

[Dis703]

My usual max wait time is 20 minutes, but I can think of 3 times I waited in line for 30 minutes. Once for 7DMT during a party with my sister and her BF who had never been on it before and twice for a M&G where the line ended up longer than it was posted. 4 hours just seems completely insane to me and I'm not sure you could even pay me to stand in a line that long.

Does that make me less of a fan? I don't think so, but I'm not really competing to be the number one Disney fan or anything, so if it does, oh well. I will happily remain the lesser fan who still rides everything I want to ride and doesn't wait in long lines.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Unless there is a pot of gold at the end I am not standing in line that long.

 

[Crystal824]

20 min. is usually my cut off point for waiting unless the attraction is new.

 

[hedywill]

I'm in the 30 minute club myself. I just can't imagine waiting 90 minutes or more in line for a ride.

 

[Sparkly]

What do I do when I'm out of FP? I go do the Peoplemover/COP/Philarmagic/people watch, hang out and enjoy the scenery with a dole whip or even leave the park and dunk my feet in the pool and read a book back at the resort. Or you can even actually get more then 3 now, of course that's subject to availability, as ever. And yes, I do have a DAS too, although I can count on one hand the amount of times I actually used it last trip!

I won't wait more then 30-40 minutes for rides either. Characters I make an exception for if they're rare ones I haven't met yet. Didn't bat an eye at waiting an hour for Hiro and Baymax last March. We usually manage, with careful use of FP+ and some late nights to do everything we desire and have a smashing time.

 

[nooneshome]

prove it.

I want to ride 7 dwarfs at 2:00pm tomorrow and I have no FP.

Share your hardcore fan secret of how to make the 90 minute line a 30 minute line.

I love how everyone on this thread is making outrageous claims....but no one will tell you how they accomplish this impossible task.


The only way to not wait 30 minutes or more is to avoid all headliners from 10AM-10PM.

I'm not paying $5,000 to spend my day watching Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. I'd love to spend my vacation riding nothing but headliners with less than 30 minute waits! Please, be specific and share your hardcore secrets!

Anyone who claims they can ride Space Mountain in the afternoon with no wait and no FP+ is a liar.

I believe I said hard core Disney fans know how to avoid long lines not make them disappear. Seriously...

 

[Magpie]

prove it.

I want to ride 7 dwarfs at 2:00pm tomorrow and I have no FP.

Share your hardcore fan secret of how to make the 90 minute line a 30 minute line.

I love how everyone on this thread is making outrageous claims....but no one will tell you how they accomplish this impossible task.


The only way to not wait 30 minutes or more is to avoid all headliners from 10AM-10PM.

I'm not paying $5,000 to spend my day watching Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. I'd love to spend my vacation riding nothing but headliners with less than 30 minute waits! Please, be specific and share your hardcore secrets!

Anyone who claims they can ride Space Mountain in the afternoon with no wait and no FP+ is a liar.

I never wait more than 30 minutes in line, and I accomplish this miracle the same way everyone else does...

* Rope Drop and/or pre-opening Breakfast ressies.

* Judicious use of Fastpass Plus.

* Afternoon naps.

* Late nights.

* One week (or longer) visits.

* Park hoppers!

I want to ride Seven Dwarves at 2pm tomorrow and I have no FP...? Well, I just accept that I'm not riding it at that time! But that's okay, because I have three Seven Dwarves FP's for other times this week, and besides, I'm planning to be sleeping off lunch in my resort room at 2pm anyway. My days are packed, riding rides, seeing shows and eating too much. I need my beauty sleep!

Anyhoo, to answer your question... that's how I spend MY vacation enjoying everything Disney has to offer, headliners and non-headliners alike, with less than 30 minute waits. Nothing "outrageous" about it.

BTW, I am certainly not a "superfan". I leave that designation to people who live, breathe and eat off matching Disney dishes twenty-four/seven.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Nobody with any sense wants to wait in a line.

So, make efficient use of your time and come up with a strategy. Rope drop and FastPasses are your friend. Killing time between lunch and dinner is your friend. Fireworks are your friend.

 

[keishashadow]

Nobody with any sense wants to wait in a line.

So, make efficient use of your time and come up with a strategy. Rope drop and FastPasses are your friend. Killing time between lunch and dinner is your friend. Fireworks are your friend.

wanted to shout out that PM EMH typically has shorter waits @ MK for days we've visited, Epcot to a lesser degree when everything is up & running