Caution: Wait times low crowd days

[TheSouthernBelle]

I think Disney is trying to even out crowds and wait times so there is no "slow time" anymore. You will wait in line roughly the same amount of time no matter when you go. One way to accomplish this is to reduce staff at slower times. Lines increase and wait time inflate. It seems like they do not want any slow times anymore. We see constant threads about slow times, i.e. "tell me about crowds at the end of May" "how slow is the second week of July?" "Which is slower, the first week of Aug or the second week of Sept?"

I just tell people to go when it's convenient because it does not matter anymore.

I think that's the mantra to follow, bc crowd levels is not always an indicator of how good your trip will be. Our experience is that with FP, ADRs and a little touring preplan, you can have a great trip with high crowds and you can still have a crap trip with low crowds. Doesn't really matter. We've been at all times and we prefer Feb and June, it's our sweet spot for crowds, weather and time off.

 

[walker0829]

I don’t understand them using one side of Space for standby and one for FP. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to use both sides but hold the standby line to let some FP guests on — like most rides? We saw standby waits of 60 minutes yet only about 20 guests in line to use the right side (FP side) of Space. Why do they do this?

I thought the same thing! It would be so much more efficient to load the standby line to the FP line when it shrinks. It's like Disney has set this expectation that the FastPass line has to be instant access to the ride. It can't just be a much more reduced wait time, it needs to be no wait!

 

[whiporee]

Hmmm, and when was my last visit? When was the worst experience I've ever had at Disney? Yeah, that would be January 2018. So, maybe I just got an unlucky coincidence? Sure, but I don't think that the number of bad experiences that people have had being on the rise is a coincidence. There's a reason. Maybe it's not short staffing, but there's a downward trend in what WDW offers in guest value now compared to six, eight, or ten years ago. That's no coincidence.

I don't doubt you had a bad trip -- I remember you had suckiness with EMM to start the whole thing off, didn't you -- and while I've not noticed a dropoff in service or experience or value compared to the rest of the decade we've been going as a family, I believe people when they say they have. I can tell you it's a better experience now than it was 30 years ago when I went as a kid, and I think the overall customer experience with FP+ is better for more people than the overall experience of FP-, or pre FP, where the vast majority of your time was required standing in lines. While app stalkers may see high wait times, I don't see tons of people here talking about spending their whole day in one line or the other.

Our -- yours and mine -- conversation on this thread has been about WDW reducing capacity. For the time you were there, that was happening. Maybe not to the extent that its been projected, but it is fact to say it did occur. But it's also documented that that has not been the case for 70 days -- since at least mid February. TP has not shown any capacity reduction at MK. So the statements made here by many that WDW is routinely doing that are not supported by any evidence beyond anecdote. The data and counts show it is not happening. If someone doubts data -- and I know that's a popular thing these days -- then there's no point in having any conversation, and everyone will continue to believe what they believe.

I'm a pretty avid reader of this board -- it's good brain candy when i should be doing other things -- and I actually don't see a lot of bad experiences written about here. And when i do -- like I did when you had your issue with EMM -- I've seen WDW make efforts to do the right thing (they certainly did with me after my bad trip four years ago). What I do see is a lot of negative opinions towards the place from people who aren't actually there -- taking the experiences seen from a distance and extrapolating them into bigger and damning picture. But I don't see a lot of people having bad times. I don't see a lot of people who actually do these add ons and don't enjoy them. I see a lot of opinions about the fairness or rightness of WDW offering the add ons in the first place, but I see very few people who do them and feel ripped off (I mean, you got a full refund for EMM, didn't you? I got three days comped for my less-than-stellar week). So I'd disagree that the number of bad experiences is on the rise. I've no doubt the number of bad opinions is, though.

 

[revdon64]

Yes, I started the thread "Early Morning Magic Fail" on January 9th. But that was just the beginning of a week filled with epic fails. Ride breakdowns, rude or just plain disinterested CMs, we even had a power failure at our resort that week. While DW was most frustrated with the bad CMs, my biggest problem was with the FP+ system and its inherent lack of flexibility. The only way to make it work for you now is to make plans as early as possible and don't deviate from those plans. Case in point, Jan 11th our plan was to spend the morning at EPCOT and then hop over to HS for our FPs and a dinner ADR at SciFi. It was DS8 birthday and that's what he wanted to do. We happened to be there at the same time as friends from church who called us at EPCOT and invited us to join them to celebrate DS's birthday with them that night at the dessert party at MK. This required us to change ADRs and drop our FPs in order to try getting something earlier or at MK. While I worked the app DW talked to a reservation CM on the phone and the only ADR we could get was Coral Reef for lunch in approximately 40 minutes from that time. We were also able to pick up a FP for Figment right away (which we ended up not being able to use as the ride went down while we were in line). Nothing else was available in EPCOT or MK that was comparable to the TSMM, ToT, and Star Tours FPs that I dropped. Yes, we're talking about capacity, and what appears to be happening is that Disney is putting so much of a ride's capacity into FP that you either have to book it or wait much longer than before. Again, for the average guest that's a decrease in value.
DW and I went in January of 2006 - no FP at all and the only ride we waited more than 10 minutes for was Soarin'. 12 years later there's no such thing as a walk-on and most waits are 30 minutes or more. The exchange is that you can skip the waits on three rides if you plan them 30 or 60 days in advance. I'm sorry, but I'm just not getting how that's somehow better.