CM's being dishonest about wait times

[angierae]

When we were at MNSSHP in 2013 (coming up on the anniversary, actually) we walked past where Tink was meeting and the sign said 25 minutes. We looked at each other and shook our heads, because it was nearing the end of the party and we had no desire to spend a half hour in line to meet Tink, who we'd met several times before.

The CM standing outside looked at us, looked up at the sign, and said "Oh, there's almost no one in there, just go."

There was one group ahead of us.

 

[dmband]

how long a wait is, is just a guess and always is.. if you want to ride it, get in line and when you see where the line really is, then decide if your going to stay in it.

Not exactly true, they do have a system of red scan cards that are handed out from time to time and update the wait time sign. That depends on how often they actually use the system though as it could change daily quick between scans

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

When I used to work as a hostess at a restaurant, the practice was to intentionally quote slightly higher wait times than the actual estimate. Improved overall satisfaction and less complaints. For instance, if you think the wait is 30 minutes, quote 45. Then if the wait turns out to be 35 minutes, the customer is happy. They are in 10 minutes faster than they expected. If you had quoted them 30, by 35 they'd be angry. (You would think they wouldn't get mad over 5 minutes, but they do. ALL the time!) So maybe that strategy is in play here? Or maybe they don't know the actual wait time and are guessing. Or maybe they're trying to keep people out of the lines toward closing. All possibilities.

Under promise, over deliver. Luckily I have enough park experience to gauge whether or not the wait time is reasonably accurate so I rarely am surprised. If you ever go to Universal, I highly recommend adding 15-20 minutes to the posted wait time. They typically underestimate the waits.

 

[xipotec]

Not exactly true, they do have a system of red scan cards that are handed out from time to time and update the wait time sign. That depends on how often they actually use the system though as it could change daily quick between scans

We joke about this....we consider ourselves a "card" family......

I don't know why, but we ALWAYS get a card......last trip we started counting them...got up to 11.

Must be something about they way we look.

We started taking pictures of them on each line....

LOL

 

[wilkeliza]

We joke about this....we consider ourselves a "card" family......

I don't know why, but we ALWAYS get a card......last trip we started counting them...got up to 11.

Must be something about they way we look.

We started taking pictures of them on each line....

LOL

You probably look like someone who won't steal it or forget you have to turn it in at the end of the line. Those things walk away like crazy or just get put on a trash can or where ever and that severely throws off the posted wait time.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We recently went to ride TSMM about an hour before closing time. The posted wait was 70 minutes but the attendant said the actual wait was closer to 15. We were able to ride 4 times before the park closed.

Most guests just turned and walked away when they saw the posts time.

 

[Delirium]

We had a positive end of night wait time experience last week. Test Track was posted at 50 minutes. I said out loud to my kids (who are 10 and 12) that we were going to have to do single rider, which was posted at 20 minutes. Cast member said "You don't need to do that. The regular line is only about 10-15 minutes. We ended up getting to ride together and waiting only about 12 minutes. Very grateful he spoke up so we could ride together.

 

[Accident]

Not exactly true, they do have a system of red scan cards that are handed out from time to time and update the wait time sign. That depends on how often they actually use the system though as it could change daily quick between scans

The problem is the system isn't instant. you can't go from 0 to 60 minute wait without the card taking 60 minutes to get to the ride and same with it coming back down so it's manually adjusted more than one might think. when it's a steady line, I completely agree. they also added a white card they send through fastpass time to time.

so maybe guess was the wrong word and hint to us would have been a better way to describe it.

 

[Praying Colonel]

It's happened to me, but in reverse. There was no posted wait time for Enchanted Tales With Belle. The CM said 20 minutes. We gave up and left at 45 minutes and we had just made it to the corner of the house.

I've had it be higher than listed a few times, too--usually because of some malfunction. From my experience it's usually lower than listed, especially early in the morning or late at night. On our last trip we did Soarin at RD and came out around 9:15--posted wait time was 300 minutes! The standby line was very short. I asked the CM if the wait was really 300 minutes, and he gave a little grin and said, "Well, maybe not quite that long."

 

[Fabooliss]

We joke about this....we consider ourselves a "card" family......

I don't know why, but we ALWAYS get a card......last trip we started counting them...got up to 11.

Must be something about they way we look.

We started taking pictures of them on each line....

LOL

Us too! I thought it was just how often they gave them out.

 

[Klayfish]

You probably look like someone who won't steal it or forget you have to turn it in at the end of the line. Those things walk away like crazy or just get put on a trash can or where ever and that severely throws off the posted wait time.

How sad, I never even thought about that kind of stuff happening. When we're given a red card, we happily comply...in fact my kids fight over who gets it. Sad state of affairs that people would steal those things.

As for the wait time thing, I always consider it a conservative guestimate. I totally agree they want to under promise and over deliver. It only makes sense. I guarantee that if they tried to be spot on, the moment they posted 30 and someone waited 31, there would be someone at Guest Services having a melt down about it. Doesn't bother me much that are conservative in guessing time. That's why I really like the Lines app, I've found it closer to realistic, so if I really need to know current wait times, I'll use that.

 

[BrianL]

Also, single rider pass?????

At DL, they give a Single Rider pass on some of the rides, like Indiana Jones because you go in the exit and then the line will have to merge at one point, then you show the CMs on the loading platform your pass and they place you off to the side. There a are a few rides that do this. I think Californai Screamin does; I'm not sure about others. The rides with a dedicated SR entrance do not (like RSR).

 

[SureAsLiz]

How sad, I never even thought about that kind of stuff happening. When we're given a red card, we happily comply...in fact my kids fight over who gets it. Sad state of affairs that people would steal those things.

I doubt most people who walk away with the cards are doing so intentionally. After a 40 minute wait, it's easy to forget to hand them back, especially if you wear it as a lanyard.
The issue is when people realize they never handed it back in, and then just leave it around the park somewhere rather than returning it to the ride.

 

[bumbershoot]

At DL, they give a Single Rider pass on some of the rides, like Indiana Jones because you go in the exit and then the line will have to merge at one point, then you show the CMs on the loading platform your pass and they place you off to the side. There a are a few rides that do this. I think Californai Screamin does; I'm not sure about others. The rides with a dedicated SR entrance do not (like RSR).

I've done SR at DL many times from solo trips and haven't gotten a pass for anything but Indy, and that Indy experience was years ago.

Screamin' doesn't have a pass. You just go in that funky side exit.

 

[wilkeliza]

I doubt most people who walk away with the cards are doing so intentionally. After a 40 minute wait, it's easy to forget to hand them back, especially if you wear it as a lanyard.
The issue is when people realize they never handed it back in, and then just leave it around the park somewhere rather than returning it to the ride.

I can't speak to the actual number but I've seen several of them end up in scrap books. Even have a few Disneyholic friends who admit to having kept one saying just 1 missing can't hurt (not realizing other people justify it that way as well). It is funny when you are behind a family that was "caught" and when you hear them say drats or oh darn then you know it wasn't just a mistake that they forgot it.

 

[BrianL]

I've done SR at DL many times from solo trips and haven't gotten a pass for anything but Indy, and that Indy experience was years ago.

Screamin' doesn't have a pass. You just go in that funky side exit.

Well, they still used them at Indy and I am pretty sure they still did at Screamin' when I was there in August. There are pictures of the pass for Screamin' on Google. You would go in the exit, then queue up at a chain. A CM would then give you a pass and send you up the elevator and you would across and down the other elevator and wait along the wall. The grouper would take your pass and assign your row. I think they use the passes because you have the potential to hop over to the other line in the upper part (not that you couldn't just toss or hide your pass nor would it much matter on Screamin' at that point).

 

[richkaryn]

It was getting toward the end of the party last Tuesday. Maybe around 10:30? They happened one after the other. I didn't understand why they were yelling it out either. It was almost like they were giving off the "the sign is wrong vibe." Both of these lines have CMs who could step out two feet and see the wait times. So they knew there was a disparity. I even checked MDE on a couple of other rides to see if somehow wait times were off. Nope. Both lines with CMs yelling out times were pretty accurate, the wait was actually shorter.

To the poster who was saying guests complain about waiting. It's WDW. We know we wait. And I wouldn't complain if times were a little off. But CMs yelling out severely inflated times is worthy of a complaint when you've paid $400 plus for five hours of fun.

We were there Tuesday night at end of party...we started to head over and the MDE app said 60 mins so we went and got in the Jack and Sally meet line instead.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Under promise, over deliver. Luckily I have enough park experience to gauge whether or not the wait time is reasonably accurate so I rarely am surprised. If you ever go to Universal, I highly recommend adding 15-20 minutes to the posted wait time. They typically underestimate the waits.

I'm also rarely surprised, and have long noticed this pattern in both park lines and dining waits. I get why it happens. It is kind of a sign of our times.

The only place I'll say the practice is despicable - is when it comes to WDW ADR restaurants. If I have a 7pm ADR, that I made months in advance, and I arrive at 6:45pm, it is completely unacceptable to SEAT us any later than 7:15pm, unless they are going to offer us some compensation for our delay.

That's happened too many times for me to count.
*******
That hasn't been our experience at Universal. Most of the time we stay onsite and get EP, but we usually find waits match expectations. Even at 9am- when folks were streaming into Kong- our wait was pretty close to posted wait. I think the sign said 40min, and actual was just under 30min. Last summer we tried Sapphire Falls, and went without EP. Waits were either accurate or slightly less than posted.

I started reporting the discrepancies at WDW a LONG time ago. Inflated waits have been going on for years. That is part of why I kind of laugh at the idea of using MDE for wait times.

 

[mgpan]

We noticed inflated wait times in the last hour at MK before a MNSSHP started. It seemed as though they were using the lies to encourage you to leave the park as early as possible to make way for the next paying customers. It also seemed as though wait service at table service restaurants was in perpetual slow motion, perhaps since the wait times were so high you couldn't do much else anyway, they were hoping it would improve the times!

 

[xipotec]

Whats odd to me, being a park veteran is that I can usually tell how long a wait will be just by looking at the line and where it ends...

Of course some things would delay that in the past, like handicap riders or people having trouble getting in and our of a ride car. (POTC I am looking at you.) Or a breakdown.
But in general it works pretty well. At least in the days before Capacity scaling. Now you really have no idea how many cars,, trains, boats or elephants they are running.

Splash: is a great example. If you can SEE the line at all it probable `~30-45 minute wait in the past. IF the line is already up the stairs and not visible, it usually less than 20 minutes.
Space Mountain: If the line is past the initial switch backs, about 45-50.....if it starts half way down the tunnel. 30...if its starts at the final switch backs less than 20.
HM: if the line is outside the awning 45, before the interactive que...30....starts at que...20....just outside doors, 5.
POTC: outside building 45-50, Inside before slope starts 30-40...after slope before first turn less than 30....


Always worked in the past...but with them futzing around with staffing levels and capacity....this all is likely out the window.