Do people wait in lines anymore?

[5kidsmommy]

I think a lot of people, if given the choice, would choose not to wait in lines. WDW does give you the choice of not standing in lines, depending on how you tour. However, making that choice means sacrificing some other choices (sleeping in, laid-back touring style). It is up to the individual/family to determine what they value more and choose accordingly. Our last trip was during a high crowd time (spring break) and I can honestly say we did not wait in a significant line for a single ride, and were able to do everything we wanted. We used FP+, showed up for rope drop every day, and did lower priority attractions in the times during which lines would have been long. This was the choice that worked best for our family and we had a great time.

And I imagine you didn't cry about it online either.
That is mostly my complaint people thinking that Disney should guarantee that they never have to wait in line.

 

[GaryDis]

We will go to extremes to skip waiting in line. Because of activities our 4 kids are involved in we can only visit the parks in July. We strategize like crazy and even chose VIP touring for our last trip. I don't think waiting in lines is character building or necessary.

I wouldn't use the term "character building", but it is a most useful life skill to have. It gives you more options.

 

[Lisaloo]

I wouldn't use the term "character building", but it is a most useful life skill to have. It gives you more options.

So does expendable income.

 

[5kidsmommy]

So does expendable income.

Ah but patience is free.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Being a FL Resident AP, I have the unique ability to not worry about "missing out on a ride" because soon enough I'll be back at Disney! I usually don't stand in lines that say more than 45 minutes. I find that the line waiting time is not always accurate, usually it's shorter than the stated time.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Don't underestimate the value of raw data. In this case it was for multiple rides and with followup surveys. But even if it was just for a single ride, tracking the line lengths at individual rides helps them know how many FP+s to issue for a given time.

Don't underestimate the value of raw data. In this case it was for multiple rides and with followup surveys. But even if it was just for a single ride, tracking the line lengths at individual rides helps them know how many FP+s to issue for a given time.

Here's hoping!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Being a FL Resident AP, I have the unique ability to not worry about "missing out on a ride" because soon enough I'll be back at Disney! I usually don't stand in lines that say more than 45 minutes. I find that the line waiting time is not always accurate, usually it's shorter than the stated time.

Yep. 45 min for a MAJOR liner (7D with friends, TS with no FP) and about 30 min for the rest tops. And we do wait for some of the Star Wars shows.

 

[KorieDWnut]

The number one thinn I absolutely hate waiting for is food at QS places. It gives me anxiety. Then, once you finally have your food, trying to navigate finding a table is an effort as well. We tried various times of the day to eat during our last trip. We tried an early 11am lunch, an early 7 am bfast, late 10 am bfast, super late 10pm dinner at the resort...no matter what we did, the food courts were chaos. I plead with my DH to pay for the dining with TS but he hates hates hates being on a schedule, he barely puts up with FP. So we use QS dining and I get anxiety.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

We were taught (by Disney) that we didn't have to stand in lines when they introduced FP-. However, going during non crowded times, having a good plan, going early, etc also helped our cause. We didn't need to *abuse the system* (as people often say about people who used fp-). So people expect the same of the new improved system FP+. I am not one to complain, but I do see why others do.

I see the "abuse" thing quite often about the old system and I've yet to really get an understanding on what was meant by this. You went to a machine got a piece of paper that told you what time to come back and when you could get your next FP. Where is the potential for abuse in that?

I certainly see a lot more opportunity for abuse under the current system which may be why some love it so much.

 

[ttintagel]

I've always had a personal policy of not waiting in line more than 30 minutes. I don't get in a standby line with a posted wait time of more than 20 minutes, but I will stretch that out to 30 for something I really, really, really want to ride and know that i won't have a chance to try again for later. otherwise, if there's no FP I skip it and come back when it's a shorter posted time. A good touring plan helps a lot.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

People are willing to kill themselves working overtime to afford the trip, spend hours researching on the internet, stay up until midnight to book their FastPasses, but not willing to spend an hour in line chatting with friends and family to actually reap the reward. This does not compute.

Standing in line isn't reaping the reward. Again, why waste fun park time deciding what you want to do when you can do it when the only thing on TV is reruns of Dance Moms? Why waste fun park time standing in line when with just a little planning you don't have to? The reward is you get more fun stuff and less of the not fun stuff.

 

[Lisaloo]

Standing in line isn't reaping the reward. Again, why waste fun park time deciding what you want to do when you can do it when the only thing on TV is reruns of Dance Moms? Why waste fun park time standing in line when with just a little planning you don't have to? The reward is you get more fun stuff and less of the not fun stuff.

You will find thread after thread on the same subject. Not wanting to waste your vacation in line equals entitlement, a lack of patience, immaturity and unrealistic expectations. I say that is nonsense.

 

[Accident]

I did a spontaneous trip last year and no popular fast passes were available. I didn't do any fact finding or math but we skipped a bunch and it sure felt like if we didn't, our entire trip would have been trying out these couple popular rides. It would have been a waste of money if that happened and we're happy with our trip but really wanted to try some of them.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The number one thinn I absolutely hate waiting for is food at QS places. It gives me anxiety. Then, once you finally have your food, trying to navigate finding a table is an effort as well. We tried various times of the day to eat during our last trip. We tried an early 11am lunch, an early 7 am bfast, late 10 am bfast, super late 10pm dinner at the resort...no matter what we did, the food courts were chaos. I plead with my DH to pay for the dining with TS but he hates hates hates being on a schedule, he barely puts up with FP. So we use QS dining and I get anxiety.

This is why I always say you can waste an hour in line at the lunch counter just as easily as you can on a ride. We tend to hit the counters before 11. They're usually easily accessed then. Don't even bother with breakfast. It's pretty chaotic. We just grab bananas at the hotel the night before or apples or other fruit if they look good and eat em for breakfast while we're waiting to get in. Then we're ready for lunch early when the counters open. Late dinners at the resort are always more crowded than you would think too. And we never planned to eat lunch in the land. The building was always so busy just getting in and out it wasn't worth it.

We have always had good luck with grab a banana for breakfast, lunch at the counter before 11, and a dinner reservation somewhere or a counter.

 

[AquaDame]

Yup, we do, and it feels like with FP+ we are waiting in more of them. We take our 3 golden passes and wait in lines for the rest, but nothing over 40 minutes or so. We'd rather skip it entirely unless it is something extra special (like how I am planning to try to get a picture with the 7 dwarves at the Halloween party).

 

[DoingDisney]

And I imagine you didn't cry about it online either.
That is mostly my complaint people thinking that Disney should guarantee that they never have to wait in line.

So wait, its not ok for people to complain they have to wait in longer lines than expected after paying thousands of dollars for a trip ....

But it is ok for people to complain about people complaining on a forum they access for free ???

lol

 

[DoingDisney]

Ah but patience is free.

Patience, aka waiting, you actually pay an "Opportunity Cost"

 

[Love the DIS]

I agree with a lot of the other posters here. We hate lines and will do almost anything to avoid them. I will not wait in a line that is over two hours long unless it is a ride I or a member of my family must do. Even in that case if the line is more than 4 hours in length I lay down the law and say we will try to do it later.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

So wait, its not ok for people to complain they have to wait in longer lines than expected after paying thousands of dollars for a trip ....

But it is ok for people to complain about people complaining on a forum they access for free ???

lol

 

[itchin2go]

You have to understand. People didn't go from a standby-only system to the new FP+ system. People were used to having a tried and true strategy for avoiding long lines on very popular attractions.

And now, if you don't book FPs for some of those popular attractions before you go (probably LONG before you go), your chances of snagging one are low ... and completely dependent on whether someone else dumps the FPs you want ... on the day you want ... in the quantity you want.

So before, we knew we'd pull a FP for TSMM and not have to wait in an hour long line. Now, we know WAY ahead of time if that's probably not going to happen.

So yes, there are always stand-by lines. But doesn't it make sense why that's not my first and best strategy for riding SDMT or seeing Anna and Elsa?

And no, it's not the end of the world and worth "cry[ing] about it online", but it's disappointing, made doubly so if you logged on and tried to book the moment you were eligible to do so.

I think what's more surprising is when people are insensitive about others' disappointment. When you hit a snag in planning a trip, it's understandably frustrating. I'm not going to chastise people for feeling that way, and I don't understand why others do.