False wait times in order to increase the cost of the headliners at the parks

[SL6827]

Watched Kyle Pallo's vlog today. He was at the Magic Kingdom and got on SDMT that stated a 45 minute wait. It was a whopping 17 minutes till he got on. Disney will surely lie about increased wait times to higher monitize the headliners. Sad.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I've definitely seen what you describe happen in the last 2 or 3 hours before park closing.

 

[loves to dive]

The posted wait times have historically been wrong. I think there might be a lag as to when they get posted and the actual time. It's all an educated guess. We have never paid any attention to them. It's easier for us to just look at the line and watch how fast it seems to be moving.

 

[OhBother1984]

We were in MK, AK and DHS this past sat -mon and honestly the posted wait times and actual wait times were pretty accurate , only slinky dog and MMRR were a little shorter. Granted we still didn't wait more than 45 mins for anything.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Disney will surely lie about increased wait times to higher monitize the headliners.

How exactly would Disney be able to monetize higher wait times? I agree that 45 to 17 is a pretty big discrepancy, but there are numerous reasons why this number would be so far off in this single instance. Now, if you had multiple data points on multiple days that showed it was this far off, then maybe that would be something to investigate.

 

[HashberryOTG]

If Disney estimates a certain average number of say, wheelchair guests, which can cause a delay on many rides for loading and unloading, and that doesn't happen... poof. Faster lines for that hour or longer. And that's just one example. People also freak out if they have to wait longer than the proposed wait time, so it always, I believe, rounded up. I'm quite sure it's the conspiracy some people make it out to be. It's just an algorithm.

 

[FCDub]

If Disney estimates a certain average number of say, wheelchair guests, which can cause a delay on many rides for loading and unloading, and that doesn't happen... poof. Faster lines for that hour or longer. And that's just one example. People also freak out if they have to wait longer than the proposed wait time, so it always, I believe, rounded up. I'm quite sure it's the conspiracy some people make it out to be. It's just an algorithm.

Everything around here these days is a conspiracy or some nefarious doing of the big evil corporation. Exhausting stuff.

 

[tlovesdis]

I was there in April and we found the wait times to almost always be less, sometimes significantly less, than what was posted. We rode SDMT 4 times over our trip and every time it said 60 minutes or more and we never waited more than 20 minutes. Almost every ride we did was like this.

Not sure why they are inflating the times???

 

[Marionnette]

How exactly would Disney be able to monetize higher wait times? I agree that 45 to 17 is a pretty big discrepancy, but there are numerous reasons why this number would be so far off in this single instance. Now, if you had multiple data points on multiple days that showed it was this far off, then maybe that would be something to investigate.

Touring Plans has shown over and over that the wait times are inflated. They aren't one-off instances of bad estimates. They are quite consistently wrong and always inflated, not underestimated.

 

[disneyfan123]

Historically the Lines app from touring plans has been far more accurate than the posted wait times. Now Disney has a financial reason to keep wait times inflated so people pony up and by lighting lane or IAS. Can’t say they will do that but I wouldn’t put it past them to encourage more sales. I’ll trust the lines app, it’s way better money spent and I trust them more than I do Disney right now.

 

[twodogs]

Maybe they want you to feel happy when the line said 45 minutes, and you got through in 17? Guest satisfaction that costs Disney zero. They err on the side of over-estimating the time so they don't have to deal with lines of folks complaining about getting in the line when it says 20, and it ended up being 40. I think if you think TP is more accurate, speak with your wallet and pay for that service. Good to have choices!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I wonder what's it's going to state when they are selling lightning lane ( ha spell check tried to change it to say Lightning lame)

 

[StageTek]

On my first trip to The World in 2008 I noticed the wait times were usually 10 to 20 minutes higher than the actual time. This was before the APP.
On my 2011 trip I noticed the wait times were exaggerated - sometimes by more than 20 minutes.
I've gone every year since 2011 and noticed this practice each year
On my 2017 trips (three of them) I had the Touring Plans app and noticed the Disney wait times were way off and TP much closer.
Even in September 2020 when the crowds were crazy low the Disney wait times on the app AND at the queue were much higher than the actual times.

I guess they've been prepping for the cash grab for at least 13 years.

Now that I think about it... We noticed this at Disneyland when we would go as teens in the 1970's...

 

[Upatnoon]

When people get in line thinking it will take 45 minutes and it takes 25 they are over the moon with happiness.

When people get in line when it says 20 minutes and it takes 30 minutes they are outraged.

Disney errs on the happy side. It also doesn't want 2-hour lines at park close, it wants people to go home. Hence, the inflated wait times.

Disney has been doing this for decades, there is no conspiracy.

 

[Nabas]

How exactly would Disney be able to monetize higher wait times?

Simple.

You see posted wait times of 20-30 minutes. Are you going to buy Genie+ or Individual Attraction Purchases?

You see posted wait times of 50-60 minutes. Are you going to buy Genie+ or Individual Attraction Purchases?

That's monetizing higher wait times.

 

[Jennasis]

This is old news. The posted wait times are always wrong and always inflated. Disney isn't "guessing". They know exactly how long it takes (thanks to magic bands and before that, the "red cards").

Genie+ can shove it. I'm sticking with LINES by Touring Plans.

 

[traviesojmt]

We visited in mid-July and found the listed wait times to be significantly inflated. Posted wait for Small World was 65 minute, while actual wait was 15. Posted wait for Safari was 45 minutes and we walked right on. Toy Story mania was half of posted ride time all three times we rode it. Most other rides were at least 15 minutes less than posted rides. The only two rides that were spot on were MMRR and Aerosmith. It definitely felt that ride times were consistently inflated during our visit.

 

[DisneyFive]

This is old news. The posted wait times are always wrong and always inflated. Disney isn't "guessing". They know exactly how long it takes (thanks to magic bands and before that, the "red cards").

Genie+ can shove it. I'm sticking with LINES by Touring Plans.

That’s not the point. The point is that Disney could artificially inflate wait times for the headliners which have the new “pay to ride” option because people will look at that wait time and say, heck no, I’d rather pay X dollars to ride quickly than stand in line for X minutes when really it would’ve been much shorter.

in essence, it is Disney monetizing inflated wait times

Sorry for the run-on sentence

Dan

 

[MrWreckless]

How exactly would Disney be able to monetize higher wait times? I agree that 45 to 17 is a pretty big discrepancy, but there are numerous reasons why this number would be so far off in this single instance. Now, if you had multiple data points on multiple days that showed it was this far off, then maybe that would be something to investigate.

Disney inflates the wait times for two reasons, to divert people to other parts of the park and because guests feel better if they wait 15 minutes when the posted time is 30.

Second they can monetize higher posted wait times by having people believe it's better to buy genie+ and skip the posted 45 minute wait. The uninformed guest doesn't know that 45 minutes isn't a true number, if they saw the accurate number of 20 minutes they may be less inclined to buy genie+.

The inflated wait times are nothing new, there is an entire business and app designed around telling you the more accurate wait time.

 

[Ermise]

How exactly would Disney be able to monetize higher wait times? I agree that 45 to 17 is a pretty big discrepancy, but there are numerous reasons why this number would be so far off in this single instance. Now, if you had multiple data points on multiple days that showed it was this far off, then maybe that would be something to investigate.

If only there was a group/website that collected and analyzed hundreds of data points daily to help educate Disney Park goers and assist in maximizing their time while in the parks.....