Help?! In line for soarin' now

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And yet others insist that the posted wait times are surgically precise. Go figure.

FP+ has increased the wait times in sb for all attractions even though others will deny it. Never believe the app on wait times either. It's often wrong. The sign out front of an attraction is usually accurate unless the ride is suddenly bum rushed. It sounds as though this just happened to Soarin.
 
Twenty turning into ninety sounds more like technical issues than too many FPs coming through... Noon is usually a pretty bad time to do Soarin standby,so I'm surprised it was posted as 20 to begin with!
Hope you get on soon - good luck!

We've found that at 10am when OP went through, it can be all over the board for any of the headliners. It can be stuck on 20 from the early morning rope droppers and then all of a sudden jump that high when more people are filtering in. Plus a lot of people schedule FP+ for around this time, knowing they won't be there for rope drop. At Epcot especially, FW is the only thing open at that time so FP+ are plentiful in FW in the morning.
 
I didn't realize he got on line at 10am - much better than noon! (But usually more than a 20 minute wait at 10 too).
I will usually FP Soarin for 11 or so, hit TT stand by at RD and then ride single rider as a walk on a couple of times - work my way over to the Land Pavilion and do stuff until my window opens... It's always worked out really well that way as long as TT isn't down (which happens more than I'd like!)
 
After all, the OP is spending valuable vacation time in a line that was originally 20 minutes and now it's up to 90 minutes.
This is especially disheartening when one considers that one of the greatest benefits of FP+ is the ability it provides in enabling guests to plan their days with greater exactitude. Advanced planning is supposed to allow guests to book BBB, character breakfasts, lunch ADRs, dinner ADRs, and plan park exit times with greater precision. This is where the capital recoupment comes from. Get guests out of lines and into money generating venues. I'd hate to be the OP if I had an 11:00 FP+ for Test Track and an 11:45 ADR at Via Napoli. In line at Soarin' at 10:00. Out at 11:15. Maybe. That leaves 35 minutes to get to Test Track. Get through the FP line. Ride the ride. Then walk to VN to arrive 10 minutes before their ADR. Certainly doable. But not nearly the carefree, pre-planed day that others insist we get with FP+. Of course, they could always try to get a signal on their phone while in the Soarin' building and use the app to find another FP time for Test Track. Odds of that? Less than 25% I'd guess.

I totally agree with you but plans to anywhere shouldn't be written in stone, well except for ADR. FP+ with the exceptions of couple of hard to gets can be changed or dropped all together on the fly.
Dropped, maybe. Changed? Not so easy. And let's not forget that we are being told by many here that roaming around the parks without set plans and having to make decisions on the fly is not pleasant.

Twenty turning into ninety sounds more like technical issues than too many FPs coming through... Noon is usually a pretty bad time to do Soarin standby,so I'm surprised it was posted as 20 to begin with!
Each post here is time-stamped. Did the OP get in line at noon? Eastern Time?
 

You are right. I completely missed the time stamp and was going off of the current time by mistake. I've already replied to someone who pointed that out a little more politely. But thank you for informing me.
 
This is especially disheartening when one considers that one of the greatest benefits of FP+ is the ability it provides in enabling guests to plan their days with greater exactitude. Advanced planning is supposed to allow guests to book BBB, character breakfasts, lunch ADRs, dinner ADRs, and plan park exit times with greater precision. This is where the capital recoupment comes from. Get guests out of lines and into money generating venues. I'd hate to be the OP if I had an 11:00 FP+ for Test Track and an 11:45 ADR at Via Napoli. In line at Soarin' at 10:00. Out at 11:15. Maybe. That leaves 35 minutes to get to Test Track. Get through the FP line. Ride the ride. Then walk to VN to arrive 10 minutes before their ADR. Certainly doable. But not nearly the carefree, pre-planed day that others insist we get with FP+. Of course, they could always try to get a signal on their phone while in the Soarin' building and use the app to find another FP time for Test Track. Odds of that? Less than 25% I'd guess.....

We park hop, so we RD one park and make our FP's in another for later in the afternoon or evening. Then, we made our ADR's.

And as you pointed out, they were all related. So my preference was to schedule FP's in contiguous blocks, like 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 for FP then a 5:30 ADR, etc.

You know what caused the biggest stress for us? It was getting in a standby line and worrying that we might miss our next FP because we misjudged the timing or the wait was actually much longer than posted.


.
 
You are right. I completely missed the time stamp and was going off of the current time by mistake. I've already replied to someone who pointed that out a little more politely. But thank you for informing me.

don't mind them. we are all being grumpy in another thread about fp- fp+. lol
 
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You know what caused the biggest stress for us? It was getting in a standby line and worrying that we might miss our next FP because we misjudged the timing or the wait was actually much longer than posted.

This is another thing that amazes me. I rely on the posted wait times and decide whether or not we should risk SB in relation to the next FP+ reservation. On our last trip, we felt that it wasn't worth the risk, so we spent a lot of time standing around waiting for our next FP+ window to open. I know Disney wants you to spend time shopping, but I'm not interested in buying plush or more T-shirts! Maybe if the shops had better merchandise, I wouldn't mind the wait for FP+, but I can't find anything buy!
 
To the OP, I sympathize that you entered a line with a posted wait time of 20 minutes and, if I'm reading your subsequent posts correctly, did not enter the loading area until 30-40 minutes later. It can be frustrating when the actual wait turns out to be significantly longer than the posted wait especially because, in our experience, that is not common. Maybe we are just lucky.

Because there are now questions about the actual timing of this episode, this is what I see:

1. The original post has a time stamp of 3:29 PM, which would be 10:29 EST. In that post, the OP said he had been in line for about 20 minutes, meaning that he would have entered the line at about 10:10.

2. When he entered the line at 10:10, the posted wait time was 20 minutes. I can see why he entered that line because I would be pleasantly surprised to see a posted wait time at Soarin that short over an hour after park opening.

3. After he had been in line for a few minutes, the OP said that they "announced" that the wait time had changed to 60 minutes, and by the time of the post it was up to 90 minutes. It wasn't clear if they actually announced to people inside the line that the wait time for standby had gone up (which I don't think I have ever heard of) or if he was just seeing increased posted wait times through some type of wait times app.

4. While there is clearly some type of typo in the message, I think one of the OP's subsequent posts (#5) says that he hit the loading stall at 40 minutes. That post is time stamped at 3:42 PM or 10:42 AM EST. So, if I am reading these correctly, the OP's wait time was closer to 30 minutes and maybe as high as 40, but not the 90 minutes that some people on this thread seem to have concluded. If I am reading these incorrectly, I will let the OP correct me.

So I guess my experience at Test Track that I described in the other thread was not an "abberation".

I guess it depends on what part of that experience you are talking about. You talked about entering the standby line at TT at 9:20 AM after riding Soarin first. You said that the posted wait time was 15 minutes and you actually waited 70. If you are referring to the fact that your actual wait time was longer than the posted wait time, these situations are similar, although in your case the difference was quite a bit greater. So, this example does nothing to suggest that a posted wait time of 15 minutes followed by an actual wait of 70 minutes is the "new normal".

However, in the thread in which you posted that experience, your larger point has been that it is no longer possible to complete the "one two punch" of Soarin and Test Track even if you arrive right at rope drop. Because this poster did not enter the Soarin line until 10-10:10 AM, it really doesn't address what you can accomplish right at rope drop, unless the OP wants to add in that he went right to TT at rope drop and went right to Soarin when he exited there. But, he hasn't said that.

The other point that you have made repeatedly, and which both your example and the OP have directly refuted is that, because of FP+ and tiering, someone will have to wait in a standby line of an hour or longer if they want to ride both TT and Soarin in the same day, You said that you rode Soarin right at RD with a very short wait so, if you had used your FP for TT, you could have done both with virtually no waiting. Even at 10 AM or a little later, it appears that the OP rode Soarin standby with a wait of about 30-40 minutes. Except for the issue with the original posted wait time of 20 minutes, nobody would be surprised with a wait this long. If he has/had a later FP for TT, he could be doing both rides today with just one moderate wait. If he did either Soarin or TT (or both) before he entered this line, he could be on his way to doing both twice.

That brings me to this:

And yet others insist that the posted wait times are surgically precise. Go figure.

Who has ever said this, or even anything close to it?

Yes, I have said that, in our experience, the posted wait times are shorter than the actual waits much more often than not. And there have been several threads on just this narrow topic in which several other people have said the same thing. I have also said that the posted wait times are often less accurate in the first hour or so after park opening because the lines are building quickly. That was true before FP+ and in our experience post FP+ it is still true today. I even gave an example of a wait we encountered at TT (before FP+) in the first hour when we entered with a posted wait of something like 20 minutes and waited about 40.

In this case, it looks like the OP ran into one of those surge times when the line grows quickly. It is also possible that there was some kind of breakdown or necessary cleanup that caused the line to stand still for a while. If I am picturing the standby line at Soarin correctly, you can't even see the people in the FP return line until you go around that last corner and get within sight of the merge point. So, the OP probably doesn't know if the FP line was moving or not.
 
Because this poster did not enter the Soarin line until 10-10:10 AM, it really doesn't address what you can accomplish right at rope drop, unless the OP wants to add in that he went right to TT at rope drop and went right to Soarin when he exited there. But, he hasn't said that.
Actually, it doesn't matter if they did or did not, because if they did, they would have arrived at Soarin' at about the same time and encountered the same result. If one arrives at Soarin' at 10:00 and gets hit with a 70+ minute wait, it doesn't really matter if they arrived from their hotel or from Test Track. What matters is that people who arrive at 10:00 will encounter the wait. The point about the "one-two punch" is simply that at the chronological point when you would typically get to ride #2, the wait is now longer than it used to be. It is the chronological point in time of arrival that matters. Not whether that is your first or second ride.
 
And yet others insist that the posted wait times are surgically precise. Go figure.

I have NEVER seen anyone say that. We usually (but not always) experienced wait times lower than the posted time, so I agree they are not usually accurate. We have also been in the Soarin line when they announced the wait suddenly increasing by a lot, so we left and went back later. (This was in the old paper FP years. We were in the FP line and that wait went up to over an hour also, I think it was 2 hrs for non-FP.)
 
We usually (but not always) experienced wait times lower than the posted time,

OK. So I retract the "surgically precise" reference and will now substitute in "are actually shorter than posted." That makes the situation worse, not better. See wait time of 15 minutes. Ignore it because it isn't precise. Anticipate that it will be shorter because people keep telling me that it is. Expect a 10 minute wait. Encounter a 70 minute wait. I'm now actually worse off in relation to my expectations versus experience. But OK. I'll accept it your way.
 
OK. So I retract the "surgically precise" reference and will now substitute in "are actually shorter than posted." That makes the situation worse, not better. See wait time of 15 minutes. Ignore it because it isn't precise. Anticipate that it will be shorter because people keep telling me that it is. Expect a 10 minute wait. Encounter a 70 minute wait. I'm now actually worse off in relation to my expectations versus experience. But OK. I'll accept it your way.
I agree, that FP+ has in fact increased the wait times for SB lines. So what am I supposed to do on my next visit? Add 30 minutes to any posted wait time as a "just in case scenario" to avoid a FP+ I have scheduled later in the day? Or should I do what I did on my last visit, stand around and wait for my FP plus window to open? Personally, I do not find either "solution" particularly satisfying. This is exactly the reason I feel over scheduled with FP+! I used to spontaneously be able to enter a SB line without being concerned about the possibility of missing a FP+ attraction or an ADR. Now? Hah! What a joke! Maybe this is the new thrill of going to WDW: should I risk the loss of an ADR or FP+ in favor of this SB with a short posted wait or not?
 
OK. So I retract the "surgically precise" reference and will now substitute in "are actually shorter than posted." That makes the situation worse, not better. See wait time of 15 minutes. Ignore it because it isn't precise. Anticipate that it will be shorter because people keep telling me that it is. Expect a 10 minute wait. Encounter a 70 minute wait. I'm now actually worse off in relation to my expectations versus experience. But OK. I'll accept it your way.

Even in your "retraction" you managed to misinterpret what the OP said, which was:


I have NEVER seen anyone say that. We usually (but not always) experienced wait times lower than the posted time, so I agree they are not usually accurate. We have also been in the Soarin line when they announced the wait suddenly increasing by a lot, so we left and went back later. (This was in the old paper FP years. We were in the FP line and that wait went up to over an hour also, I think it was 2 hrs for non-FP.)
 
I've been in line for Soarin when they've announced the increase in wait time. They come over the loud speaker and say something along the lines of "just to let everyone know that the standby time has increased. If you are near the back of the line or just entered, the wait time is now __ minutes. Again, the wait time is now __ minutes."

The sudden jump in wait time is how they get the wait info. With the little red plastic wait time cards.

Say they give the card to someone and the posted wait time is 20 minutes at 10am. With FPs entering the line, more people entering standby behind the red card holder, and the people already in stand by ahead of the person, the 20 minute wait time is fluctuated. So then when the red card holder gets to the ride and gives the card to the CM at say 10:30, then it shows a 30 wait. But then with all the people entering the line at the 30 minute wait, the CM gets busy or just doesn't get the card to another person quickly. People are piling in and by the time the next card gets to the ride, it bumps up to 60 min. So those people entering in after the red card holder for the 30 min wait, they hear over the speaker that the waits now an hour.

The wait time will never be exact on long lines like Soarin or Test Track unless they started implementing magic band tracking of every guest in specific ride queue and getting live updates to the computer guest by guest. Giving a red card to one person every 50 or so people is only going to be so accurate
 
I've been in line for Soarin when they've announced the increase in wait time. They come over the loud speaker and say something along the lines of "just to let everyone know that the standby time has increased. If you are near the back of the line or just entered, the wait time is now __ minutes. Again, the wait time is now __ minutes."

The sudden jump in wait time is how they get the wait info. With the little red plastic wait time cards.

Say they give the card to someone and the posted wait time is 20 minutes at 10am. With FPs entering the line, more people entering standby behind the red card holder, and the people already in stand by ahead of the person, the 20 minute wait time is fluctuated. So then when the red card holder gets to the ride and gives the card to the CM at say 10:30, then it shows a 30 wait. But then with all the people entering the line at the 30 minute wait, the CM gets busy or just doesn't get the card to another person quickly. People are piling in and by the time the next card gets to the ride, it bumps up to 60 min. So those people entering in after the red card holder for the 30 min wait, they hear over the speaker that the waits now an hour.

The wait time will never be exact on long lines like Soarin or Test Track unless they started implementing magic band tracking of every guest in specific ride queue and getting live updates to the computer guest by guest. Giving a red card to one person every 50 or so people is only going to be so accurate


Right, and I don't think they use the red card only to adjust posted wait times. The red card is by necessity backward looking. All it tells you is what the actual wait time was when that person entered the standby line X minutes ago.

I think the posted wait time reflects something of a guess about what the standby line will be based on the number of people in it and a best guess of how many people will be coming with FPs in the next 10, 20, or 30 minutes. As others have said, at surge times like early morning or right after a parade ends, that line is changing rapidly and is impossible to measure exactly. Throw in the uncertainty of how many guests are going to arrive with FPs in the next 10, 20, or 30 minutes, and the CMs at the ride have no choice but to make a best guess based on the variable information they have. And, in our experience, they tend to err on the side of overstating that wait. But, there are going to be times, especially during surge times, when they will be understated.

If I had a deadline I had to or wanted to meet, like an ADR or a FP+ reservation, and I found that the line was taking a lot longer than I expected, I would just abandon the line to make my other item. I'd be no worse off than if I had just stood around waiting for that other time to come. In the case of a FP+ reservation for a ride, if the return time hasn't come up yet, that means you have at least an hour and 20 minutes before that window closes. If the opening of that window is still 20 minutes away, I wouldn't hesitate to get in a line for a short ride with a posted wait time of 30-40 minutes instead of standing around doing nothing for 20 minutes.
 
It sounds like one side might have gone down for technical reasons. For the time to change dramatically like that. It can happen anywhere really, it stinks but delays are always possible when it comes to rides. Over the years I've been stuck on many rides at WDW... headed up the hill on Splash Mountain, going through the anti-lock brakes area in Test Track, even walked down out of the top of Spaceship Earth with the lights on. That was actually pretty cool. ;) The worst delay I ever had was at Universal last summer, the kids and I were in line for Gringott's. It said 60 minutes but due to technical issues ended up being about a 3 hour wait. We just about lost our minds. :rotfl:
 
I got stuck in a bad line at TOT. Posted 20 minutes, turned into 90 bc of technical problem. Hard to give up after you've invested more than 30 min.
 
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