Here now. Posted wait times are NOT accurate. No need for LL.

[Kuilima]

We arrived Wednesday night. On Thanksgiving and today, crowds were big, but wait times were WAY off. Pirates posted 50, actual 23. Haunted Mansion posted 45, actual 24. Indiana posted 60, actual 34. Thunder posted 45, actual 22. The most accurate posted wait time was Rise at 70. Is Disney inflating wait times to create demand for LL? Because honestly, if LL was available right now, I would only CONSIDER using it for Rise. And with the frequent breakdowns and non-working ride elements on rides throughout both parks, LL seems even less attractive.

 

[starry_solo]

What time did you go when you experienced these waits?

I know for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, at least when I used to go, those did not get busy until afternoon.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I feel like Disney is intentionally inflating wait times to create demand for lightning lanes. I never noticed wait time inflation being this bad in the before times. Pre-pandemic, Radiator Springs Racers times would be off and Space Mountain sometimes as well but never to this extent. Even my cousins who normally don't look at their cell phone clocks too much noticed that posted wait times for Guardians of the Galaxy was consistently very inflated when we went during the Halloween season.

 

[Dory92130]

GOTG has been off since reopening. Always over-called. To date, haven't seen once a red lanyard check for GOTG.

Haunted mansion been way off too.

Rest of the main rides have been mostly within range as usual overstated than understated.

Our surrogate for heavy crowds- Little mermaid and star tours.

 

[DLRExpert]

Is Disney inflating wait times to create demand for LL? Because honestly, if LL was available right now, I would only CONSIDER using it for Rise. And with the frequent breakdowns and non-working ride elements on rides throughout both parks, LL seems even less attractive.

If LL was available those wait times would be more accurate and maybe worse.

 

[Kuilima]

What time did you go when you experienced these waits?

I know for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, at least when I used to go, those did not get busy until afternoon.

This was our experience throughout the day: morning, afternoon, and evening.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Very interesting, I'm in park this coming weekend, I'll pay close attention to actual vs. posted wait times.

We were in the parks Thanksgiving 2019, and attendance was skewed by a horrendous storm...I think Black Friday was the best weather day of the bunch, so folks were skipping Wednesday (0.24 inches of rain) & Thanksgiving day (0.56 inches of rain) and piled in on Friday. I guess this is where the reservation system helps...less of that happening.

 

[Wesley815]

I'm sure it's a mixture of things. This is also the first time no Fast Pass across entire resort, so overall standby wait times need to be adjusted down. Not sure if CM's are trained well enough yet to know wait time estimates based on queue length without FP. It would be sad if Disney was instructing CM's to over state wait for LL launch/sales.

It's better to 'under promise and over deliver' when it comes to wait. Hopefully they'll continue to use those little red cards guests are given to track actual wait.

 

[Dory92130]

-Not hard to train to give out red tag lanyard and then clock the time.
-Hard to remember to do consistently when understaffed.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

What time did you go when you experienced these waits?

I know for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, at least when I used to go, those did not get busy until afternoon.

We’ve been coming everything Thanksgiving (minus last year of course) for a decade and this has always been true. Not this year. It started crowded and stayed crowded.

But I agree on inflated wait times. A little bit ago, Splash was posted at 45. We were on & off in under 20. This morning overall was extremely quiet.

 

[Wesley815]

-Not hard to train to give out red tag lanyard and then clock the time.

You'd be shocked how hard that is to train. Even when we were fully staffed prior to closure, Greeter CM's wouldn't never want to put effort into handing the cards out. Even had to create reminder systems or check marks by Leads.

 

[WonkaKid]

I've seen this many times in the past. In fact, the posted wait-time for Buzz on Thanksgiving was 40 minutes. The actual wait was less than 20. This isn't a recent development. I remember when POTC reopened after a long refurb, the wait-time shown was 45 minutes. As I recall, it was closer to 25. I think DL policy is that it's better to overestimate than it is to underestimate. No one's going to be annoyed when a line is considerably shorter than expected. Most people won't be happy if a wait is longer than expected, though.

 

[DLRExpert]

It is known that Disney does like over inflating the wait times,. I even believer Eisner mentioned it in an interview long ago. As mentioned earlier it was to improve guest satisfaction.

The problem is that now Disney will use this to their advantage to increase their Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane purchases.

Similar to having full control of Magic Key Holder crowds by offering limited availability based on Disney's interest in bringing in more regular day ticket guests and then adjusting it later if regular day ticket purchases are low. Even though MKH are paying a premium.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

So today Pirates queue was spilling out into the walkway and up to the bridge in New Orleans Square with a posted 30-minute wait. But I know for a fact it’s possible for Pirates to have a true 30-minute wait with no overflow outside the queue area. Inside the queue they are not utilizing all the space. So are they trying to visually make it look like OMG LOOK AT THESE LONG LINES so people will want to buy Genie+? P.S., that “30 minute wait” was actually 15 minutes.

Some other posted vs actual wait times from today:

Toy Story: 30 minutes posted/24 minutes actual

Soarin: 15 minutes posted/10 minutes actual

Incredicoaster: 20 minutes posted/14 minutes actual

Indy: 30 minutes posted/15 minutes actual

BTMRR: 35 minutes posted/20 minutes actual

 

[Dory92130]

Web Slingers varied greatly throughout the day: 30-65; mostly in 60min range.
Mania was down twice today; we got stuck in front when in went down second time.

Wait times were back to typical Sunday shoulder season wait times today. Really thinned out afternoon and bunches left after fireworks as usual.

Still another 1:15 for DL and most are probably walkon status now. Chilling at the VGC since we started out pretty early today with family airport departures.

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

Just went on Little Mermaid- posted wait time 10 mins, I waited 18.
Monsters Inc posted time 25 mins, actual wait 15
Pirates posted wait 25 mins, actual wait 15

 

[Chickinvic]

So today Pirates queue was spilling out into the walkway and up to the bridge in New Orleans Square with a posted 30-minute wait. But I know for a fact it’s possible for Pirates to have a true 30-minute wait with no overflow outside the queue area. Inside the queue they are not utilizing all the space. So are they trying to visually make it look like OMG LOOK AT THESE LONG LINES so people will want to buy Genie+? P.S., that “30 minute wait” was actually 15 minutes.

I would imagine this has more to do with Covid 19 protocols. How can they utilize all the space and still maintain social distancing inside the queue area? I would guess that they aren't supposed to have people snaking around each corner right next to the adjacent side of the line in these times.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I would imagine this has more to do with Covid 19 protocols. How can they utilize all the space and still maintain social distancing inside the queue area? I would guess that they aren't supposed to have people snaking around each corner right next to the adjacent side of the line in these times.

Ha! There is absolutely no social distancing going on at Disneyland these days.

 

[Dory92130]

Yeah - 'stand up and fill in all the available space please'

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I would imagine this has more to do with Covid 19 protocols. How can they utilize all the space and still maintain social distancing inside the queue area? I would guess that they aren't supposed to have people snaking around each corner right next to the adjacent side of the line in these times.

There is no more social distancing at Disneyland, nor are there any covid protocols other than you must wear a mask indoors. They cram people in everywhere.