How accurate are the wait times?

[Abatts]

How accurate are the wait times some Touring Plans Lines app? I'm making some personalized plans (putting in date and times) and I'm just curious how accurate the wait times it shows are when I optimize and/or evaluate the plan.

 

[TiggerGirl]

I try to test them out when I walk the parks (I'm there quite often), and they're pretty good. Not 100% but close enough to give you a really good idea of what you're in for.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

How accurate are the wait times some Touring Plans Lines app? I'm making some personalized plans (putting in date and times) and I'm just curious how accurate the wait times it shows are when I optimize and/or evaluate the plan.

You want to evaluate them again right before you go to incorporate any recent updates (the crowd number estimates for our week just went up). Probably morning of as well. But we generally find that we get done about what we planned in the am so theyre generally in the ballpark. I do make our walking speed slow to compensate for random stops, bathroom breaks, etc.

 

[Jennasis]

TP are more accurate than Disney's own reported wait time, in our experience.

 

[Abatts]

Thanks. I've heard that of the in park times. I was curious about when setting up the touring plan prior to arrival.

TP are more accurate than Disney's own reported wait time, in our experience.

 

[Klayfish]

Touring Plans is pretty accurate in general. I still use MDE and/or the posted times on the rides themselves. They tend to be conservative, but knowing that still helps give me a ballpark of how busy things are. This is especially true when using MDE. I can pull up a certain park and in a quick glance get a pretty good idea of how crowded it may be.

 

[lullwater]

Touring Plans Lines app wait times are more accurate than most until the last hour or so of the park being open, and then they are longer than stated.

 

[Revnoogie]

Touring Plans is pretty accurate in general. I still use MDE and/or the posted times on the rides themselves. They tend to be conservative, but knowing that still helps give me a ballpark of how busy things are. This is especially true when using MDE. I can pull up a certain park and in a quick glance get a pretty good idea of how crowded it may be.

What do you mean by conservative? Posted waits are usually longer than actual waits? Which would seem to make sense to me that Disney would want to have guests wait less than what is posted rather than longer. But leaving in a week for just our second trip so wanted to get a better idea of waits vs posted waits.

 

[maryj11]

Touring Plans Lines app wait times are more accurate than most until the last hour or so of the park being open, and then they are longer than stated.

The posted wait times at the rides are usually longer then the wait really is during the last hour the park is open. I think they vamp up the wait times to discourage people from getting in line lol.

 

[dmband]

How does TP app get their data?
Personally I would think it's hard to be more accurate then Disneys times but I keep reading that it is

 

[mrzrich]

How does TP app get their data?
Personally I would think it's hard to be more accurate then Disneys times but I keep reading that it is

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[Babe the Blue Ox]

You can expect the posted wait to be about 4x the actual wait during the last hour or so of operation. It's intentional.

 

[Klayfish]

What do you mean by conservative? Posted waits are usually longer than actual waits? Which would seem to make sense to me that Disney would want to have guests wait less than what is posted rather than longer. But leaving in a week for just our second trip so wanted to get a better idea of waits vs posted waits.

Yes, they post longer times than what the wait really is. I'm sure it's intentional, because without a doubt if they post a 30 minute wait and it's actually 31 minutes, there's always someone who will raise a huge stink about it. But like I said, it still gives me a good ballpark as to how busy it is. If I'm in Magic Kingdom and we're contemplating hopping over to Epcot, I can quickly pull up MDE and get a good idea of how busy the park is.

The "Lines" app is real time data from guests currently at the park. When you enter the queue, you pull the app up and start the clock. When you get on the ride, you stop the clock and that data gets reported for others to see. It's very accurate, with the caveat that the user has to remember to start and stop the clock. I've forgotten once or twice to stop it.

I don't agree that the posted wait time is 4x actual wait during the last hour. Yes, it's still conservative, but not sure it's to that extent. My recollection from the few park closings we did last summer wasn't that it was 4x actual wait. I also suspect that in the last hour they stop handing out those red measuring cards, so they probably also stop updating the wait times at some point.

 

[sdomino11]

We have followed touring plans for four trips in a row now and I have zero complaints. We set our walking speed to extra slow to allow time for sightseeing in between attractions. When in the parks, I would trust touring plan's Lines app for wait times over MDE's every time.

 

[DOOM1001]

The posted wait times at the rides are usually longer then the wait really is during the last hour the park is open. I think they vamp up the wait times to discourage people from getting in line lol.

Totally true,Space Mountain showing 50 minutes when its a near walk on,I remember doing the Tower of Terror 10 mile Disney race at night that had an after party until like 3am and at 1:30am the ToT showed 90 minutes when it was probably 15 at most,they really must have wanted to go home.

 

[Rusty2rules]

You want to evaluate them again right before you go to incorporate any recent updates (the crowd number estimates for our week just went up).

Where do you find the crowd number estimates? Do they have estimates for each park or just an estimated total for all parks combined? I would think that would be helpful information for park planning if it's even close to accurate.

 

[Hopefully]

Touring Plans announced yesterday that they updated their long standing Crowd Level algorhythm this week. In the past their wait times were based on ride line wait times, where each numeric increase was an increase in wait times of 10 minutes. So a crowd level 1 was a 10 minute wait, and a crowd level 8 was an 80 minute wait. Since wait times have significantly increased, they feel this is no longer accurate. So what was a 10 last year may only be an 8 this year, with 2 higher levels than in the past.
See the story on their web site.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/01/23/wdw-2017cc-changes/

 

[sdomino11]

Where do you find the crowd number estimates? Do they have estimates for each park or just an estimated total for all parks combined? I would think that would be helpful information for park planning if it's even close to accurate.

You can click on a crowd calendar link on The touring plans website. It will give an overall number and a specific number for each park.

 

[Abatts]

Touring Plans announced yesterday that they updated their long standing Crowd Level algorhythm this week. In the past their wait times were based on ride line wait times, where each numeric increase was an increase in wait times of 10 minutes. So a crowd level 1 was a 10 minute wait, and a crowd level 8 was an 80 minute wait. Since wait times have significantly increased, they feel this is no longer accurate. So what was a 10 last year may only be an 8 this year, with 2 higher levels than in the past.
See the story on their web site.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/01/23/wdw-2017cc-changes/

I saw that. Our numbers didn't change yet for our dates. I wonder if that inherently mean that the crowds will be higher than originally expected?

 

[Hopefully]

I saw that. Our numbers didn't change yet for our dates. I wonder if that inherently mean that the crowds will be higher than originally expected?

Our dates for late October all increased in addition to the new method. I think that means it will definitely be more crowded.