My mom likes lines

[goofyintoronto]

But isn't the whole entire day, no matter where you are, spent with family? You can have a conversation on your way from point A to point B the same as while in line.

Ha ha, yes, youre right. I use the same rationale when people complain that they cant face their family members while eating at a DRIVE IN (@ SciFi).

 

[SA mom]

I don't know how many trips we made before we saw the standby line for Expedition Everest. It was really neat. I too like the details in the queues and I love visiting with my family. You learn a lot about each other.

Wish they would do something to make the Dinosaur queue more interesting.

 

[AngiTN]

I had never bothered to check out the new queue at Peter Pan until last week. I made DH and I take time during the party to check it out. It is truly amazing. I think it may be the best queue in all of Disney. And with a stand by line that is almost always long, one few who do a lot of planning ever see since PP is typically a ride most FP.

 

[msmama]

Hmm. They actually mentioned the FP in their yelling? Or it was because they were moving faster and you weren't? We never ran in the parks, and were passed by some doing so, but no one ever wasted their time by yelling, and if they had I wouldn't have assumed why they were yelling.

Yep. And I only remember because it happened twice on the same trip! Something along the lines of... "I'm not going to get a good FP return time if you people don't start moving faster." It wasn't directed strictly towards me, but anyone not moving quickly and ESPECIALLY at people who stopped to get photopass pictures on mainstreet)!!

 

[cygnusx1jg]

The word "like" is kinda too much, but I don't mind standing in a line for an attraction I like---helps the anticipation factor--as long as air conditioning is involved. An outside line in the middle of July or August is just not pleasant.

 

[ktlm]

I enjoy "walking" in line, not "standing" in line.

Remember Pirates pre-FP+? You were always moving forward toward the ride. Now you walk 5 minutes, stand 8 minutes, walk 5, stand 8 more, etc.

That is so true! I didn't think about it while we were there, but it really was an impact. We did the standby for Safari at AK one day, and we stood in one spot for 10 minutes because a bunch of people hit the FP+ line at the same time and they held the standby line while they let them all through. In a lot of the standby line instances, the reason the waits were so long was that they would stop the line and hold for FP+ arrivals. We would get in a standby line that looked much shorter than the posted time, but it would turn out to be the posted time because they would put us in a holding pattern for lengthy periods of time as FP+ people arrived.

 

[Kathryn777]

The fp line is usually plenty of family bonding (trying not to scream at my children) time for me.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Honestly, no. There's something fun about it for me, personally. It gives great time to catch up with your group and is really just a nice little break. I've honestly never minded standing in lines.

 

[BudgieMama]

I had some guests at my ticket booth a couple weeks ago from the UK who didn't want to hear about FP+ because "we're British, we like queueing up."

It is a well known joke that we Brits can form a queue of one! (And I have, at times!)

I'm not a fan of waiting in a queue if I can avoid it, so I love FP+, but it's not the worst thing in the world, especially when I have a vague idea of how long the queue might take, and when everyone else is queuing properly!! (No pushing, no shoving, no cutting, no annoying other people by your behaviour!)

We went the a theme park in Blackpool last year, and none of the rides post expected wait times. That I hated.

 

[cjparker0110]

My mother has recently confessed that she misses waiting standby for everything.

I knew she didn't like legacy FP because she felt like we were running around too much since you had to go all the way to the ride to get the Fastpass. She thought we wasted a lot more time walking when we could have just waited in line.

So, I figured FP+ would change this for her but I'm wrong.

She actually misses waiting in line!

She says some of her favorite WDW memories of our family were when we were all trying to kill time in line.

I had no idea that waiting in line was actually sentimental for her!

Is she alone?

She's not alone. Don't get me wrong...I don't like spending all of my time in line. But I do enjoy standing in a line. I know that makes no sense...but it does. But let's take a minute and get out of Disney for a different example:

I grew up with Star Wars. Born in 76 I saw all of the films in the theater but have no memory of seeing the first one because I was so young. A vivid memory I do have though is for Return of the Jedi where we stood in this HUGE line that snaked through the entire mall (had never seen one so long before or after at that theater). I think we waited about 3 hours to get in to the movie. I remember when Episode I came out, my friends and I stood in line for 17 hours to get tickets to the midnight premiere. And now, with Episode 7, you can just buy tickets online 2 months ahead of time with no wait.

So what am I getting at?

The best time in my life for Star Wars was waiting those 17 hours in line. Why? Because I was in a line surrounded by other fans of the movies I loved so much. It was in that line that I learned about some awesome Star Wars fan made short films (TROOPS and Disco Lando) that I had never heard of or knew existed (this was before Youtube...and I think we were still on dial up). I remember the impromptu lightsaber battles we had. I remember the trivia games/challenges we all did. I remember the idiot who cranked up the Imperial March at 6AM when some of us were still sleeping (ok...maybe I was the idiot...haha).

The point is that the time spent in line was actually fun. There was an atmosphere about it that I have never experienced anywhere else...except at Disney to a lesser extent.

That said, I understand that you still have to wait in line if you want to do things other than just 3 FP attractions. But here's the thing: it's part of the traditional experience of going to an amusement park. Here's the other thing: sometimes you just want to do things in the moment when you're on vacation. That's hard to do when you have FP+ reservations and ADRs that you need to meet at very specific times. Even if you don't mind waiting in line for something, sometimes you have to skip out on a line because you will miss a reserved time for something else...so then you sacrifice 30-40 minutes because the wait time was 50...but you otherwise could have just waited and done it.

I'm not against fast pass. But I seriously think that some people have become so snobbish about standing in line that they don't realize that it is a part of the experience. Next time you do standby, look around. There's a lot of smiling faces in those lines. And there's also some quite good themeing in some of those lines to distract you from the boredom you face in a normal amusement park.

 

[JaxDad]

My mom liked to go to Hooters. She loved to talk to people, and the waitresses there would actually stop and talk with her and even sometimes sit at the table for a moment. It was more important to her than getting her food fast. I was a good son, so I never minded taking her there.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

There have been times in my life when I was in too much of a hurry to enjoy anything. It seems that the OP's mother gets it. Life is short, and the time that we get with those that we love even shorter. I don't go to WDW with my family to ride the rides - I go to bond with them.

 

[hakepb]

I think its sweet that she is sentimental about it. she just wants to spend time with her family. I love it! And hey, FP isnt for everyone. I know a lot of people who dont use FP+ because they prefer to wing it than plan everything. She's not alone.

I guess I can understand sentimental.
My mom would say that her best large family holiday meal memories were the pre-meal food prep work and cleaning dishes after the meal... Not because those mindless tasks were enjoyable, but the time and discussions with others great.

 

[Jfsag123]

I don't feel this way about Disney (although some of the interactive queues are amazing), but I get where she's coming from. I used to live in Virginia and spent significant time at Busch Gardens Williamsburg every summer as a teenager with my friends. Looking back, most of my fond memories are of interactions or conversations we had while waiting in line. I barely remember the rides.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I guess I can understand sentimental.
My mom would say that her best large family holiday meal memories were the pre-meal food prep work and cleaning dishes after the meal... Not because those mindless tasks were enjoyable, but the time and discussions with others great.

Yes I can see that too! its true, you can have some great convo while prepping meals.

 

[Sparkly]

"What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stop and stare"

 

[Quellman]

We made the decision to wait 40 minutes for Soarin once. I still don't really know why. It was a great time. We got to hang out as a family just enjoying the company and getting to know those around us. Something that we often miss when herding from attraction to attraction or standing still for brief periods of time. We have also waited 40 minutes for 7d Mine Train. Another fun experience. I think queuing has its time and place..

 

[W.E.D.]

As PPs have mentioned, I kind of like checking out the theming in some of the queues. I mean, some of these rides had a LOT of time invested in the waiting areas and they're really cool to look at. If we're all staring at our apps and running through the FP lanes, WDI could really stop spending money on exterior theming and put everything in Go Away Green warehouses.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't mind the occasional wait but I don't want to do it all day. I can bond with people on the ride or walking around or wherever. Waiting endlessly tends to make me impatient after a while and then I get to where I don't like bonding with anyone.

 

[cjparker0110]

I don't feel this way about Disney (although some of the interactive queues are amazing), but I get where she's coming from. I used to live in Virginia and spent significant time at Busch Gardens Williamsburg every summer as a teenager with my friends. Looking back, most of my fond memories are of interactions or conversations we had while waiting in line. I barely remember the rides.

I remember the rides at Busch Gardens quite well. Of course, my sister worked there for 4 years (and I had season passes those years). Then I worked there for 4 years. I've spent a lot of time in line for some great rides there. That's probably why lines don't bother me. I remember when the only two coasters they had open were Loch Ness and Big Bad Wolf. It was 45 minutes for each. And I did it 3-4 days a week all day long!

We made the decision to wait 40 minutes for Soarin once. I still don't really know why. It was a great time. We got to hang out as a family just enjoying the company and getting to know those around us. Something that we often miss when herding from attraction to attraction or standing still for brief periods of time. We have also waited 40 minutes for 7d Mine Train. Another fun experience. I think queuing has its time and place..

I would gladly wait 40 minutes for Soarin. Every time I have seen the standby for that ride it is over an hour...and close to two. Granted, I haven't been there in years. But I read in one of the guide books that the average wait there is at least 90 minutes. Sounds like a bargain to me...haha.