Planning Rider Swaps, how long does it take to ride...

[MelissaBee]

hi all,
Long time lurker, first time posting. I've looked for this answer all over, so I apologize if it's been posted before.

I've been to Disney lots of times, but how long each ride experience takes never really mattered before, so I never paid strict attention to it. This time, I need to plan for using rider swap alongside out FP+ times, so it would be very helpful to know, on average, how much time certain ride experiences take. By "ride experience," I mean how long does it take from entering FP queue to exiting the ride? I know there's no accounting for breakdowns or other random variables, but on average, how long should the waiting party plan to wait while the first party rides with FP? Knowing that will help me know whether to plan activities for them to do while waiting or just have them sit around.

These are the rides I need to know about:
TOT
Star Tours
7DMT
Soarin
TT
Mission Space
Everest

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Accident]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/ridelength.htm

 

[MelissaBee]

Thanks for the list and taking the time to reply. I did see that one when doing my google searches before posting, but as it says in the first line of the page, those times listed don't include pre shows or queue length. That's what I was hoping the DISers could help me with. For example, I know that it takes way longer than 5 min to ride TOT from entering queue to exiting. I just can't recall if it is more like 15min total or 45min total.

 

[BlueLion]

I've been making personalized plans on TouringPlans.com that account for total experience time, and really like them. We're doing lots of rider swapping too - it let's you account for this in your plans.

Here are the duration numbers showing up in my plans for easy reference. These don't include wait times, but do all include the 2nd round using rider swap. Hoping they are fairly accurate!

TOT - 35
Star Tours - 19
7DMT - 11
Soarin - 17
TT - 13
Mission Space - 36
Everest - 13

 

[MelissaBee]

That's exactly what I was looking for!!! And they pretty well align with my (possibly skewed) memories. Except for Soarin. I swear it takes longer than 17 min to walk the queue line, lol. And I would have said longer for TT with the car design station factored in, but maybe that feels like it takes longer than it really does.

 

[Bay_Lake_Tower]

I think Soarin' took each group about 25-30 minutes in total when we did it, we did FP and rider swap. That was before the 3rd concourse though. Test Track and ToT are also on the long side.

 

[BlueLion]

Yeah, I seem to remember waiting a long time swapping on Soarin' 5 years ago when my older son was little. I think a lot of that was the line itself, even with FP. My plan shows 13 total in line for both riders, with FP+. Hoping the 3rd theatre helps some there.

On a side note, if you haven't already factored in the rider swap for your FP reservations, that can help a lot.