Posted wait times question

[sunshine1]

Was at rope drop yesterday and it said that little mermaid ride was 25 minutes. We got to the front and there was no one there.
Haunted mansion said 15 minute wait, again we walked on.

Why is that?

 

[nowinflorida]

No good answer for you but we had this experience in all 3 parks last week. (Yes, I was happy when 45 min Maelstrom and 80 min RNR both took 20...they were off on other rides too). Since in my over 42 years of going to Disney, they have tended to be spot on with wait times (unless a breakdown)....this has to be a weird fluke or something to do with FP+ and people not using the ones they book....maybe they are wildly exaggerating wait times so people will be happier but I've never found them to do this in the past.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

I think because of fast pass, they cannot possibly estimate wait times properly. They probably increase the wait time so as to lower expectations of the people getting on SB.

For example if a line is 20 minutes long, but you happen to be in line at the turn of the 1:00pm hour....a flood of FP+ holders might steam in between 1:00 and 1:05. Now your 20 minute wait might be 30 minutes....but the person who JUST got on the line...its only 20 minutes.

 

[HM]

We've noticed over the years that the wait listed outside the ride is usually about twice what the actual wait is once we're in line. So, if we see a wait for Pirates that says 30 minutes, we're usually on in 15-20, for example.

I think people feel better if they think they are going to wait for 30 and then only wait 20.

I will say that sometimes this is not true, we've gotten in line and waited longer than the listed time before as well, but that's not nearly as common as a shorter line that expected.

 

[jen2207]

We encountered this as well. We just got home, but on Sunday splash had a posted wait of 75mins. We had already used up our FP selection so we said we would wait. It was only 35mins. Also BTMRR was posted as 65mins and we waited maybe 25.

 

[DisneyWisher]

We've noticed over the years that the wait listed outside the ride is usually about twice what the actual wait is once we're in line. So, if we see a wait for Pirates that says 30 minutes, we're usually on in 15-20, for example.

Not always. On 3/17 Buzz said 45 mins waited 70.
Also if Test Track has just opened after a rain storm avoid it. It will get tons of FPers all at once. It said 30 mins we waited 2 hours.

 

[puffkin]

I always laugh at the multitude of posts on here (especially now with the whole FP+ thing) about the posted standby waits. We have been travelling to WDW for years (multiple times a year) and the posted waits are almost NEVER even close to accurate. Sometimes in our favor, sometimes against. How much of that is done intentionally (to spread people out, to make you feel better about waiting, etc) and how much is just from unforseen circumstances (ride stops, disability loading, weather issue, large brazilian tour group hitting the FP line at once, etc) I don't know, but it was very rare to find a time that was right. And then with the indoor queues, you can't go by the length of the line because you don't know how much of the queue they are actually using inside. And of course, even if you hop in line, an unforseen cicumstance can happen at any time turning a short line into a long wait.

I like to gamble, so we just consider it a game of Russian Roulette and make our best educated guess before hopping in line. We try not to stress too much about it and we ALWAYS make sure to have the kids visit the bathrooms first before hopping in a line with a hidden queue

 

[KelleyK75]

I noticed last week with the Dumbo ride, the stand-by time kept changing every couple of minutes. It would say 70 minutes, then 60 minutes, then 45 minutes, then back to 70 minutes. Not sure why, but we sat there for a little bit waiting for my sister to get back from buying cotton candy in the shop across the street, and it kept changing really frequently.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We saw a 60 minute wait posted for KRR when we cashed in our Fast passes. When we got to the ride, there was NOBODY in the standby line

 

[Moonwolf]

I experienced the same last year when I went. All the lines said 20 min waits and they were all virtually walk ons. My friend and I joked that the time listed wasn't for the wait but the time it took to walk through the lines. There was only one ride that was longer than listed and I think it was to a bunch of people joining the SB line right before us.

I also have a feeling that at rope drop they list the time to be long to begin with because that's the expected time after the first rush of people enter the park.

 

[mm1971]

Was at rope drop yesterday and it said that little mermaid ride was 25 minutes. We got to the front and there was no one there.
Haunted mansion said 15 minute wait, again we walked on.

Why is that?

Because they tend to exaggerate the times to make you feel better. Really, not kidding. If they tell you 5 minutes and you wait 1o, your pissed. If they tell you 10, but you wait 5 it's magic.

In the AM, they probably expect certain wait times, but no one really knows until the crowds start to come in and line up. They were most likely guessing based on what they saw on previous days and it was not a correct guess. Glad to hear it was no line instead of long waits. Wish I was there with you.

 

[puffkin]

I have also seen them over inflate wait times at park opening in the front of the park (or near a ride that people used to rush to for FP's) so that people would spread out more evenly deeper into the parks. And of course ToT always puts up a 13 min when it is a walk on to be funny.