Rain and crowded parks

[CarolynFH]

This phenomenon, which has gotten worse as Disney’s data gets better, has always bothered me.

I certainly get that it benefits Disney to put less wear and tear on the rides by running them at lower capacity when they can get away with it.

But it still feels like Disney is making guests stand in long lines even on less crowded days primarily just to save the cost of staffing a few extra cast members for the day. That seems incredibly short sighted. God forbid guests have an especially pleasant experience and Disney has to pay a few hundred extra dollars in salary! If the lines are miserable even on low crowd days, a lot of guests will be turned off and won’t come back.

LOL, even the 60-minute standby lines don’t seem excessive to me. We routinely waited 2+ hours in line for Space Mountain, in the old days before FP. Maybe Disney doesn’t want guests to get spoiled by short lines on low crowd days and expect them all the time!

 

[sponica]

LOL, even the 60-minute standby lines don’t seem excessive to me. We routinely waited 2+ hours in line for Space Mountain, in the old days before FP. Maybe Disney doesn’t want guests to get spoiled by short lines on low crowd days and expect them all the time!

I was there this weekend and didn't think the wait times were terrible, although Remy and Test Track being down at the same time probably skewed everything at Epcot on Saturday. Soaring was also down when my husband and older kiddo went to ride it.

Sunday was a party day and we did get LLMP and LLSP because we added on park days at the end of a 7 night cruise and my kids were not in the headspace to wait in line, sure the headliners might have had some waits, but outside of tron and mine train, everything else was practically a walk on.

 

[kylenne]

This phenomenon, which has gotten worse as Disney’s data gets better, has always bothered me.

I certainly get that it benefits Disney to put less wear and tear on the rides by running them at lower capacity when they can get away with it.

But it still feels like Disney is making guests stand in long lines even on less crowded days primarily just to save the cost of staffing a few extra cast members for the day. That seems incredibly short sighted. God forbid guests have an especially pleasant experience and Disney has to pay a few hundred extra dollars in salary! If the lines are miserable even on low crowd days, a lot of guests will be turned off and won’t come back.

I first noticed this pre covid. One January Touring Plans was severely off in their estimates for avg wait times and it was discussed on Testa's podcast iirc. It sucks but it is what it is. Disney is so analytics obsessed I'm sure the exact number of sugar packets on the table at the restaurants is probably driven by data.

But, that's the main reason why I don't really put stock into crowd calendars. My rule of thumb is to prepare for defcon 1 crowds at all times. Plan A, B, and C. Doesn't even have to be to the nth degree either, just as simple as "if the wait is too long at X, I'll hit up Y instead". It's always easier to adjust down when crowds don't materialize ime rather than scramble when you are caught off guard by them. I'm also never disappointed that way either. Wait times don't really impact me because the way I tour tends to minimize them. High crowd levels only really affect my enjoyment to the extent it can be unpleasant to walk around, do any shopping, get mobile food orders, etc. when it's busy.

 

[disneyseniors]

This phenomenon, which has gotten worse as Disney’s data gets better, has always bothered me.

I certainly get that it benefits Disney to put less wear and tear on the rides by running them at lower capacity when they can get away with it.

But it still feels like Disney is making guests stand in long lines even on less crowded days primarily just to save the cost of staffing a few extra cast members for the day. That seems incredibly short sighted. God forbid guests have an especially pleasant experience and Disney has to pay a few hundred extra dollars in salary! If the lines are miserable even on low crowd days, a lot of guests will be turned off and won’t come back.

But it still feels like Disney is making guests stand in long lines even on less crowded days primarily just to save the cost of staffing a few extra cast members for the day.

We noticed a change in 2019 in the staffing. We used to go every year so had something to base this on. We always went in "slow" times when there really were slow times. Disney started closing one side of a ride and decreasing staff at that time even though we never encountered that before in our many experiences at WDW. I remember mentioning it to my husband. I wondered why would they intentionally make the lines long for everyone. Now it is routine.