Ranking attractions...with wait times factored in

[Jonfw2]

Time is money. And time spent in line at Disney is an investment in your overall enjoyment of the park. So what's worth it and what isn't?

What are your favorite and least favorite attractions with respect to how long the wait typically is? Meaning, "_________ isn't my favorite ride, but with a 20 minute wait, I love it" versus "I have no idea why anyone would wait so long for _________".

Here's mine:

Faves:

1. Everest- it's a great ride regardless, but the single rider can get below 10 minutes even on busy days.
2. Star Tours- because of the multiple sequences, you can go on this multiple times a day with little wait and have different experiences.
3. TTA- I have yet to put my finger on why this little thing is so enjoyable, but it just is. And for a near walk-on? Home run.
4. Haunted Mansion- due to the ride system, usually a briskly moving line and short wait time. And then it's, well, Haunted Mansion!
5.Three Cabelleros- is it the best ride at WDW? Of course not. But is it a fun way to spend a few minutes with little to no wait? Heck yes.

Least (note: this is NOT saying I don't like these rides. It's all about the time value of waiting for them):

1. 7 Dwarfs MT- it's fun. It really is. But for a 90 minute plus wait? No way. Fastpass or not at all.
2. Slinky Dog- cute, whimsical, but ultimately just a glorified kiddie coaster. With 2+ hour lines.
3. Peter Pan- you THINK you remember an amazing ride. This is nostalgia tricking you, an hour or more at a time.
4. Jungle Cruise- a few clever quips plus dated animatronics plus a cool entrance area does NOT equal two hours of waiting.
5. Test Track- sorry, but everything up to the 10 seconds at 60 mph is (sorry!) just kind of boring.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Time is money. And time spent in line at Disney is an investment in your overall enjoyment of the park. So what's worth it and what isn't?

What are your favorite and least favorite attractions with respect to how long the wait typically is? Meaning, "_________ isn't my favorite ride, but with a 20 minute wait, I love it" versus "I have no idea why anyone would wait so long for _________".

Here's mine:

Faves:

1. Everest- it's a great ride regardless, but the single rider can get below 10 minutes even on busy days.
2. Star Tours- because of the multiple sequences, you can go on this multiple times a day with little wait and have different experiences.
3. TTA- I have yet to put my finger on why this little thing is so enjoyable, but it just is. And for a near walk-on? Home run.
4. Haunted Mansion- due to the ride system, usually a briskly moving line and short wait time. And then it's, well, Haunted Mansion!
5.Three Cabelleros- is it the best ride at WDW? Of course not. But is it a fun way to spend a few minutes with little to no wait? Heck yes.

Least (note: this is NOT saying I don't like these rides. It's all about the time value of waiting for them):

1. 7 Dwarfs MT- it's fun. It really is. But for a 90 minute plus wait? No way. Fastpass or not at all.
2. Slinky Dog- cute, whimsical, but ultimately just a glorified kiddie coaster. With 2+ hour lines.
3. Peter Pan- you THINK you remember an amazing ride. This is nostalgia tricking you, an hour or more at a time.
4. Jungle Cruise- a few clever quips plus dated animatronics plus a cool entrance area does NOT equal two hours of waiting.
5. Test Track- sorry, but everything up to the 10 seconds at 60 mph is (sorry!) just kind of boring.

Funny story about Peter Pan. I remember as a kid riding it

I only really have two:

FoP - yeah, if I wanted to kill 3 hours I totally would for this ride. Only one I'd say that for but I'll wait for rise of the resistance

7DMT - Why? Why does anyone wait more than half an hour for this? It's cute and all but not much to it really.

Honorable mentions: Love ToT & Everest (I know has single rider but if it didn't...) and would consider waiting for them. I haven't ridden SDD exactly because of the wait times and knowing that while I do want to ride it, it just isn't worth a 60 minute or above wait.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Very Interesting post! Can't wait to compare answers!
I would wait up to an hour for Flight of Passage or Smuggler's Run-
45 minutes for Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Test Track
30 minutes for Peter Pan (because of the queue), 7 Dwarfs Mine Train (also the queue) Toy Story Midway Mania, Buzz Lightyear, Frozen Ever After, Soarin", Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion.
ALL the others better be under 30 minutes, or me able to get a fourth fast pass for them-I'm over 65 so time is valuable!
My favs with shorter waits (usually) People Mover, Mission Space, Finding Nemo, Star Tours, Tiki Room, Country Bears, Small World (yes I love the nostalgia but stop short of Carousel of Progress!) and Under the Sea.
I am willing to wait slightly over an hour this summer for Rise of the Resistance, Runaway Railway and Ratatouille, which I plan on rope dropping if I can't get a fast pass.
Not worth the wait, which you usually do-Navi River. Also Dinosaur unless you like your teeth loosened from the jerking-
Too scared/old to try Everest or Rock n Roller Coaster, so can't comment on those-although I may try Everest if I can get up the courage! You only live once!

 

[mrd7896]

Faves: Expedition Everest, Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Soarin (but really for just not an outrageous amount of a wait-but even so the queue is great! An outrageous wait i'd do for the old version thats for sure), Finding Nemo, PotC, Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, Kilimanjaro

Least: Mine Train, BTMRR, Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie the Pooh, Navi, SDD, Astro Orbiters, Dinosaur in the chance that is has a long wait specifically because the queue for it is absolutely dreadful. Otherwise, i think it's a decent ride.

I really do love Avatar but probably wouldn't wait more than 45-60 minutes of PARK TIME for it. If i can't nab a fast pass we always do RD so it's not quite the same since we aren't really wasting time.

Obviously this is strictly opinion based and a lot of my faves are of course even better because i can get FP's for them

 

[gatour]

For me 1 hour is about my limit for any ride. It would be Tower of Terror, Everest, Soarin. For most other rides it would be 30 minutes. However, I would bump up a few to 45 minutes, if we have FP for another ride in the general vicinity, such that we can stand in line for 45 minute for the "filler" ride and once we got off that ride we could head over to the FP ride and board.

 

[Delirium]

We found out that waiting 5 minutes for Na'vi River was a waste of time.

 

[wilbret]

Well, I pretty much refuse to wait in line for anything posted over 30 minutes, I might stretch it to 40 minutes or maayyyybe 60 if I feel like the line is fun or the wait is historically shorter if you can see where the line ends.

Faves
1. Haunted Mansion. Favorite, period. I like finding things they've added or improved each time.
2. Tower of Terror. See a trend, here? Only downside is the ride is way to short.
3. Toy Story Mania. Far superior to Buzz Lightyear version, which desperately needs an overhaul.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean. I see improvements almost every time. Waits are almost always reasonable.

Notsofaves
1. Tomorrowland Speedway. So dumb. So outdated. So basic. So not futuristic. Such a waste of space.
2. Triceratop Spin/Magic Carpets/Astro Oribiter, and maybe Dumbo by association. I can ride these at any fair. Dumbo has nostalgia and fun queue, so I might not really include it here. (However... Kang & Kodos' Twirl & Hurl is FUN, just because of the content)
3. Alien Swirling Saucers. I wanted to like it. I really did. But it is entirely too slow, too short, and just not much fun, even for the kid in me. I won't waste another minute in line for it.
4. Small World. I could go either way on this one... nostalgia? yes. Annoying, yes. If they did ride overlays or changed it to be like Disneyland, I might enjoy it again. For now, it's off the list.
5. Navi River Journey. I struggled with what to put in 5th place here, but I really am just unimpressed with this ride. There's no story, no connection, no reason for existence, and it's a short ride, to boot.

 

[TrustDadsPlan]

Best ride pound for pound (minute for minute wait) is Pirates. Also, Haunted Mansion and Hall of the Presidents.

 

[Disnsyncey]

25 minutes is my normal max for ANY ride, if I can't rope drop it or fast pass it, I usually skip it.....

 

[Gehrig1B]

I'm topping out at 20 minutes. There is no current ride for which I would wait longer than 20 minutes excepting Rise of the Resistance and that is only because I don't think I will have any other choice, at least for a while.

 

[gharter]

Favorite:
Haunted Mansion - just a classic. The line usually isn't too bad and FPs are not hard to get.
Pirates - same as above.
Everest - Awesome rollercoaster
Safari - always a different adventure.
TSMM - What Buzz could have been.
Soarin' - since adding the 3rd screen , the wait tiems have gone down.
Tower of Terror - just plain fun.

Worst:
SDD - its a really fun rollercoaster, but not worth waiting 90+ minutes.
FoP - I love this ride, but refuse to wait over 30 minutes. RD or end of day works.
Tomorrowland Speedway - please update this, really.
Jungle Cruise - love the ride, hate the queue. Must do FP
Navi - any more than a 5 minute wait is too long.
AK the entire Chester and Hester area. I don't care what the wait is.

 

[TongaToast21]

Peter Pan would be one of my "we waited an hour for that?!" rides. Always a fastpass for us, otherwise pass.