If Disney did not make a profit, there would be no Disney. I don't think their outlook is 'try to screw the customer' as its more 'how can we maximize profits'. And I defy anyone to name a large corporation that does not want to maximize profits. The interesting concept though, is this: Disney is a world leader and a world innovator in many things, and one of the biggest things they do well is marketing. They are the best of the best and it shows.
Having seen that they can convince people to wear bands on their wrists (every man, woman and child) that can track them while in the parks, (a marketing tool to gather LARGE SCALE INFORMATION like NO OTHER on this planet) to indicate not only when they will be in the parks 30 - 60 days in advance BUT ALSO at WHICH park, even down to where exactly in the park by fp+ and restaurant reservations. Even better, they can get people to buy these bands, or purchase upgrades - unbelievable!
When I read first hand reports from people going to the parks this January, and reporting a common experience of standby times being at times drastically inflated (I think its fair to say drastically, as something that is only marginally different would probably not be noted and commented on), It makes me think - What is Disney up to?
And, being the best of the best in marketing, I am going to hypothesize that its possible, on certain days, at certain attractions, the marketing team is observing cause/effect of standby wait times at certain times of the day, so they can create demand and give incentive to the customers to encourage spending. I think that is a very real possibility. They are looking for the sweet spot: maximum revenue no matter what time of year, and how to achieve it. Manipulating the standby times, we are all working as lab rats for the marketing team. If the standby time is 45 minutes for HM, will they enter? If its 49 minutes will they enter? If its 51 minutes will they enter? And we all are wearing those gorgeous bands they will electronically record this into a data base effortlessly for disney. And when is the best time to collect this data? At the slowest time of year, when they can easily manipulate a 'need' when there is none (i.e., light crowds, but still long wait times)
SUMMARY OF THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH: MANIPULATING SUPPLY AND DEMAND WITH SOMETHING THAT COSTS THE CORPORATION ZERO DOLLARS: THAT IS - THE CONSUMERS TIME
I also think, the overstated standby times could be a combination of factors like
1: Less staffing in slower months that is very accurately predicted because fp+ includes off site visitors as well as onsite visitors- they are fine tuning the staffing savings of less personnel
2: Less operation of ride vehicles (only one side open, ext) means less expenditure on energy, damage and repair - another big cost savings
3: More people buying and eating then riding attractions. Another huge area for revenue.
Just some random thoughts....
Of course when they add rope queues outside a line - it was easy to guess that the wait was going to be longer than offered because I don't think that part even counts in the time.
