This is ridiculous

[cdnjason]

Going with the flow is much easier when you aren't dealing with toddlers and young children.

My wife tells our DDs, "you get what you get and you don't get upset." They are really good about going with the flow as a result.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

From my own experiences, unless you see the waiting time change in front of you, 15-20 mins usually turns out to be a lot longer than 15-20 mins. (Except in early morning or late at night) There would be many many people who would jump to a line that say 15-20 mins wait, no matter if they wanted to ride it or not. The wait could be 15-20 when it was first displayed, but quickly increase after that. At the same time, many non-headliner rides that listed a super long wait would have a much shorter shorter actual wait. There were occasions when Under the Sea was almost a walk on at 45 mins listed and 30 mins wait when it listed as 10 mins outside.

 

[Lothlórien]

I was given those red tags quite a few times. How can they tell how long the wait is by doing that?
I can never work it out.
Thanks.

They scan it when they give it to you and then scan it again when you give it back.

 

[Lothlórien]

Just so no one gets confused by this: Disney doesn't stop meet and greets during parades or shows, even if those characters are in the parade/show. They wouldn't have stopped the Rapunzel meet for that reason.

Guess the CMs lied then.

 

[DLM1980]

Thought I would also mention..... if a CM gives a guest a lanyard with a red tag (their way of checking times from entry of the line to entry of the attraction) and the guest chooses to pocket it for a souvenir or they forget to give it to the CM, this will affect the line time as it has not been correctly reported. This is why CMs might give it to a guest and then give it to another one only 20 down the line.

I'm surprised they still use this system now that the magic bands are here, they are essentially the same thing. Just use a few long range RFID scanners at the beginning and end of the queue and scan everyone's band, no need for tapstiles like FP entry points.

 

[Sevey13]

I'm surprised they still use this system now that the magic bands are here, they are essentially the same thing. Just use a few long range RFID scanners at the beginning and end of the queue and scan everyone's band, no need for tapstiles like FP entry points.

To be honest, I don't think the tags are only part of the equation on how they decide on times. It is at best an inefficient system that has quite a bit of lag between beginning and payoff. My bet is that they also pull some historical data and, in addition, coordinate across the park to help move crowds as needed. Example: Late afternoon and the crowds are heavy in Tomorrowland, but light over in Adventureland. The line at Space Mountain may be 45 minutes, but if they say it's 60, guests might be more likely to pull out that MDE app and see where times are lower. What? Only 15 minutes at Pirates? Let's head there! After all, the more time in line is the less time buying souvenirs and food. Disney is nothing if not efficient in getting guests to spend money, and they can't do that while waiting.

 

[disney world dreamer]

Going with the flow is much easier when you aren't dealing with toddlers and young children.

i've been with both thank you and we've had situations similar to OP.
we went with the flow.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We got in line for Cinderella and Rapunzel. The wait time said 25 minutes and Linea said 18. We've been standing here almost 55 minutes before finally moving. Get it right people! I never would have gotten in this line I I knew this.

What/ who is Linea( said 18). Is that an app? A CM?

 

[ChloesDaddy]

What/ who is Linea( said 18). Is that an app? A CM?

Pretty sure they meant the Lines app from touringplans.com.