Those using touring plans - how accurate are the wait times?

[kniquy]

I am using touring plans to help with plotting out our park days. I have plugged in some plans and it gives me an estimate for the waits. I am under the impression that the site/system uses historical info to get the best estimate for wait times.

I am wondering how much i can trust or rely on these wait times for my planning? Some of the times make think they may not be terribly accurate -- for example on sunday 4/15/18 we are planning HS. For toy story it has a 29 minutes wait at 6:30 pm. I expect some variation but don't want to plan on a 30 minutes wait for a ride and then it be closer to 60.

I know a lot depends on the crowds, but my interest is in knowing how close are these estimates in the plans touring plans creates?

 

[chiisai]

If something seems wonky, ask Len in their forum. He can look at your plan and see if something seems off.

Ours were pretty good, though we like to choose very relaxed walking so we can take bathroom breaks and the inevitable random slow downs.

In park, two or more rides down will throw your plan off. Use the lines app feature there to see wait times and try to readjust.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I've found the wait times quite accurate using TP. Once we're in the park, though, I don't strictly follow the plan. I play it by ear and check the Lines app (which I've found to be more accurate than the wait times posted in MDE). If the Lines app shows a line increasing for something later in our plan but doesn't show our next step as increasing, I switch them around. That's assuming they are relatively close to one another.

I'd also agree with what the other poster pointed out, which is to use the slowest walking speed, especially if you are visiting at a busy time. When the parks are very crowded, it is impossible to walk at anything but a very relaxed speed!

 

[rance]

Hi
We found the wait times for FOP way off in the morning and later in the night. For example it said if we went on FOP an hour before park close the wait would be :25 minutes...it was 120 minutes.
Other then that it was accurate.

 

[TinkerPan]

I too have found TP fairly accurate in regards to wait times. However, be mindful that even the best plans will have difficulty predicting wait times for the first ride of the day, particularly if its a popular ride. Will you really be first in line or 100 back at rope drop? I echo what others say about setting your plan on relaxed walking pace and build in break times, and sufficient time for meals. I find TP a good sanity check.

 

[kniquy]

Great to hear! some of the times seem too good to be true, but I'm trusting the system. I am definitely putting in the relaxed pace with touring with a 4 year old and trying to minimize walking. So going extra conservative

 

[Ouida]

I am using TP for the first time for our November trip. Everything set to relaxed speed.

I couldn't understand why it showed, at rope drop, a 27 minute wait for PPF but only a 6 minute walk. Now I think it adds some time, because you could be first and get right on, or the 100th person and have 60 minute wait. So it averages the wait time. I'd love to know if I'm right there?

Then it shows a 7 minute walk to SDMT and with a FP only a 6 minute wait. This doesn't seem right to me, as this ride is usually sold out of FP by afternoon. So on a medium crowd day, 6 minutes seems really off to me. I'd love some input here too?

Then it showed It's a small world with only a 9 minute wait at 10:15am. And HM at 17minutes, in low crowds we have waited longer for both.

So I've looked at crowd levels now vs. Wait time, and I feel it may be off. I hope not, but I've added in a few breaks to be able to catch up if needed. I hope more people who have used it recently comment, as I would love to know how it worked out by afternoon??? Also a big question would be when did you make the plans? I guess the closer to your trip, the more accurate the crowd levels would be?

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I use the personalized plans with "relaxed walking". They aren't perfect but I think fairly close. I like using the evaluate button, not the optimize because i have more control of how i want my day to go rather than the computer deciding everything. A few things to remember... many of the character meet and greets are not an option to add (like pocahontas at AK) so I have to add in a "break" and guess how long it will take. Same for shopping. In these cases, the walking time will be off because the computer won't know where your going to and from. Also, I don't think they allow any time for exiting theaters. So if I'm watching a show like Indiana Jones, I plan on arriving to the next attraction slightly later giving me a little time to walk out rather than stampede over the crowds to avoid messing up my plan.

 

[Monykalyn]

I've used the lines app on last three trips. Most recent beginning of August with most park crowds around 7. Wait times were pretty accurate (vs MDE which was almost always inflated). I timed many waits myself just to see and always within a minute or two of the expected wait time. Exception being if a ride broke down.

I always attempt a touring plan and I find it gives me a guide of what to start with in the mornings and then I wing it from there lol. I did pretty strictly follow the touring plan in (I think it was) our 2015 trip and my son asked why we never seeemed to wait in lines while it seemed like other people were doing (June trip)

 

[cigar95]

I couldn't understand why it showed, at rope drop, a 27 minute wait for PPF but only a 6 minute walk. Now I think it adds some time, because you could be first and get right on, or the 100th person and have 60 minute wait. So it averages the wait time. I'd love to know if I'm right there?

This wait, and *all* of them, represent a range, because as you you note there are a number of factors that the TP model can't know in advance. If you were - hypothetically - able to repeat this day 100 times, on the average you'd wait about 27 minutes. But the six minute walk just reflects how long it takes to walk *to* the attraction - it's about how far the attraction is from the park entrance, independent of how crowded it will be once you get there.

Then it shows a 7 minute walk to SDMT and with a FP only a 6 minute wait. This doesn't seem right to me, as this ride is usually sold out of FP by afternoon. So on a medium crowd day, 6 minutes seems really off to me. I'd love some input here too?

My experience is that the FP wait for the Mine Train usually is quite short - assuming you already have one? So that's not out of line, compared with your Peter Pan, where I presume you *don't* have a FP.

(As an aside, TP wait times at opening do seem to sometimes be a bit wonky. Most often, they're longer than you'll actually experience, but we're seeing with Flight of Passage that they seem to be strangely optimistic.)

Also a big question would be when did you make the plans? I guess the closer to your trip, the more accurate the crowd levels would be?

Go back and "Evaluate" your plan every now and again - the numbers will be updated with the latest estimates.

 

[Ouida]

I use the personalized plans with "relaxed walking". They aren't perfect but I think fairly close. I like using the evaluate button, not the optimize because i have more control of how i want my day to go rather than the computer deciding everything. A few things to remember... many of the character meet and greets are not an option to add (like pocahontas at AK) so I have to add in a "break" and guess how long it will take. Same for shopping. In these cases, the walking time will be off because the computer won't know where your going to and from. Also, I don't think they allow any time for exciting theaters. So if I'm watching a show like Indiana Jones, I plan on arriving to the next attraction slightly later giving me a little time to walk out rather than stampede over the crowds to avoid messing up my plan.

Kind of off subject, but since you are using the personalized plans too.........when do you set your FP time for? I find the evaluate option changes a lot, depending on how you set up the 3 FP.

 

[agavegirl1]

Kind of off subject, but since you are using the personalized plans too.........when do you set your FP time for? I find the evaluate option changes a lot, depending on how you set up the 3 FP.

You can set up your plan, choosing a logical order of the attractions of what you want to see then evaluate before selecting FP. TP will suggest FP for you . Go back and add these and evaluate again. If you know what you will FP, add them when you think you will be going on that attraction. You may then move things up and down to your hearts content, re-evaluating as you go.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Kind of off subject, but since you are using the personalized plans too.........when do you set your FP time for? I find the evaluate option changes a lot, depending on how you set up the 3 FP.

You can set up your plan, choosing a logical order of the attractions of what you want to see then evaluate before selecting FP. TP will suggest FP for you . Go back and add these and evaluate again. If you know what you will FP, add them when you think you will be going on that attraction. You may then move things up and down to your hearts content, re-evaluating as you go.

Just like agavegirl1 said, I put them in the order of how id like to do the attractions. I tend to put attractions that are in the same area closer together to avoid walking if possible. When it comes to shows, it's a little more tricky because you have to be there when the show is scheduled. Then I evaluate. Once that's done I see the wait time, if its too long I add a fastpass for that time. Then evaluate again and make more changes until I'm happy with the plan. I've put in several hours on each of my plans until I think they are as close to perfect as I can get but it definitely takes time.

Of course once it's time to make the actual fastpasses, I may not get the times I want so I'd either have to keep refreshing on the disney site and hope for cancellations until I find the times I want or re adjust my touring plans again.

 

[Pdollar88]

This is my first time using the app and the site as well, so I'm curious to hear everyone's experiences. I had set my speed to average (I'm a very fast walker, but my bf is not). Maybe I should slow the pace down even further just to be conservative.

I feel like I'm banking on some of the guessed wait times, but I'm flexible and can work on adjusting my plan accordingly in real-time.

Most curious about how accurate the wait times are in the Lines app while you're in the park -- the expected wait is often much less than Disney's estimate. How often is this updated throughout the day? Are attractions like Soarin really 30 minute wait with a posted 65 minute wait?

 

[agavegirl1]

Reported wait times come from actual app users currently in the park. The posted wait time is what Disney has posted at the front of the ride. You can see the most recently reported wait time which tends to be more accurate.

 

[Ouida]

This is my first time using the app and the site as well, so I'm curious to hear everyone's experiences. I had set my speed to average (I'm a very fast walker, but my bf is not). Maybe I should slow the pace down even further just to be conservative.

I feel like I'm banking on some of the guessed wait times, but I'm flexible and can work on adjusting my plan accordingly in real-time.

Most curious about how accurate the wait times are in the Lines app while you're in the park -- the expected wait is often much less than Disney's estimate. How often is this updated throughout the day? Are attractions like Soarin really 30 minute wait with a posted 65 minute wait?

I've never used them. So I sat everything to very relaxed, hopefully that will make up any longer then expected ride time. I think it changes the closer you get, and most accurate when in the park. So I'm kind of wondering how much it will change those est. Between now and say a month from now in park?