*** Updated to add spring break Data*** New Data, FP+ impacting wait times, discuss

[Shaden]

But if Disney plays its hand correctly, it can grab the visitors who thought that they were going to be "once in a lifetime guests" and convert them into lifetime visitors (and perhaps even sell them a DVC while they are down there). It behooves Disney not to accept the premise that any guest is a "once in a lifetime guest" and instead they should be doing everything they can to make those guests' visits as magical as possible so as to lure them back time and time again. But if you present the first time guest with 90 minute standby lines for major attractions and FPs for the Tea Cups, you are pretty much cementing in the notion that this guest isn't coming back.

I actually don't agree with this, and I say "actually" because I usually agree with you Jimmy

I think Disney knows that there is a portion of their guests that are "Once in a lifetime" and that will always be the case. I don't even think they care to try and convert them, that's part of their plan.

I mean, they only have so much capacity, and they don't want to waste the resources trying to convert people they have very little chance of converting from once in a lifetime to repeat customers.

They already have a well identified group of repeat customers, and probably more who self-select and join the repeat trip. A friend of mine was down for her first trip in Sept, loved it so much, and is heading again this Sept.

I just don't think Disney honestly cares about the average once in a life timer, they only care about the Brand, and the marketing etc. And lets face it, for most people the first, and in many cases only, trip to WDW is pretty damn special, even if you didn't really ride many rides I would imagine you could/would still have an awesome time, for a few days at least.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Well, Spaceship Earth and Living With the Land aren't making me "locked in". In fact, by picking those, I probably should have been "locked up".

For those rides, wouldn't the regular standby be longer than the FP+ line?

 

[Shaden]

Thank you!! I didn't realize it was hard to get times you wanted.

Wouldn't say its hard, just that you have to jump through a few hoops, and that is annoying.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I mean, I agree. My strategy while booking FP+s was this: Book your first one to END when you are planning on using it. So book it for 11:30 - 12:30, planning on using it at 12:30. Book the next 12:30 - 1:30. and Last 1:30-2:30. Do the first two, back to back, grab a bite to eat or ride something else with a short wait time, then ride your last and head out of the park.

This is what I did last month. Worked pretty well. I found it annoying at times, though, to try to achieve this configuration on MDX. Feels like they need to streamline that process.

 

[2Tiggies]

I cannot agree with this at all. Many inexperienced visitors are likely taking a trip to Disney as a "once in a lifetime" experience. They will wait for the rides, precisely because they don't know whether it's a must-do or not. They probably don't even care, they're just at the parks to do as many attractions as they can.

That's fair enough. It was a thought and I'm probably wrong. But it was interesting to me at the time it hit my brain, lol.

 

[WillAustin]

That's fair enough. It was a thought and I'm probably wrong. But it was interesting to me at the time it hit my brain, lol.

I've been in line several times with people who don't even know what they are in line for. "Is this a ride, or what?"

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I've been in line several times with people who don't even know what they are in line for. "Is this a ride, or what?"

Too funny! I've heard similar things as well... always surprises me, though.

 

[magicbob]

I've been in line several times with people who don't even know what they are in line for. "Is this a ride, or what?"

Too funny! I've heard similar things as well... always surprises me, though.

One time, I almost got into what I thought was the line for Kilimanjaro Safari, but I was distressed at how far from the entrance the line stretched, so I moved further up to investigate and discovered that it was the line to get into the GIFT SHOP (apparently they were selling some LE merch there that day). This was at least a 1-2 hour line, and I'm SURE that many people in that line thought they were in line for a ride and were going to have a rude awakening when they discovered they had waited that long to get into the gift shop.

 

[JDUCKY]

Collecting data is one thing. Analyzing it correctly is another!

The premise of that article:
FP+ changed the standby wait time of Dinosaur from 15 to 25 minutes.

However that is completely subjective. It could just as well be:

Disney World is experiencing a boom in attendance, as clearly evidenced by no free dining, fewer room discounts, higher ticket prices, and record crowds. Wait times are higher, driving the standby time for rides like Dinosaur from 15 to 30 minutes. But thanks to new ride management solutions like the revolutionary FP+, guests are able to get on 20% faster, reducing standby from 30 to 25 minutes, and getting any guest that would like to ride Dinosaur, on in 5-10 minutes once per day.

It's all in how you look at it. FP+

Bingo!

Plus the expanded FantasyLand at MK brought in add'l visitors and the South American contingent, which used to be mostly during summer months and tightly surrounding the winter holidays, now appears to be spreading out more and more. Plus an economy that's coming back, a renewed real estate boom in the Orlando area (add'l resident visitors?), more rooms (GF DVC), etc.

One can't just say the lines are longer due to FP- or any other single factor.

 

[morethananyonex]

Bingo! Plus the expanded FantasyLand at MK brought in add'l visitors and the South American contingent, which used to be mostly during summer months and tightly surrounding the winter holidays, now appears to be spreading out more and more. Plus an economy that's coming back, a renewed real estate boom in the Orlando area (add'l resident visitors?), more rooms (GF DVC), etc. One can't just say the lines are longer due to FP- or any other single factor.

How would increased crowds account for increased waits at secondary rides that did not have high FP- use (or any at all) but decreased waits at headliners? Why would guest behaviour suddenly change, other than because of FP+? I mean, I don't think it's because South American guests really love POTC and Dinosaur . A simple increase in attendance would logically increase waits across the board.

FP+ encourages people to ride headliners less and secondary rides more. It only makes sense that changes in wait times reflect that.

 

[JDUCKY]

How would increased crowds account for increased waits at secondary rides that did not have high FP- use (or any at all) but decreased waits at headliners? Why would guest behaviour suddenly change, other than because of FP+? I mean, I don't think it's because South American guests really love POTC and Dinosaur . A simple increase in attendance would logically increase waits across the board.

FP+ encourages people to ride headliners less and secondary rides more. It only makes sense that changes in wait times reflect that.

Then you haven't been around when those crowds are here. We've had tons of tour group kids try to snake past is in line on PotC. We've been behind large groups on Dinosaur. We've been with an entire shuttle full on star tours

 

[morethananyonex]

Then you haven't been around when those crowds are here. We've had tons of tour group kids try to snake past is in line on PotC. We've been behind large groups on Dinosaur. We've been with an entire shuttle full on star tours

So your theory is tour groups only ride secondary rides, which has led to an increase in wait times there but a decrease at the headliners? Oooooook.

 

[Mad Hattered]

How would increased crowds account for increased waits at secondary rides that did not have high FP- use (or any at all) but decreased waits at headliners? Why would guest behaviour suddenly change, other than because of FP+? I mean, I don't think it's because South American guests really love POTC and Dinosaur . A simple increase in attendance would logically increase waits across the board.

FP+ encourages people to ride headliners less and secondary rides more. It only makes sense that changes in wait times reflect that.

This. No question. Unless South Americans are scared of the headliners then those lines would have seen increases, too. I'm pretty sure they aren't scared of anything.

 

[JDUCKY]

So your theory is tour groups only ride secondary rides, which has led to an increase in wait times there but a decrease at the headliners? Oooooook.

It's not just tour groups. It's a general trend in the demographics. I've been seeing more and more South Americans that aren't with tour groups. Like seeing Brits at DLP

 

[Rip]

It's not just tour groups. It's a general trend in the demographics. I've been seeing more and more South Americans that aren't with your groups. Like seeing Brits at DLP

Well, since you have absolutely no idea that they are having larger crowds.....

 

[JDUCKY]

Well, since you have absolutely no idea that they are having larger crowds.....

That made absolutely zero sense

 

[morethananyonex]

It's not just tour groups. It's a general trend in the demographics. I've been seeing more and more South Americans that aren't with your groups. Like seeing Brits at DLP

Again, so these South Americans as a whole do not ride headliners and stick to secondary rides only? Sounds like you're the one who hasn't seen them in action in the parks, not me.

Pretending that's true for a second, how would that explain the decrease in wait times for headliners? The parks are rarely at capacity, so they aren't taking a spot of a family who would ride headliners.

If we assume everything you're saying is correct, why are headliners waits decreasing? I'm not asking why secondary waits are increasing.

 

[Rip]

That made absolutely zero sense

Maybe I'm missing the sarcasm then, because I was responding to what is on this particular page right now.

Otherwise.....

 

[Rip]

Collecting data is one thing. Analyzing it correctly is another!

The premise of that article:
FP+ changed the standby wait time of Dinosaur from 15 to 25 minutes.

However that is completely subjective. It could just as well be:

Disney World is experiencing a boom in attendance, as clearly evidenced by no free dining, fewer room discounts, higher ticket prices, and record crowds. Wait times are higher, driving the standby time for rides like Dinosaur from 15 to 30 minutes. But thanks to new ride management solutions like the revolutionary FP+, guests are able to get on 20% faster, reducing standby from 30 to 25 minutes, and getting any guest that would like to ride Dinosaur, on in 5-10 minutes once per day.

It's all in how you look at it. FP+

Actually it's not at all subjective. It is, as that say, what it is.

Disney should employ you. If they currently do not.

 

[JDUCKY]

Again, so these South Americans as a whole do not ride headliners and stick to secondary rides only? Sounds like you're the one who hasn't seen them in action in the parks, not me.

Pretending that's true for a second, how would that explain the decrease in wait times for headliners? The parks are rarely at capacity, so they aren't taking a spot of a family who would ride headliners.

If we assume everything you're saying is correct, why are headliners waits decreasing? I'm not asking why secondary waits are increasing.

From the link in the OP:

Dinosaur nearly doubled in its wait time
Safaris did double in its wait time
ITTBAB stayed the same
Kali stayed the same
TTS stayed the same
PW went up a bit
EE went up a bit

Soo...two of the headliner rides at AK went up about double in peak wait times. I do like the subjective dismissal of Dinosaur wait times from the link in the OP. After 4pm, the wait times for much of AK goes down. We've gone there the last two hours of opening and ridden EE several times in that timeframe (along with Dinosaur, PW, and TTS)

Now, for Epcot...Figment went up a bit. Maelstrom doubled but, guess what happened in Epcot the last couple of months?? It wasn't FP-...it was the Elsa and Anna meet and greet at Norway dumping TONS of people into a line to see them and, naturally, onto Maelstrom as people hold spots in line while others in their party go on the ride (or they ride it after meeting Elsa and Anna)

The rest of the list shows little to no change in the rides. Test Track's peak is down but that doesn't surprise me as the newness of the ride is starting to wear off. The first 65 days of 2013 were the 2nd and 3rd months of the new ride. Of course interest was higher then...it's begun to wane. Only natural.

Similar things have affected other major differences in ride times (BTMRR rehab...Little Mermaid newness wearing off, etc etc)