Visually estimating wait times?

[Davey Jones II]

So there are some active threads about wait times. I was wondering if we could start one about how to visually guage the wait times on some rides? For example, one poster said that on some rides, much of the queue spills outside. So, if you don't see much of a line outside, you'll have a pretty short wait? Which rides are those?

My last trip was in 2019, and I'm pretty rusty, so any input will be appreciated, thanks!

 

[wisblue]

I’m not sure if you might be referring to something I said about lines that are largely visible from outside. That didn’t necessarily mean that the line was actually spilling out further than where the first LL tap point is.

For example, at Haunted Mansion you can see most of the line until it turns the corner near the graveyard that is just before the entrance. Some times we can eyeball that and get an idea of whether or not the actual wait is likely to be shorter than the posted wait.

By contrast, at Space Mountain the line moves into the building just past the first tap point and you have no way of knowing how much of the queue area inside is filled. If the line is backed up outside you have a pretty good idea that the wait will be long.

Because this is something that you develop from personal experience, it would be pretty hard for me to put it into numbers that I would want someone else to rely on. I just know that a lot of times we’ll see a posted wait of 30 minutes and say “that won’t be 30 minutes” and we’re usually right.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I used to be able to gauge wait times, but Genie+ skews it now. For example, we got into the stand-by line for Frozen at a 75 minute wait. I didn't believe it would be that long based on previous experience. But we waited...and waited....when we finally crawled our way up to Oaken's, the CMs were allowing 6 standby guests beyond that point with a 5 minute wait in between each group for ILL.

 

[sethschroeder]

Tons of rides have long and short queues that be made inside of ride. You also have no idea how Genie+ will impact it at times.

I rely on TouringPlans Line app to deal with time estimates and call it good.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

It can be difficult to guestimate by looking. You can't always tell if an entire queue maze is open, or just part of it. We were there in January, and there are still some folks who maintain a 5'-6' margin from those in front of them, so that can make the line look longer right now. For those who had experience with FP and FP+ over the years, we're convinced that LL has a very similar impact on the standby wait times. However, we did feel those few ILL attractions where people paid specifically, the LL lines seemed to have an even higher priority than regular LL - no data to scientifically prove that, but it seemed like it to us. Those also happen to be some of the most popular rides, and the lines are almost always long!

 

[wisblue]

Tons of rides have long and short queues that be made inside of ride. You also have no idea how Genie+ will impact it at times.

I rely on TouringPlans Line app to deal with time estimates and call it good.

I do that too to see if their estimate is significantly different than the posted time.

When it is we often find that our actual wait falls in between the TP estimate and the posted wait.

 

[gharter]

Whether it was FP+ or now Genie +, it makes estimating ride times difficult. If there are a lot of people in the LL, the Standby line is not going to move much.
Also rides like FoP where a lot of the line is inside, you have no idea how many of the switchbacks they are using.
There are other lines like Spaceship Earth, RnRC that are much easier to judge as you can see most of the queue.

 

[westie55]

I agree that there's no real way to visually gauge wait times. In my experience, the posted wait time is usually fairly accurate. Sometimes you get lucky and you wait less. Other times I've waited even longer.

 

[Canadian Tom]

I think it's time for everyone to boycott Genie+, so as to send the message to Disney," we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any longer". Canadian Tom

 

[Unca_Scrooge]

So there are some active threads about wait times. I was wondering if we could start one about how to visually guage the wait times on some rides? For example, one poster said that on some rides, much of the queue spills outside. So, if you don't see much of a line outside, you'll have a pretty short wait? Which rides are those?

My last trip was in 2019, and I'm pretty rusty, so any input will be appreciated, thanks!

The Disney app is pretty accurate with wait times, download it now and you can see all the rides in all the parks and the current wait times.

And the lines are miserably long, I was there in January.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Toy Story Mania has always been a popular ride for Line Stacking. Later in the evening, they like to start closing the indoor switchback so that the line spills out into the courtyard. Eventually there’s no line at all inside, resulting in a very short wait to pick up the 3D glasses.

At this point, they can post any wait time they want and it will look accurate just based on guests waiting outside,

Back during it’s height of popularity, it was always nice to see 80 minutes on the board and know that it was really only 10-15.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Toy Story Mania has always been a popular ride for Line Stacking. Later in the evening, they like to start closing the indoor switchback so that the line spills out into the courtyard. Eventually there’s no line at all inside, resulting in a very short wait to pick up the 3D glasses.

At this point, they can post any wait time they want and it will look accurate just based on guests waiting outside,

Back during it’s height of popularity, it was always nice to see 80 minutes on the board and know that it was really only 10-15.

Now THAT's the kind of expert insight that I was looking for when I started this thread!

Thanks to everyone who has offered their input.

SDD has a line that spills outside. If that line isn't long, is it (rarely, I know) a short wait?

 

[gharter]

Now THAT's the kind of expert insight that I was looking for when I started this thread!

Thanks to everyone who has offered their input.

SDD has a line that spills outside. If that line isn't long, is it (rarely, I know) a short wait?

Just like FoP, Toy Story Mania and others, it depends how many of the switchbacks they are or are not using. closing them makes the line spill outside a lot (making the line look very long) , opening them all can hold a lot of people inside with a short line outside .

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Now THAT's the kind of expert insight that I was looking for when I started this thread!

Thanks to everyone who has offered their input.

SDD has a line that spills outside. If that line isn't long, is it (rarely, I know) a short wait?

There’s always a short wait if you are patient. Just two nights ago, Touring Plans reported an actual wait of 9 minutes for Slinky about a half hour before closing time. The posted wait was 20 minutes which is still reasonable. A lot better than the 100+ minute wait earlier the same day.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Just like FoP, Toy Story Mania and others, it depends how many of the switchbacks they are or are not using. closing them makes the line spill outside a lot (making the line look very long) , opening them all can hold a lot of people inside with a short line outside .

Please name some of these others. I know that's not true of some rides with little indoor space and a long outdoor queue, such as TOT, RnR, and KS.

 

[gharter]

Please name some of these others. I know that's not true of some rides with little indoor space and a long outdoor queue, such as TOT, RnR, and KS.

7DMT, BTMRR, MMRR, Little Mermaid, Navi, Frozen, TT.
any ride that has multiple switchbacks that cannot be seen from outside falls into this category.

 

[wisblue]

Please name some of these others. I know that's not true of some rides with little indoor space and a long outdoor queue, such as TOT, RnR, and KS.

I wouldn’t put TOT and KS in that category. Those attractions have some big outdoor switchbacks that are not visible from outside the ride entrance.

 

[Davey Jones II]

7DMT, BTMRR, MMRR, Little Mermaid, Navi, Frozen, TT.
any ride that has multiple switchbacks that cannot be seen from outside falls into this category.

I remember passing up 7DMT when we saw the line spilling outside. So we were actually making a mistake?

 

[wisblue]

I remember passing up 7DMT when we saw the line spilling outside. So we were actually making a mistake?

Not necessarily. Some times they are using all of the switchbacks and the line still reaches outside.

At 7DMT I would guess that they use them most of the time except maybe for right before closing. We have only ridden 7DMT standby at rope drop and, as far as I can remember, we have always gone through every switchback there is because they anticipate that the queue will be filled very quickly.

 

[rajak73]

2018 when we went with DS and family, came out of Fantasmic and they wanted to ride Rock and Roll, walked over the the entrance, it was about park closing time but that was when they had EMH after, the wait time said 50 min. I looked and the line was not out to the front, they said they didn't know if they wanted to wait that long, I told them that the wait time was no where near 50 min with no line at the entrance, they wanted to know if I was sure and I told them yep, no where near 50 min. Decided to ride, walked all the way to the front and wait time was probably 15 min.