Wait Time Apps

[Rainforest_Elf]

Hey friends,

What wait time apps do you all use in the parks? I've downloaded a couple and have been monitoring them, specifically in the early mornings when EH/MM would be occurring, through 1-2 hours after normal park opening.

It's very surprising to me, to see the wait times so early in the morning. Surprising in that they aren't long. I realize that as the day progresses more people enter the parks, but is getting up early to ride rides and experience the park really something that people DON'T do? It kind of appears that way, or are these apps deceptive?

 

[wenrob]

We just got back and mornings were the best. We are not the type to go to rope drop but we'd leave our room about 8am and hit DLR on non magic morning days and DCA on non morning magic days. I'd say we got more done between 8:30ish am and 11:30 am than the entire rest of the day. It seems counter intuitive but worked really well for us. I found that the apps varied WIDELY and soon gave up on them depending on "call Otto" instead. Our longest ride wait the entire trip was 20mins. Longest meet and greet (we didn't even try Anna/Elsa) was Thor. That one really couldn't be helped as it doesn't open until 11 and the way they do it, there'd be a wait no matter what. Anyway, yes, you can practically walk on in the morning if you have a loose game plan and choose your rides wisely.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

That's so interesting to hear. I'm normally an "off-season" park goer, so this upcoming trip in August has me nervous about being able to fit enough in. Kind of irritating the wait time apps aren't really accurate, though.

What is "call otto?"

I had planned to essentially go super early in the mornings (taking advantage of EH/MM all days I'm there, since I will be staying on property) and then leaving around maybe noon or 1pm, then hang out at the pool/relax in the room until about dinner time, and then stay till park closing.

There's a lot of stuff I want to do on this trip that I haven't been able to do in the past, such as Fantasmic and a tour, but I also love my thrill rides, so I want to be sure to get my fill of rides and knock a lot out in a short period of time. I also have a first time park goer coming with me, so I want to make sure she has a magical first time at Disney

 

[DisneyAZfam]

We have used the Mousewait app several times in the parks and it seems to be pretty close to accurate.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

We have used the Mousewait app several times in the parks and it seems to be pretty close to accurate.

I downloaded that one and found it quite annoying. Nearly every time I open the app, it attempts to play a video advertisement. I just shut it down if that happens.

I've been looking at DL Waits, but I'm skeptical about the accuracy. Right now it's showing 30mins for Indy which seems crazy reasonable for the day before the 4th.

 

[tarheelalum]

Mousewait is the only real choice if you have an android phone. Be sure its updated. It tends to be kind of buggy but its much better than the rest. But that's not saying much.

 

[sewingmolly]

"Ask Otto" is a DLR information hot line. The phone number is 714-520-7090.
The information seems to be about 10 minutes old. We had a lot of success using it last week. The voice recognition software is very good. It always understood me despite the crowd noise. I just called - Space Mountain has a 45 minute wait and no FP, while Autotopia has a 25 minute wait and FP for 10:55.

I was also worried about the crowd level, but they were lower than I expected.

 

[makana]

Just got back from a week long stay at disneyland! Surprisingly crowd was a lot less than when we went in march. Longest wait was 15min. Hit all the big rides during the WOC and fireworks show and walked right onto rides. We had the best luck at 11p-12mid. Didn't do any MM and hit the pool in the afternoon and still waited no more than 15min for rides. Have fun!

 

[dsnyfamily4]

"Walkee" app for the iPhone is a great one. Thee wait times are inputed by users of the app. So it's not too bad as far as accuracy goes. It's got really cool maps for the parks and when you're at Disneyland the gps kicks in and shows you where you're currently at in the parks : D
Pretty cool

 

[tarheelalum]

Just got back from a week long stay at disneyland! Surprisingly crowd was a lot less than when we went in march. Longest wait was 15min. Hit all the big rides during the WOC and fireworks show and walked right onto rides. We had the best luck at 11p-12mid. Didn't do any MM and hit the pool in the afternoon and still waited no more than 15min for rides. Have fun!

I've been watching mouse wait for the past few weeks and I've been seeing what you experienced. It appears that summer is now the slow season due to the socal and select passes being blocked. I might have to buy a deluxe pass when my socal select runs out just to escape the crowds in the fall and spring.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I also use MouseWait, it can be glitchy but in my experience it's pretty accurate.

Waking up early is definitely worth it at DLR, even on busy weekends the waits are short until around 11am. I think it's because a lot of DL visitors are locals and they don't worry about getting there early because they go so often. I went a few weekends ago and even though I missed both 8am rope drops I got there by 9:30 and had a couple hours of short lines each day.

All my previous trips had been during the off season and I was worried it would be packed last trip but with the extended hours and slow mornings it was awesome. Lots of people everywhere but the lines weren't nearly as bad as I thought they'd be.