Wait times longer with FP+

[The Mayor]

I've been monitoring the wait times since FP+ replaced the original FP and it appears that wait times are significantly longer now that FastPasses are limited to 3. I've monitored the slower season to current where the parks are staring to be more crowded. I'm thinking this isn't what Disney planned on happening and additional tweaks are going to be need...as is needed when any new system is introduced.

Anyone else notice this trend?

 

[Priory]

I still don't get the decision to put fast past on things that don't need it. I "get" that it's filler to make tourists think they're getting something... But it doesn't work. DLR got rid of Haunted Mansion fastpass (and many others) for the exact reason you mention. It mucks up the flow of the lines. They should have kept it for E tickets like legacy and left rides that didn't need fastpass before alone.

 

[saskdw]

Anyone else notice this trend?

No

 

[ChernabogHades]

Strongly disagree. I too moniter wait times daily (just a weird way to get a little slice of Disney), and I've noticed that the times are evenly dispersed, which I think is/was the intention. Whereas rides such as Haunted Mansion and Pirates seem to have seen an increase, headliners actually seem to be decreasing for standby. Take today for example. It's summer and peak wait times are around 60 minutes for most headliners at MK (except 7DMT), whereas normally Pan, Space, and Splash would all see 90-120 waits normally. And this was true during Easter too, so can't say the lines are less because of the new attraction. I think it has done exactly what it was designed to do.

 

[ChernabogHades]

In fact another look shows me that on a day in June where all four parks are listed at an 7-8/10 on crowd levels. Toy Story Mania, Frozen M&G, and 7DMT are the only 3 rides with a longer than 60 minute wait at 1:30.. I didn't see that in early May or early Oct when crowds were 4-5/10..

 

[Cloudless Nights]

I don't have a problem with wait times for headliners decreasing (as I will FP+ them anyway), but the increases in wait times for rides like HM, POTC, etc. is really disheartening, as we used to be able to go on those multiple times with literally no wait (and we enjoy just deciding to go over to one of these attractions randomly throughout the day when rides are down, etc.).

 

[Elandon]

On the one hand, evening out of the lines does help the headliners but I've also noticed a bunch of posts (here and elsewhere) noting that there is more waiting around between rides because the second tier rides have longer lines making them less attractive (and in some cases not even possible) to do between headliners. Hence, people are driven to spend more on food or in gift shops which is probably part of Disney's overall plan. Plus, fewer rides per day means people will plan longer vacations in order to get their "must do" rides in.

I never considered myself a super-user of FP- but I can see how the marginally longer lines at second tier attractions will discourage us from lining up.

Another question- with all the switching around of FPP times on the fly, how can Disney be sure how long the standby lines really are? If they give away a certain number of FPP per hour but half of them get changed at the last minute, standby will be a lot shorter than they have calculated for the sign. Is it possible that the Disney wait times are less accurate? or overestimated?

 

[Jefrex]

Another question- with all the switching around of FPP times on the fly, how can Disney be sure how long the standby lines really are? If they give away a certain number of FPP per hour but half of them get changed at the last minute, standby will be a lot shorter than they have calculated for the sign. Is it possible that the Disney wait times are less accurate? or overestimated?

Yes, but I would imagine whatever algorithm Disney uses to compute waits absolutely takes into account last minute changes. And though they're probably relatively reliable, I'd guess that they provide slightly overestimated times - for the "oh, that wasn't so bad" feeling.

Of course, the assumption that Disney uses historical and real-time data to know exactly what's going on everywhere to the nth degree may be only an assumption.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Yes, but I would imagine whatever algorithm Disney uses to compute waits absolutely takes into account last minute changes. And though they're probably relatively reliable, I'd guess that they provide slightly overestimated times - for the "oh, that wasn't so bad" feeling.

Of course, the assumption that Disney uses historical and real-time data to know exactly what's going on everywhere to the nth degree may be only an assumption.

Disney does not use an Algorithm to calculate wait times. Wait times are posted due to RFID chips in the red tag they give out every so often to guests entering the line. They scan it, give it to you, and then scan it when you get to the front. They do this often the wait times are pretty accurate. If you go at the end of the night or during magic hours you will see in a matter of 5 or 10minutes a headliner ride wait decreases as no more or less people are getting in line. I seem to be a magnet for the red tag. They always hand them to me when getting in line.

 

[prudence64]

A lot are reporting that the actual wait times are much shorter than the posted wait times. Don't know if this is new or normal though.