What's the problem with waiting in line?

[Beamo2014]

I could not fine an open thread for this kind of question, if there is one I will happily jump in there...but I've been wondering about this and wanted to know where everyone else stands on this issue.

We just came back from our first trip to DL with a big group of friends. One thing I came away with though, is this issue people have with waiting in line. I know I've seen people here complain a bit about line cutters, and this wasn't actually like that, at no point did anyone cut in line or encourage anyone else to do it. It was more of this "We never wait in lines," attitude. I'm kind of baffled by this, because at any given moment in your life you may have to wait in a line. And teaching your children that waiting in line is this ridiculous concept seems to me to be doing them a huge disservice. It seems like there are just too many people out there that seem to think they should not have to wait in line, for anything, ever. Maybe this is what leads to the rudeness and line cutting eventually.

I understand not wanting to waste all day in lines and yeah that is what fast passes are for. But at one point the kids wanted to ride BTM and it was a 45 min wait and the adults declined, because the wait was too long.

Now when we go to the park if my daughter sees theres a long line for something she just doesn't want to do it and it really pisses me off. Sometimes you just have to learn to wait for your turn....it's not all about instant gratification.

A few years ago at an outdoor concert, I was in a group that cut a huge line to get in. The line cutting instigator was so pleased with herself and even very smugly said "you would have to be an idiot to wait in that line." That still bothers me to this day....that is not the kind of behaviour that I want to teach my children. But I seem to be a bit of a curmudgeon about these things....so just wondering what other's thoughts are.

 

[kamik86]

For me its a matter of how much I want to ride vs the wait. Most rides I won't wait over 30 min for. There are a few exceptions. Also if I have a reason to want to stay in the park and there is nothing else I want to do I'll wait longer then that as well. I just generally can put off that ride with a long wait until another day and do it faster.

 

[Newsies]

I mean, long lines are never fun- but it depends on how badly you want something.

For example: if I really, really, really wanted to meet Anna and Elsa, and it was my last day in the parks, and I didn't have a fastpass, I would probably suck it up and stand in the two hour line. On my last trip, I waited ~40 minutes to meet Merida because it was my last day and it was totally worth it. At some point, if I become too tired I just give up and get in line for whatever ride is in the area regardless of how long the line is. So yeah, long lines aren't annoying, but if others can do it (obviously, that's why people are still getting in line!), then you can do it too. I agree with you, the "don't-care-how-I-want-it-now" attitude of some people can be really irritating.

 

[Allison]

Now when we go to the park if my daughter sees theres a long line for something she just doesn't want to do it and it really pisses me off. Sometimes you just have to learn to wait for your turn....it's not all about instant gratification.

There is a cost benefit analysis to this stuff. If the line is too long then waiting in it might outweigh the enjoyment of the ride for me and I would rather do something else. That doesn't mean I don't think I should ever have to wait in line and it is all about instant gratification. It means I am making a decision based on relevant information. That decision may be to wait because it is worth to me or to move along because it is not.

 

[LizzyS]

If I really want to ride something, a long wait won't deter me. I mean, unless it's opening day on an attraction and we're talking multiple hours. Then, I will just wait until the excitement has died down. I do try to plan to maximize my time, but there's no way I'm skipping a favorite ride because of a long line.

 

[mom2rtk]

I spent $105 to be in the Magic Kingdom last Saturday. The more standby lines I had to wait in, the less I would have gotten to do..... and the less value I would have received for that hefty admission price.

 

[SMD]

I know several people (one is my aunt) who will wander around for an hour looking for a shorter line, when they've passed up a 40 minute line. I don't get it. I'd rather wait 40 minutes than walk back and forth. It's not like Disney surprised you by having a popular park with popular rides that have long lines.

 

[RnbwSktles]

For me, standing mostly still in a line is a lot more tiring on my legs and feet than walking around the park. If it's near the end of the day, or the end of a long trip, I really have to want to do something to wait in line. I'd rather just wander around the park or find a seat and people watch.

 

[RKKUNK]

I agree that I think it depends on whether that particular ride is worth the long wait or not,to the rider. I love TSMM but I won't wait over 45 mins for it. That is why we only usually ride it first thing in the morning when the line is short. Then we usually always ride RSR SRL because we don't want to wait 2 hours in the standby line, same thing with Indy.

 

[Lilly Belle 84]

Different strokes for different folks, some peoples perceived value of their time in the parks is based on how many attractions they can get on and how long they have to wait. We all have different ways of enjoying our time there and appreciating what the parks have to offer.

 

[mom2rtk]

Different strokes for different folks, some peoples perceived value of their time in the parks is based on how many attractions they can get on and how long they have to wait. We all have different ways of enjoying our time there and appreciating what the parks have to offer.

A lot of it depends on how often you get to the parks, and now many days you have there. If you have only one day your perspective is going to be different from someone with an AP who can come back next week to do the things that had long lines this week.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

To me, it's a balance between wanting to ride vs. willing to wait. If it's a ride I really, really want to go on, the wait is no problem. If I only maybe want to go on, I don't wait longer than 30 minutes. This is also due to having small children. My 5-year-old cannot wait in line longer than 45 minutes. So, even if he really wants to go on, I remind him how long the wait is to make sure he's not going to lose interest or whine the whole time we're waiting.

I'm also an AP holder, so life is different since I go often. When I don't have an AP and only go one one trip per year, my strategy is a little different.

 

[Beamo2014]

I see, and I can definitely appreciate the different perspectives.

I guess I can just remember when I was a kid, my parents weren't wealthy and had 4 kids, so even though we only lived 1 hourish away if we went to DL once a year we were very lucky. And anytime we went if we wanted to ride something we always waited in line, regardless of the wait time, and most of these trips were in a time before fast passes.. I remember the year Indiana Jones opened we waited like 2 hours to ride. We'd sit and wait an hour for a parade to start, it was just something that came along with going to the parks. And I completely agree, different strokes for different folks.

I think it is just the unwillingness to wait at all and insulting people who do that wait in line (I mean there are obliviously LOTS of people who will wait as long as it takes otherwise those lines would not be as long as they are) that hits a nerve with me.

 

[Butterfly123]

I prefer not to wait more than 45 min for a ride,,,but if it's the only chance to ride that ride and it's an hour I can deal.

I'm trying to figure out how long I'm willing to wait for spots to see the new PtN parade and fireworks when we go in a couple of weeks. I'm not looking to invest half a day, but a couple of hours might be necessary.

 

[jammyjam25]

30 minutes is usually my limit for a ride. Knowing this, I try to get the more popular non-fastpass rides done early in the day to avoid longer lines. However if I *really* want to ride something like Peter Pan and the line is 45-60 minutes, and I know there's not much chance of finding a shorter wait time at another point in the day, I'll happily wait in that line.

The one I personally never understand is waiting 2 plus hours in line for something that has a Fastpass! For me it makes way more sense to delay that gratification for a couple of hours and come back during my FP window rather than wait for 2 hours in the standby line. Now if it's something like RSR and fastpasses have run out for the day and your only choice is the standby (or single rider) line, well...then I guess it's just a personal decision about how badly you want to ride that particular ride and how long you're willing to wait to do so.

But no, if someone wants to wander the park all day looking for the "short" lines and only ends up riding 5 rides that day because they wasted so much time traversing the park(s) to do so...*shrug*

 

[VandVsmama]

I use a strategy to minimize our wait times because my DH hates to wait forever for a ride. To the point where he really doesn't want to go to DL if it means all day of 45-60 minute waits for attractions. So for me, it means that we all have a nice time instead of some of us being really grumpy.

This strategy resulted in us doing the following on Monday of this week:

Star Tours
Buzz Lightyear
Autopia
Dumbo
Alice in Wonderland
Mad Tea Party
King Arthur's Carrousel
Mr Toad's Wild Ride
Tiki Room
Indiana Jones
Splash Mountain
Meet & greets w/Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore
Pirates of the Carribean
Haunted Mansion
Star Tours a second time
Princess Fantasy Faire meet & greets
Rode the train around the park
Pirates 2 more times
Paint The Night Parade
Fireworks
Also saw a few min of Fantasmic!
Jedi Training Academy

 

[disneyseniors]

Hi OP: I, too, remember going to WDW and just expecting to wait in line. It was part of the expectations for the day. But now the parks cost a lot for a day and are more crowded. When we went last November, a lot of the standby lines had long waits. But, the funny thing was, they ALL were much less than posted. If haunted mansion was posted at 45 min., it ended up being 20 minutes! They were all like that. And it was a busy week right before Thanksgiving. It happened so much that we wondered if this was on purpose??? As far as standing in line, we have met some wonderful people from all over the world, visited, laughed, and the time went quick. I guess I'm one of those who doesn't mind waiting in line. We had our coveted fp+ last Nov, for 7dmt, for our last day. We happened to have an hour to kill before our adr, so we just hopped into line at 7dmt which was an hour wait. It was the only one with an actual wait time. So, we waited and my grandson taught me how to text, and use other apps on my phone. It passed pretty quickly, and what a wonderful queue! Then, when our fp came up for 7dmt, it was raining and never stopped. If we hadn't stopped and waited in line on a whim, we would have missed out on 7dmt. Was it worth it? Yes, it was for us. Just an example I guess. We only go once a year for about a week, so it is special to us too.

 

[coaches24]

I wait in line at many things in my life and so do my kids but at DL I try to wait as little as possible in line because I know there are so many different things to do that if something has a long line I can find a different time in the day to do it when the line is shorter, or get a FP if there is one. I try not to wait more than 20 minutes most of the time but will at times wait longer. But why wait in line at DL if there are other things you want to do that don't have a big line? Like I wont wait in line for any of the FL rides because I know I can get there at rope drop or MM (If I have one) and get them all done with little or no line at all. So it makes no sense to waste my time in line for those rides. I also wont wait in a long line if the ride has a FP. I see it as poor time management and for me its far more fun to find something else to do than wait in line for those things.

For me its time management. I have a strategy to do things at certain times when I know they are less busy and I feel like it makes my days there more fun.

 

[Gisele]

Sunburn, stroller toes, melting into the payment sensation, booty bump etc, insect bites, chafed lips and nerves, screaming babies, loud adults, someone's onion breath stinking up your personal space. Selfish sticks.
Yes my friends these are various elements that may affect you during a long line.

 

[Lisaloo]

I hate lines and will do anything to avoid them.