What's your standby "wait time limit"?

[Mike_M]

I agree with this. If this was my once in a lifetime trip, I would wait too

I’m probably not the only one here who would think this, but I suppose I’m spoiled by how many times I’ve been to DL and that I make it a priority for my family and I to return to the park every couple years.

I can’t even imagine a trip to DL being just a once in my life experience.

 

[Disney127]

I’m probably not the only one here who would think this, but I suppose I’m spoiled by how many times I’ve been to DL and that I make it a priority for my family and I to return to the park every couple years.

I can’t even imagine a trip to DL being just a once in my life experience.

Yup, we make it a priority to return to DL too. Or any Disney park.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

These are interesting comments. Everyone here is saying 20-30 minutes, with a couple 40 minute outliers.

So... who are all the people in the park waiting 45 minutes for Alice, or 70 for Space Mountain, or 100+ for RSR??? There must be so many of them (hence the long lines) yet not one of them visit this board?

45mins-60mins is really our max. But generally if it's Pirates or HM (at either DLR or WDW) we'll bypass that because we've been on it a ton of times and we know we can get on it sometime later for less time. I'd say goal would be 30mins or less standby time.

So really I'd say for some people not all rides are created equal.

Having just gotten back from DLR I'd say for RSR it's a combination of the FP distribution times running out (even on MP) combined with the type of ride, combined with the cost of MP. It cost $90 for my husband and I for MP for 3 days worth...that's not nothing. You're going to find people who don't know about FP, don't know or don't want to pay for MP, and just accept that it will be a long wait in line.

What I will say worked out so well for us is while everyone was waiting for World of Color on Sunday March 3rd we went to RSR 5mins before the park closed and it was a complete walk on--it was the only time we rode it at night too. BUT you know that for many people they are waiting for World of Color so that's why.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Nah. The people on this board have strategy.

The average visitor often does not.

Strategy only goes so far though.

Rides being intially down or going down happens.

For DLR it's wanting to pay for MP to maximize (no pun intended) FP distribution times and for WDW it's pre-booking 3 FPs dealing with tiers. You're still going to find yourself seeing a long line from time and time and judging if you're wanting to wait that long. RD only works for certain people able to get up there in time for that combined with how many days they actually have (both at WDW and at DLR).

I've seen way more people on this Board (meaning both DLR and WDW- though mostly WDW as I frequent that side way more often) say they just skip a ride if it has longer than X wait time (usually that's 15-20mins). Is that strategy or is that just accepting your max wait time is lower than the standby wait of rides you see when you are there? I'd also say frequent visitors to Disney tend to operate differently. My husband and I are still way more about the rides than other things but maybe someone who goes several times a year, for DLR a local who goes all the time, or who goes once or twice a year or every 1 or 2 years might find that rides take a backseat for that specific trip and they bypass the wait time if it's deemed too long---"I'll catch that the next trip" type mentality.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Strategy only goes so far though.

Rides being intially down or going down happens.

For DLR it's wanting to pay for MP to maximize (no pun intended) FP distribution times and for WDW it's pre-booking 3 FPs dealing with tiers. You're still going to find yourself seeing a long line from time and time and judging if you're wanting to wait that long. RD only works for certain people able to get up there in time for that combined with how many days they actually have (both at WDW and at DLR).

I've seen way more people on this Board (meaning both DLR and WDW- though mostly WDW as I frequent that side way more often) say they just skip a ride if it has longer than X wait time (usually that's 15-20mins). Is that strategy or is that just accepting your max wait time is lower than the standby wait of rides you see when you are there? I'd also say frequent visitors to Disney tend to operate differently. My husband and I are still way more about the rides than other things but maybe someone who goes several times a year, for DLR a local who goes all the time, or who goes once or twice a year or every 1 or 2 years might find that rides take a backseat for that specific trip and they bypass the wait time if it's deemed too long---"I'll catch that the next trip" type mentality.

Eh, I’m just saying that the average DISboards visitor is not the average park guest. People here are much more informed than many Disneyland visitors, and often have some plans and knowledge that allow them to bypass long lines if they choose. Strategy comes in many forms, not just how you use FP.

Just a bit ago, I watched a large, multi-generational family (in matching shirts) crowd around a paper map and decide where to go next (Big Thunder) without any concept of what the wait time is, any discussion of FP, etc. Those are people who may easily end up in some long lines during the day that could have been avoided with a different approach - but they also may not care and may be perfectly happy with their day, long lines and all.

I’m not saying that no one here would ever wait in a long line (I think we all will when the FP-less SWGE rides enter the mix!), just that the folks here are unlikely to be the ones in a 70-minute line for Space Mountain.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Eh, I’m just saying that the average DISboards visitor is not the average park guest. People here are much more informed than many Disneyland visitors, and often have some plans and knowledge that allow them to bypass long lines if they choose. Strategy comes in many forms, not just how you use FP.

Just a bit ago, I watched a large, multi-generational family (in matching shirts) crowd around a paper map and decide where to go next (Big Thunder) without any concept of what the wait time is, any discussion of FP, etc. Those are people who may easily end up in some long lines during the day that could have been avoided with a different approach - but they also may not care and may be perfectly happy with their day, long lines and all.

I’m not saying that no one here would ever wait in a long line (I think we all will when the FP-less SWGE rides enter the mix!), just that the folks here are unlikely to be the ones in a 70-minute line for Space Mountain.

No I'm not saying that the average DISboard person is the average guest. But the question and the poster you quoted mentioned seeing all the people in line. Just remember the DIS is not representative of those who go to Disney. There are millions and millions and millions of guests. They may also have strategy it just may not be your strategy. Not every DISboard member employs the same strategy even if given the same information.

TBH I'm not sure you can glean much about that large multi-generational family crowding around a map. I mean shoot my husband and I had plenty of those discussions both at DLR and at WDW about what ride we want to ride next and what we want to do. It would be an incorrect assumption that us looking at a park map (which by the way I love to look at call me weird it's ok ) and talking about what we should do next means we have no idea what we're doing. That being said of course not everyone knows the ins and outs and that's totally ok. You really don't want everyone to know. And just remember a different approach no matter what may just not work for that traveling party. It's never a one size fits all. Sometimes you're going to be given the choice of a longer standby-regardless of having loads of information or not.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Usually 20 minutes or so. A few years ago at DCA before TSMM had Fastpass we made the decision to wait 40 minutes for it one evening in order to avoid getting up early the following day. And going further back we were lucky enough to be in MK in the summer of 1992 the day that Splash Mountain had a soft opening. It was the last day of our vacation and we weren't going to miss that opportunity; I think the wait was just over an hour.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

No I'm not saying that the average DISboard person is the average guest. But the question and the poster you quoted mentioned seeing all the people in line. Just remember the DIS is not representative of those who go to Disney. There are millions and millions and millions of guests. They may also have strategy it just may not be your strategy. Not every DISboard member employs the same strategy even if given the same information.

TBH I'm not sure you can glean much about that large multi-generational family crowding around a map. I mean shoot my husband and I had plenty of those discussions both at DLR and at WDW about what ride we want to ride next and what we want to do. It would be an incorrect assumption that us looking at a park map (which by the way I love to look at call me weird it's ok ) and talking about what we should do next means we have no idea what we're doing. That being said of course not everyone knows the ins and outs and that's totally ok. You really don't want everyone to know. And just remember a different approach no matter what may just not work for that traveling party. It's never a one size fits all. Sometimes you're going to be given the choice of a longer standby-regardless of having loads of information or not.

Yeah, this forum is an unusual demographic of park visitors. That was the whole point of my response. I wasn’t endorsing any particular park approach.

I also listened to the map family for quite awhile; I didn’t glean anything from just the fact that they were looking at a map. I am a shameless Disney eavesdropper.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yeah, this forum is an unusual demographic of park visitors. That was the whole point of my response. I wasn’t endorsing any particular park approach.

I also listened to the map family for quite awhile; I didn’t glean anything from just the fact that they were looking at a map. I am a shameless Disney eavesdropper.

lol I'll admit while I normally can't help but eavesdrop my vacation time is usually a no go for that. I'm way too focused on my own trip.

That said there was no way I couldn't help but hear a trio of people in front of us in line for Soarin' waiting to go into the theater and the girl was extremely confident that SWGE would absolutely have FP included in it...I already knew they wouldn't and I had suspected that for quite a while before the Boards listed the blog from Disney especially given how Universal handled both Harry Potter rides in Orlando (they went 7 years and 3 years respectively without Express Pass).

 

[LizzyS]

These are interesting comments. Everyone here is saying 20-30 minutes, with a couple 40 minute outliers.

So... who are all the people in the park waiting 45 minutes for Alice, or 70 for Space Mountain, or 100+ for RSR??? There must be so many of them (hence the long lines) yet not one of them visit this board?

A lot of them are probably people who don't utilize disboards or similar.

 

[LizzyS]

I'm reminded by this thread of a comment I heard last time we went- a young girl said "Let's do the grand canyon ride next!" (she was referring to BTMRR, which is actually modeled after Bryce Canyon in Utah, haha), so yeah, most visitors are not disboard posters and super knowledgeable about the parks like us disboards users are.

 

[Catvondita]

Depends on the ride. Usualyl 15-20 minutes but something like Space Mountain or Indy maybe a half hour

 

[JMommyof3]

Agreed that the average family doesn't plan like DisBoard members plan and for that I'm thankful. Just think of the fast/maxpasses available since no one else wants/cares about them.

At DL/DCA, probably 30 minutes since are AP's and can do whatever. At WDW, maybe an hour (for WDW specific rides like SDD/FOP/7DMT) because we only go once a year, usually with cheer, and can't always get the FP+ that we want.

Funny story though. Last year, my parents met us at WDW for my daughters cheer comp. I had prebooked some fastpasses the day before and we got on Splash with the kids. My parents met us later in the day and asked the kids "what do you want to get on?" and of course they said Splash. I said "yeah, it has an hour wait, lets do something else we can get a FP for." My parents, who had not been to DL in years and never to WDW, said "no, an hour is fine". So an hour later, most of that in the Florida sun, we got on. Next ride, I had managed to snag FP+ for our whole group and we walked up, got on, left. My dad looked at me and said "Is that what a FP is?" I said "yes, it's amazing". From then on, every ride we got on, he looked at me and said "wait, do we have a FP for this ride?"

 

[kirstie101]

No rule but about 45 minutes. If one of the kids REALLY wants to ride something I'll stretch it further but we really like to use FP and SR.

 

[MillauFr]

There are too many variables to give an absolute number. Is it hot outside, cold, raining, am I hungry, is the park packed and I have no choice but to wait in lines, is the ride worth waiting in line, is the line moving, etc...

 

[viatabuna]

Typically ~30 minutes, but it depends on the attraction, weather, how tired I am, etc. For example, if I want a break from walking and it isn't too hot, I don't mind waiting in line for 45 minutes for BTMRR.

 

[agamble]

I am definitely in the it depends group. We will wait longer for some rides. As far as strategy that those in the know have the others discussed above consider this. We do not rush to Peter Pan because if you are not one of the first on, your wait will be 20-40+ min when everything else is a walk on. But guide books and websites say go there first so many visitors do. Instead we ride Alice and Dumbo as walk-ons followed by the rest of the main Fantasyland rides. We can easily ride those 7-8 rides the first hour. Then at some point in our trip we will wait the 45 to 50 min for Peter Pan at a time when all the rides have long waits.

Our tolerance for rides that offer FP is definitely lower than rides that don't. If I know I could get a FP for Guardians or RSR another time or day, I see no reason to wait longer than 20 minutes. Same goes for rides like Pooh and Mermaid that usually are less than 10 min. If they have a spike in wait times we'll typically try later. With a ride like Mater's that has a steady wait throughout the day and no FP, we will wait 30 min without a problem. When the parks get busy we consider our options when choosing what to wait for. We would normally just walk on Pinocchio in the morning, but one year we had just arrived on a busy Sunday afternoon and everything had a long line, so we waited 20 mins for Pinocchio, something we would normally never do. Also as the park readies to close the wait times are less accurate. Last summer my 8 year-old and I got in the standby queue for Guardians, her favorite, about 10 min before closing. We knew it would be a longer wait than our normal FP wait, but we also knew the line would move faster since the FP line would close. We lucked out with being on the very last elevator of the night.

Soarin I refuse to wait longer than 20. That stand by line is soooo slow! It’s one of my favorites but I will only do it if I have a fastpass.

I think the FP is slow too. I feel like this is just a slow loading ride regardless. We don't ride it much because it takes too long to get on. We once tried to ride at opening thinking it would speed up our wait, and they were only loading part of one theater, so we still had to wait in the long hallway.

I'm trying to figure out what it would be at DL. WDW you can plan so well that I've never waited more than 30 minutes there and frankly only waited more than 15 minutes a handful of times. I'm in the midst of "planning" for DL and starting to feel like we're going to have to wait a lot more than we're used to. I'm sure it'll work out one way or another but not being able to plan it all out is driving me crazy...

It isn't too hard to get on rides at DL without too much wait. As you see many feel that 20 to 30 mins is the top of their wait tolerance.

 

[tarheelalum]

20 minutes, and that is pushing it.

 

[Michele King]

Typically 20 min, but sometimes that can push to 40 if its a really busy day. Since we are annual passholders, its always easy to say that we can hit it next time we come rather than wait.

However, recently, I have had a new medical condition (still undiagnosed, but I'm going through tons of testing) that is causing back pain and peripheral neuropathy-everything from numbness and tingling to horrible electrical shocks in my limbs and other pain. This is really going to limit my ability to stand in lines for very long as prolonged sitting (the worse) and standing can make my condition flare up. I need to be able to walk a little, stand a little, sit a little, walk a little, etc and I have to make my days shorter. I may have to consider using a DAS, although I won't unless the crowds and lines force it.

Usually, I can manage to hit what we most want to do in a day with MaxPass.

 

[GoofyCoaster]

It’s varies based on ride quality, whether the queue is comfortable or entertaining to wait in, and who is with me.
There is no ride worth more than a 15 or 20 minute wait if little kiddo is with us. He cannot stand still.
But if it’s a great ride like FOP at WDW and I’m solo or with a friend, I’ll wait an hour.