Why Such Short Wait Times?

[Drewski77]

I’ve been watching the wait times the last couple weeks, and I know kids are back in school, but compared to the summer wait times are extremely short.

I’ve really never seen it like this, and I would think it probably makes being in the parks pretty amazing right now.

How long do you think these low wait times will persist? And it seems like there isn’t much of a need for Genie + right now, which is actually a good thing.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I’ve been watching the wait times the last couple weeks, and I know kids are back in school, but compared to the summer wait times are extremely short.

I’ve really never seen it like this, and I would think it probably makes being in the parks pretty amazing right now.

How long do you think these low wait times will persist? And it seems like there isn’t much of a need for Genie + right now, which is actually a good thing.

Labor day may be a bit crazy.

In the off season pre-pandemic, there would be international guests and people who were attending conferences at the convention center who would visit. These groups are now gone. Locals have mostly ridden everything so rides are less of a priority for them. Even if they are at the park, many would rather wait half an hour to eat at Pym's than wait half an hour to ride Radiator Springs Racers.

I think that shows will slightly boost wait times. People will go to see the Halloween fireworks or Christmas parade. When Fantasmic and World of Color come back, infrequent visitors will be more likely to buy tickets.

I read somewhere that international tourists made up around 20% of attendance at the US parks. I think Latin America, Japan and the UK make up the bulk of this so when there is no need to quarantine or do COVID tests going to/from these places, we should see an increase in ride wait times. Japanese guests in particular should have a lot of DVC points to burn since quite a few own Aulani but aren't going right now.

 

[Wesley815]

No Fast Pass too, this is what true Standby wait times look like in off season.

Fast Pass would easily double, or triple Standby even on days the park is empty.... since all guests are 'programmed' to think they MUST use FP no matter what. Basically imagine 80 FP guests for every 20 or less Standby let through merge points in queue lines.
(I won't get into a FP debate, but it's the truth during slow times)

High capacity attractions can move lines VERY fast, around 2,000+ guests per hour.

 

[MillauFr]

Isn't Labor Day weekend one of the slowest times of the year?

 

[22Tink]

We've been here since Wednesday (heading home tomorrow) and have loved the low crowds and short waits! Today was noticeably busier with longer wait times so I'd anticipate the weekend to be much busier than it's been the past few weeks.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I read somewhere that international tourists made up around 20% of attendance at the US parks. I think Latin America, Japan and the UK make up the bulk of this so when there is no need to quarantine or do COVID tests going to/from these places, we should see an increase in ride wait times. Japanese guests in particular should have a lot of DVC points to burn since quite a few own Aulani but aren't going right now.

Thats not the reason why there are no international visitors in Disneyland.

Since March 2020, tourists from the following countries have been banned from entering USA by a Presidential Executive order.

Brazil
China
India
South Africa

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxemburg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom

 

[sjmac42]

No Fast Pass too, this is what true Standby wait times look like in off season.

Absolutely this. Magic Key holders may have an impact, holiday weekends may have an impact but the overwhelming reason for lower wait times is no FastPass.
Lower Park capacity may also be a factor but lower capacity means less staff which means less ride vehicles operating on various rides so that has less impact on wait times than no FastPass.