Why wait times have gotten crazy

[MrInfinity]

Ride SM (90 min sb) in 20 min by FP+
Ride Splash (80 min sb) in 80 min by sb
Ride Buzz (60 min sb) in 20 min by FP+
Ride POTC (40 min sb) in 15 min by FP+
Ride HM in 50 (BIG change)
PP in 90 (BIG change)

Hehe love your wait times for the good old days. Not going to question what you saw, other than to note your view of past and current waits are not in line with what I experienced, nor what is actually happening:

Space: 30 (not 80)
Splash: 30 (not 80)
HM: 35 (not 50)
PP: 70 (not 90)
Buzz: 25 (not 60)

Those are the waits right now, 10:15 am in Florida. So you are way over-stating the actual waits. I do agree on that list of things being about what a typical family would set out to accomplish (plus SDMT and a character greet). I think your times are a little off and a family using FP+ will do those in way less than the 275 that you state.

 

[Happy_2_B]

Since you can't FP both Soarin and TT no one is riding things is EPCOT as efficiently as you could in the past. I know people go with the "single rider at TT saves time" but not everyone is cool with being split from their family.

The option is there, though. People either make the choice to tour efficiently and use the singles lines- or they wait in the standby line. So, you actually CAN tour pretty efficiently- it just means making a choice that some are unwilling- for whatever reason- to make.

So based off my recent visits,
1) RD is less of a must than it ever was.

We will be doing RD two mornings at three of the parks this visit (DHS currently just isn't worth it IMHO). So contrary to some of the comments that RD isn't as important, we feel it is more important than ever. With singles lines and multiple RDs- we don't anticipate standing in many lines at all for any meaningful period of time.

We will leave the standby lines for those that want to sleep in and/or those that don't want to use the singles lines. There is plenty of time throughout the rest of the day to enjoy family- for us singles lines are no big deal, and doesn't change the attraction experience enough to warrant standing in long lines. Whether the lines are long or not comes down to personal choices, and whether a person is willing to make those choices- or chooses instead to sleep in and/or not use the singles lines. Yes, some families with small children don't have the option of using singles lines- but they do have the option of RD- so can decrease waits by a significant amount without the singles lines. Everyone is different, and will tour based on their personal preferences- but wait times CAN be minimized and allow one to maximize their uses of FP+.

 

[dlavender]

Those are the waits right now, 10:15 am in Florida. So you are way over-stating the actual waits. I do agree on that list of things being about what a typical family would set out to accomplish (plus SDMT and a character greet). I think your times are a little off and a family using FP+ will do those in way less than the 275 or whatever that you state.

Let's look at the waits around peak time......on a Saturday. 10:15 on a Monday will probably be slightly lower....

 

[EricInPA]

Whether the lines are long or not comes down to personal choices, and whether a person is willing to make those choices- or chooses instead to sleep in and/or not use the singles lines.

*Raises hand*

We're a sleeping in, no single-rider-line couple and never fail to see every attraction we want to see, including multiple rides. A lot of stuff we only want to see once, so once we've seen it, we'll wait in line for our favorites even if it's for 40mins or longer. Using evening EMH to hit typically hard to get rides, and with standby lines often being over-posted (nature of the beast), it all works great for us.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

The option is there, though. People either make the choice to tour efficiently and use the singles lines- or they wait in the standby line. So, you actually CAN tour pretty efficiently- it just means making a choice that some are unwilling- for whatever reason- to make.



We will be doing RD two mornings at three of the parks this visit (DHS currently just isn't worth it IMHO). So contrary to some of the comments that RD isn't as important, we feel it is more important than ever. With singles lines and multiple RDs- we don't anticipate standing in many lines at all for any meaningful period of time.

We will leave the standby lines for those that want to sleep in and/or those that don't want to use the singles lines. There is plenty of time throughout the rest of the day to enjoy family- for us singles lines are no big deal, and doesn't change the attraction experience enough to warrant standing in long lines. Whether the lines are long or not comes down to personal choices, and whether a person is willing to make those choices- or chooses instead to sleep in and/or not use the singles lines. Yes, some families with small children don't have the option of using singles lines- but they do have the option of RD- so can decrease waits by a significant amount without the singles lines. Everyone is different, and will tour based on their personal preferences- but wait times CAN be minimized and allow one to maximize their uses of FP+.

Splitting your family up is not what I would call touring efficiently. We don't do family vacations to have seperate experiences on things we all want to do. Regardless this isn't a choice you were forced to make prior to FP+.

 

[MrInfinity]

Let's look at the waits around peak time......on a Saturday. 10:15 on a Monday will probably be slightly lower....

Sure, but then you have to compare peak to peak or slow to slow. You had HM at 25 min in the old days. That only happened during early morning or slow days. HM was a 45-60 min wait midday on a busy Saturday. We waited 40+ min standby for the HM in 2010 and 2012.

 

[dlavender]

Sure, but then you have to compare peak to peak or slow to slow. You had HM at 25 min in the old days. That only happened during early morning or slow days. HM was a 45-60 min wait midday back in the old days on a busy Saturday. We waited 40+ min standby for the HM in 2010 and 2012.

25 to me seems about what we waited each time...but lets bump up HM to 40+ minute, as comparing peak to peak would be the best way to find out if FP + is effective...So that still leaves you 15 minutes behind pre FP + days....

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

Wow thanks, is that always been the case? I really did not know that, apologies in a great way. We actually do have a trip coming out and will check into that-since we stay at WDW and day trip over there.

Well maybe WDW will also start charging more for FP+. Heres hoping.

I could see the "standard" FP+ package and the "enhanced" package (similar to UNI-one offers more EP than the other).

Offer the "standard" to offsite, value and mods-and offer the "enhanced" to Deluxe and for sale.

So:

Offer the current "standard" FP+ package to offsite/value/mods (something UNI does not do) or remove it from them, and then offer the "enhanced" (more FP+) to Deluxe or pay for that.

More capacity will be needed (unless they remove offsite/value/mods from FP+ similar to UNI) so maybe they can implement the coming expansions into the "enhanced" package.

 

[dlavender]

So, you've now lost time in the park, and also if you count your time planning. Doesn't seem like a great scenario......I wish there was a way Disney could prove me wrong. Open on a Saturday, no FP's, free for all, full capacity rides. Let's see what happens.....

 

[dlavender]

I have read some posts hear mentioning Universal. I really dislike Universal's Express pass. We used it for Halloween Horror nights. You have two options: Pay double - see everything, or pay regular admission, and get lucky to see half of the houses/mazes, whatever they are called now. I resent that. We did the former, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth from it. At least Disney hasn't ever tried to go that route, and I applaud them for it.

 

[MrInfinity]

Splitting your family up is not what I would call touring efficiently. We don't do family vacations to have seperate experiences on things we all want to do. Regardless this isn't a choice you were forced to make prior to FP+.

I do agree w you there. We're not big into splitting up, and I think most families are this way. Disney World is first a vacation, second about the rides. I'd rather wait 60 min and ride RnR with my wife or son than wait 30 min and ride it alone.

But let's not forget FP- was full of opportunities to split up. It was common practice for us at the AK, I'd run to grab FP- tickets to either EE or Safari, while the family would walk to the other. And at Epcot, same thing... we'd ride Soarin at rope drop, but then while the family would eat at the café or ride LWTL, I'd run across the park to get tickets to Test Track. If you didn't do this and got there a half-hour later, you'd get a return time for much later. So you have to keep in mind the drawbacks of FP-.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Let's look at the waits around peak time......on a Saturday. 10:15 on a Monday will probably be slightly lower....

You don't have to wait until a peak time. According to their app the numbers have gone up and in some cases pretty significantly in less than 30 min. There's some pretty fuzzy logic behind trying to pretend that the SB lines have significantly increased especially since pretty much everyone who monitors these numbers as part of their living has noted wait times are up after lengthy analysis.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

I have read some posts hear mentioning Universal. I really dislike Universal's Express pass. We used it for Halloween Horror nights. You have two options: Pay double - see everything, or pay regular admission, and get lucky to see half of the houses/mazes, whatever they are called now. I resent that. We did the former, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth from it. At least Disney hasn't ever tried to go that route, and I applaud them for it.

But you simply pay more. Everyone can do it.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I do agree w you there. We're not big into splitting up, and I think most families are this way. Disney World is first a vacation, second about the rides. I'd rather wait 60 min and ride RnR with my wife or son than wait 30 min and ride it alone.

But let's not forget FP- was full of opportunities to split up. It was common practice for us at the AK, I'd run to grab FP- tickets to either EE or Safari, while the family would walk to the other. And at Epcot, same thing... we'd ride Soarin at rope drop, but then while the family would eat at the café or ride LWTL, I'd run across the park to get tickets to Test Track. If you didn't do this and got there a half-hour later, you'd get a return time for much later. So you have to keep in mind the drawbacks of FP-.

We did that as well but I don't see the FP- machines as an experience to do with the family. I kind of equate that with splitting up to hit the bathrooms or me enjoying a bench while my wife wondered through Mousegears looking at the same merchandise that was in the other 20 gift shops we walked through.

 

[dlavender]

But you simply pay more. Everyone can do it.

I resent that if I don't pay more, I don't have a shot at seeing it all, or even close to it. Not a system that I condone.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I resent that if I don't pay more, I don't have a shot at seeing it all, or even close to it. Not a system that I condone.

Disney does it too they just give it a different name and send someone with you to escort you around he parks. If you want to pay for a VIP tour they are happy to accommodate you for the money. It's really just another version of an upsell that they can offer and there are quite a few people who take advantage of it. Right, wrong or indifferent all theme parks are going to a pay more play more model. Of course when dynamic pricing hits it might be pay more play less.

 

[dlavender]

Disney does it too they just give it a different name and send someone with you to escort you around he parks. If you want to pay for a VIP tour they are happy to accommodate you for the money. It's really just another version of an upsell that they can offer and there are quite a few people who take advantage of it. Right, wrong or indifferent all theme parks are going to a pay more play more model. Of course when dynamic pricing hits it might be pay more play less.

I understand that you can get a better experience anywhere if you are willing to spend the money. I'm not talking about a guided tour for celebrities, however. I could eat at Longhorn by myself if I paid them enough money to not seat anyone else. I don't like a general strategy of offering a special pass for more money to wait less, at the expense of the general admission. Six flags offers this, I resent it. Universal offers this, I resent it. I hope Disney stays away from this type of a model.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

I resent that if I don't pay more, I don't have a shot at seeing it all, or even close to it. Not a system that I condone.

Hmm, interesting.

 

[dlavender]

Hmm, interesting.

Is it?

 

[havoc315]

Hehe love your wait times for the good old days. Not going to question what you saw, other than to note your view of past and current waits are not in line with what I experienced, nor what is actually happening:

Space: 30 (not 80)
Splash: 30 (not 80)
HM: 35 (not 50)
PP: 70 (not 90)
Buzz: 25 (not 60)

Those are the waits right now, 10:15 am in Florida. So you are way over-stating the actual waits. I do agree on that list of things being about what a typical family would set out to accomplish (plus SDMT and a character greet). I think your times are a little off and a family using FP+ will do those in way less than the 275 that you state.

10:15 is still low lines. In fact, in FP- days, there were virtually no lines in October at 10:15 am.