[Chat] Ride Wait Times

[Gandalf75]

I understand that people are frustrated with the crowds at Disneyland and the resulting lines for attractions. But what are your expectations for a line? Are you ok with a 15 minute wait time? 20 minutes? 45 minutes?

I have always associated the park with having to wait in line. Sure the length of time in the line varied depending on the time of year we went and the attraction, but there was usually always a line. Going to the park we knew that the new rides and mountain rides always required some patience. We played games and talked and people watched. It seems that people are now obsessed with instant gratification and they are always looking for a quick fix.

Now, I know that current crowding situation can be extreme. When we went in October, Indy and Space averaged 60-90 minute wait times. In past years, we never experienced those summer wait times in October.

But realistically, how long should the lines be? How long are you willing to wait for a ride? I think 15-20 minutes for rides is not unrealistic and 45 minutes for E ticket rides would be ok.

So what are your expectations for ride wait times?

[dogtherock]

Re: Ride Wait Times

Agreed with yours above. But it also depends on how you personally like the ride. For example The Subs are an E Ticket but I don't really like it that much so I would only wait about 30 minutes for it.

[DsnyRnr]

Re: Ride Wait Times

I always expect lines for the rides. It is part of the Disneyland experience. I don't mind waiting 60-90 minutes for a ride like Space Mountain, Indy, etc. However, for something like Jungle Cruise I wouldn't wait more than 15-20 minutes.

Of course, I am an AP so it doesn't bother me to only go on a few rides since I know I will be back real soon.

[JungleCruiseFan]

Re: Ride Wait Times

The most I'm willing to wait for an E-Ticket is about 30-45 minutes, if not I either get a Fastpass or wait until later. For other rides, if the line is long than 25 minutes I just wait.

[rollrcostrfrk807]

Re: Ride Wait Times

Usually i only wait 10 - 20 min for most rides and use fast passes for everything else. on a really busy day i am willing to wait longer around 30-40. although the exception is i waited 80 min for ghost galaxy on the opening night.

[techskip]

Re: Ride Wait Times

At some point Fastpass, and the effects of Fastpass, will likely enter the conversation. Personally I feel every attraction has a specific threshold to each individual and that threshold will vary depending on how the person feels. For example some will patiently line up for Nemo, others wouldn't go on it even if it was a walk-on... In years past lines were generally longer in peak season, and people were willing to wait longer because they expected those crowds. Now... well now most will grab a Fastpass to one location then runover to stand in line somewhere else. Those holding Fastpasses generally don't even care how long the line is because they have a Fastpass...

[DaHatTrick]

Re: Ride Wait Times

i wait no longer than45 minutes

[techskip]

Re: Ride Wait Times

Something interesting to think about is how the AP has changed the dynamics of waiting in line. Initially the ticket books acted as sort of a "checks and balances" and individuals would only ride as many times as they could afford to do so. Since everyone was on an "even playing field" the lines were purely merit based. The ticket books disappeared and the AP's entered the mix. AP's generally won't wait on longer lines... why bother... if it is "that long" they can generally come back later. Sure you have out of town AP's... but the majority are local enough to make it to the park on a consistent basis. If anything AP's would theoretically make lines shorter in summer (blocked out, and if not blocked out unwilling to wait in long lines) and slightly longer in winter (unblocked and "enjoying off season). Now Fastpass has entered the mix... giving the savvy tourist (or in most cases the AP) a distinct advantage.

To think that without Fastpass the AP Program may actually have made lines shorter for the tourists... :blink:

[plagued]

Re: Ride Wait Times

i'm known for being patient enough to be able to wait in long lines.

i learned that the 'patient way' is the way to go because of two separate trips, both about equal in crowds.

Trip 1, Patience: a relatively crowded day at the parks. wait times were on average 45-60 minutes for e-tickets. got there around 2pm and left at closing at 12am. gave us about 10hours at the parks. visited both parks. in total we visited 11 attractions, 3 of which were shows (aladdin musical, fantasmic!, and magical fireworks). the rest included quite a few E-Tickets: Finding Nemo Subs, Tower of Terror, Soarin over CA, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, and Indiana Jones Adventure. keeping in mind that riding and watching wasn't all we did. i still had time to take my mother to simply walk around the parks and just look at everything.

Trip 2, Impatience: went with a group of people who were too impatient to ride anything longer than a 40minute wait. we'd walk to a ride, they'd get mad at how long the wait was, and skip to the next. took us a couple hours before riding our first ride. and the cycle continued. after being at the park for 10 hours, we only did about 5 attractions, 1 being Fantasmic. the other 4 being: haunted mansion, space mountain, indiana jones, and winnie the pooh. the rest was them literally bumming around because everything had 'too long of a wait'

since then, i've never really let longer wait times intimidate me from getting in line. most times, i've noticed that the wait time posted at the ride entrance is usually longer than the actual wait time itself.

i do have limits though, but it really depends on the circumstances: how much i like the actual attraction, if anyone in my group has never ridden/seen the attraction, and of course, HEAT. but in general, i really don't start to feel intimidated until the wait time reaches around 85-90 minutes.

[Datameister]

Re: Ride Wait Times

I'm rather picky about lines. Honestly, I don't usually voluntarily stand in lines that are longer than 25 minutes, and I try to keep them even shorter than that. If I see a particularly long one, I usually skip the attraction. If I do end up in a long line, I don't complain or anything, but if given the choice, I usually opt for much shorter waits. FastPass helps a lot.

[Gandalf75]

Re: Ride Wait Times

How long do you think the average Fast Pass line is? Does it get you on the ride in 10 minutes or less? 15 minutes?

We had an Indy Fast Pass and it broke. When it opened up again, the Fast Pass line was mega long. The CM said it was over 30 minutes, since everyone was returning at the same time with passes.

[techskip]

Re: Ride Wait Times

How long do you think the average Fast Pass line is? Does it get you on the ride in 10 minutes or less? 15 minutes?

We had an Indy Fast Pass and it broke. When it opened up again, the Fast Pass line was mega long. The CM said it was over 30 minutes, since everyone was returning at the same time with passes.

That sort of depends on a lot of factors... the target is a 10-15 minute line.

[NeverNeverland]

Re: Ride Wait Times

20 to 30 mins. Fastpass allows me to not have to wait longer than that most of the time.

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Ride Wait Times

It saddens me to think that a 60-minute wait is now acceptable to the park-going public and even considered "normal."

[OldSchoolMickey]

Re: Ride Wait Times

Our AP's are our solution to any long lines...

If we encounter a line longer than we care to wait, we'll skip that ride until the next day or even the next trip. No biggie...

But thankfully, since we know the ropes, we usually never have to wait more than 20 minutes or so for any of the rides.

[Mojave]

Re: Ride Wait Times

Something interesting to think about is how the AP has changed the dynamics of waiting in line. Initially the ticket books acted as sort of a "checks and balances" and individuals would only ride as many times as they could afford to do so. Since everyone was on an "even playing field" the lines were purely merit based. The ticket books disappeared and the AP's entered the mix. AP's generally won't wait on longer lines... why bother... if it is "that long" they can generally come back later. Sure you have out of town AP's... but the majority are local enough to make it to the park on a consistent basis. If anything AP's would theoretically make lines shorter in summer (blocked out, and if not blocked out unwilling to wait in long lines) and slightly longer in winter (unblocked and "enjoying off season). Now Fastpass has entered the mix... giving the savvy tourist (or in most cases the AP) a distinct advantage.

To think that without Fastpass the AP Program may actually have made lines shorter for the tourists... :blink:

Your mixing AP's into a ticket book vs. single ticket issue. A single ticket to get into the park and ride any attraction changes the dynamics in a way that is independent of the AP situation.

[Karalora]

Re: Ride Wait Times

My "wait threshold" depends on so many factors that it's all over the place. Some of the factors are: crowd size, perceived "value" of the attraction, other plans for the day, and how much my feet hurt at the moment. About the longest I've stood in line recently was an hour for Ghost Galaxy.

Since I have an AP and don't like Fastpass for various reasons, if too many lines are too long I might declare a "slow ride day" and only go on Fantasyland dark rides, the Mark Twain, and other underregarded attractions, or even an "ambience day" where I don't worry much about going on rides at all and just enjoy the atmosphere and people-watching.

[Casey Jr]

Re: Ride Wait Times

honestly, I don't wait more than 20 minutes for a ride, and that would be for Matterhorn. Why wait for peter pan, when if you get there in the morning, you can ride that and every other fantasyland ride as well in half an hour? or get to Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy early, ride it, stock up on fastpasses while they are still giving them out frequently and ride it several times. I will use a fastpass for any other ride that tends to have a long line. in the case of Splash Mountain, if the line is long, I can wait to the winter when I can have a splash mountain marathon!

[LangenFox]

Re: Ride Wait Times

I'd wait then rush sometimes.

[techskip]

Re: Ride Wait Times

Your mixing AP's into a ticket book vs. single ticket issue. A single ticket to get into the park and ride any attraction changes the dynamics in a way that is independent of the AP situation.

What I am saying is that being an AP changes the behavior/willingness of an individual to wait in line much like having a ticket book did in the past. If you had x tickets you went for x rides... some locals would do less if they knew they might be back later in the year... but the point is everyone paid the same amount and they went on the rides they really wanted to go on.

Introduce a 1 ticket system... everyone still goes on the rides they really want to go on, they just get more rides. Lines are now longer because the only limit to what an individual can ride is their height, and how much patience they have. It's a "free for all". From an economic perspective the benefit is to the tourist who can only go once every year or so forth. Due to the fact that it is a "special trip" to go they are willing to wait in almost any length of line to experience things they otherwise would not experience. For a local to go multiple times would be expensive and if they went then they would be just like tourists. Locals would likely wait in every line to go on every ride (because it was a rare thing to go to the park). This has been indicated by the various stories of long lines before the AP really took off

Introduce AP's... a majority of locals who now own AP's are either blocked out in the peak season, or avoid the park due to crowds. If they are in the park on a crowded day they may elect to avoid long lines because they can come back another time. They are able to skip these lines because they have AP's... having the AP has changed their behavior. This is indicated by the shorter peak season lines and slightly longer off seaosn lines on most attractions once AP's really took off.

Introduce Fastpass... now every attraction that provides Fastpass is forced to maintain a 10-15 minute "bubble". Those individuals holding Fastpass are more then willing to stand in other lines. Most don't care how long the "other" line is... some even prefer longer lines because they "have to kill the time before the Fastpass is valid". Once Fastpasses are out, they're out. The system favors those "in the know" which is primarily knowledgeable tourists and AP's. Once the Fastpasses are out the tourists have no other alternative but to stand in line... AP's can simply come back another day.

My point is that having an AP may have actually balanced the wait times. As I said having an AP skews the mentality of "must do everything" into "it's too long we can come back another day and do it then". The program has definately contributed to a number of issues, but longer lines are by far the result of Fastpass and not necessarily the result of AP's.