Do people wait in lines anymore?

[smiths02]

We occasionally wait in lines, but it is for 2nd or 3rd times through favorite rides (POTC mainly). However, for 7DMT or A&E, it looks like even at RD you can end up in a 1 hour line . I am unsure what the line for A&E is after RD now, but last time we were there it was 4 hours+. The fast pass or RD are the only reasonable options if these two attractions are on your list....and considering how long the lines are...they are on lots of lists!

It wasn't 4+ hours, but when I was a kid in CA, people waited 2 hours or so for Indiana Jones when it first opened, and you didn't have a choice. 7DMT is new. The fervor will die down.

 

[kerplop]

Our interest in waiting in a line is directly proportionate to our interest in the ride. We've skipped rides because we didn't have a FP for it, but if it's a favorite we'll stand in line anyway. This spring we went to DL and it was the very last night of our honeymoon and my new wife wanted to ride Big Thunder one more time. The wait was almost an hour, but I was happy to do it!

 

[Kathryn777]

We never wait in lines longer than 15 minutes. I hate lines. We rope drop and use fp, and take a midday break. And then ride the "much less lines" rides when those options run out. We do the same at our local amusement park. Before I had kids we did it more often, now it just isn't worth it.

 

[Summertinkerbell]

I've been seeing a lot of threads lately talking about how they didn't get this fp or that fp and lamenting the fact because it will make their trip less enjoyable. Granted I've only been once with fp+ and I didn't fully utilize it because that's not how we like to spend our time at Disney, we like to wander and not really follow touring plans of any sort. And when they had the old fastpass we would use it if we were there but would never run for the kiosks.

I guess when I go to an amusement park I assume I will be spending a good amount of time in line along with the other people there. But I'm sensing now that people don't want to wait in line.

And how long are the lines? Granted I do not travel during heavy times. I've been in January, May and September. I never remember huge lines, occasionally we would see a line that was an hour long and we'd pass. Growing up in Southern California I spent many, many days at Disneyland and Space Mountain was usually close to a 2 hour wait and that was pre-electronics, so we just waited and waited and waited. Have lines gotten so horrible or are people just not wanting to wait more than 15 minutes?

Two things:

1. Frankly, waiting in lines is a colossal waste of time when we consider our limited time at WDW...all there is to do while there...and the high cost of being there. We only go every two to four years to WDW, so when we are there, we try to make the most of our time.

2. I have a bad knee. Walking is therapeutic. Standing in one spot is incredibly painful.

Thanks to arriving at rope drop, we don't encounter too many long lines. The only line DD & DH waited on (I opted out) was the hour-long 7 dwarfs mine train, because we couldn't get a FP+, even 60 days ahead of time. After they waited the hour, the ride was really short, and they both regretted the time they wasted over a blinged out BTMRR ride.

I am a teacher, and my child is in school, therefore our only availability to travel is during school vacations, i.e., the busiest times in the parks.

 

[KorieDWnut]

Two things:

1. Frankly, waiting in lines is a colossal waste of time when we consider our limited time at WDW...all there is to do while there...and the high cost of being there. We only go every two to four years to WDW, so when we are there, we try to make the most of our time.

2. I have a bad knee. Walking is therapeutic. Standing in one spot is incredibly painful.

Thanks to arriving at rope drop, we don't encounter too many long lines. The only line DD & DH waited on (I opted out) was the hour-long 7 dwarfs mine train, because we couldn't get a FP+, even 60 days ahead of time. After they waited the hour, the ride was really short, and they both regretted the time they wasted over a blinged out BTMRR ride.

I am a teacher, and my child is in school, therefore our only availability to travel is during school vacations, i.e., the busiest times in the parks.

I am so with you! I am a teacher as well, so can only go in August. I work in Special Ed and work the summer school program, so August it is.
I also have a bad knee as well as ankle and I much prefer walking over sitting.

I found my patience level fading much more when it came to using the restrooms and ordering food at any QS location. Trying to eat at Cosmic Ray's even at 330 in the afternoon, when we thought would be slow, was a complete nightmare.

 

[CQuinn]

It always amazes me that every trip we seem to see a family walk into the park, open the map they just grabbed, and try to figure out where a certain ride is.

Haha well.. I plan and research, have been to WDW many times, but I also have next to no sense of direction so I still use the maps. Thank goodness for the GPS on the app because I'm a lost idiot most of the time.

 

[Summertinkerbell]

I am so with you! I am a teacher as well, so can only go in August. I work in Special Ed and work the summer school program, so August it is.
I also have a bad knee as well as ankle and I much prefer walking over sitting.

I found my patience level fading much more when it came to using the restrooms and ordering food at any QS location. Trying to eat at Cosmic Ray's even at 330 in the afternoon, when we thought would be slow, was a complete nightmare.

One thing that saved my knee was to leave the parks at around noon. We ate lunch at 11:30 before the crowds filled up the restaurants, and then we returned to our resort. I iced my knee then either napped or relaxed in the pool. This way I was able to go back out at night either to a nice restaurant or to a park.

On our next trip, I don't think I will be heading back out to the parks at night. Our favorite night was at California Grill and watching the fireworks from there. Our unhappiest nights were spent in a park dealing with crazy crowds...the worst being Epcot right before Illuminations. They darkened World Showcase; it was pouring rain; and a lot of people were drunk. I just wanted OUT.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We never wait in lines longer than 15 minutes. I hate lines. We rope drop and use fp, and take a midday break. And then ride the "much less lines" rides when those options run out. We do the same at our local amusement park. Before I had kids we did it more often, now it just isn't worth it.

Yeah we have early entrance to our local amusement park. It gets hot and muggy up here in northern Ohio in the summer so we always go early and leave by 1pm after having lunch and always ride all the major rides with no more than a 30 minute wait. When we leave the lines are always 1 to 2 hours long. And they have a paid system where you can bypass the lines but no way in heck am I pay $85 for that "privilege". No thank you.

But we do Disney a little different, mostly because it's not something we do weekly. I just can't get up super early on vacation, well I don't want to. We usually do rope drop once on a trip, although this next trip I may do it more just because there are only two of us going.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I should just note, mostly this is at the over reactions that I've seen. People saying things like if I can't get fp+ I'll be waiting all day for one ride/experience and I'll get to do nothing else. I get no one wants to wait in line but you can't fp+ everything and going to Disney and thinking you'll be able to just walk on everything is not realistic. There will always be lines and waiting for a small amount of time won't kill anyone.

 

[3Gsandme]

The aversion to lines is definitely a Disney thing.

We go to a small, local amusement park every summer. There are no big rides or headliners. It is absolutely not unusual to wait 15 minutes to ride The Whip. Or the log ride which is an absolutely typical log flume that might last two minutes. Having grown up with Cedar Point being my local big park, the idea of waiting in hour+ lines to ride headliners isn't weird to me. The idea that myself and everyone in the park want to ride this ride, but I shouldn't have to wait for it is bizarre.

Perhaps because the majority of my park going has been done at other parks where the option is to wait, I feel differently about waiting than others do? MDE sas it's 75 minutes to ride the 7DMT. Since that's the newest and most popular ride in the park, that doesn't seem like a terrible wait, to me.

 

[5kidsmommy]

The aversion to lines is definitely a Disney thing.

We go to a small, local amusement park every summer. There are no big rides or headliners. It is absolutely not unusual to wait 15 minutes to ride The Whip. Or the log ride which is an absolutely typical log flume that might last two minutes. Having grown up with Cedar Point being my local big park, the idea of waiting in hour+ lines to ride headliners isn't weird to me. The idea that myself and everyone in the park want to ride this ride, but I shouldn't have to wait for it is bizarre.

Perhaps because the majority of my park going has been done at other parks where the option is to wait, I feel differently about waiting than others do? MDE sas it's 75 minutes to ride the 7DMT. Since that's the newest and most popular ride in the park, that doesn't seem like a terrible wait, to me.

Yep, Cedar Point is our local park. And yes 1-2 hours is a normal time. I guess that's why Disney seems so relaxed when lines are only 45 minutes.

 

[Mikie]

I have often wondered this myself. I would genuinely love to follow along with the folks who say they never wait more than 15-20minutes for anything. Do they have a step-by-step touring plan? (I don't want to do that, so I check that off my list as a possibility) do they have a fuzzy recollection of the waits they've actually encountered? (maybe 15 min is an exaggeration that I will never be able to match) do they only go for the first 3 hours, then have a 4 hour resort break, then ride non-headliners on return? (I've never followed this pattern, maybe it's the ticket to no-line success?) I already know I've seen many of those people say that they do ride headliners, so it's not just that they spent all day whirling on the teacups

I have never expected to achieve a 20 min max wait on everything at Disney. I have used legacy FP, FP+ and internet tips for minimizing some waits where I can, but I've never managed a whole trip with 100% lines of 20 minutes or fewer, nor I have ever had the expectation that I *could* do that. I think I probably waited over an hour for Space Mountain on my early trips and 45-60 minutes isn't at all unheard of on my other trips for a few rides. 30ish is common for me. If I were wealthier, I'd surely invite one of these experienced DISers on my next trip and ask them to be my personal guide!! (no sarcasm - I really want to see it in action, I can't imagine it)

 

[DoingDisney]

When I pay $100 to hit up the local amusement park, I don't mind waiting in a bit of a line, when I pay $500+ a day, I am not standing in lines. That being said, I don't mind doing so for 20 mins or so ... but beyond that, not a chance. One of the reasons FP+ is such a downgrade, much harder to avoid lines completely. As soon as I can no longer do what I want without waiting 20mins or less for everything I want to do ... thats probably when I stop going to WDW ... we will see how the next trip with FP+ goes, last one was cutting it close.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I haven't waited more than 15 minutes for anything since I became an adult except some of the big night time shows. But by then we could use another break anyway. Why when with just a little planning, we don't need to wait in long lines. I have seen people complain that they're on vacation and don't want to get up early. Fine with me. Thank you for helping to make my plans work.

 

[Lucius Best]

I've been seeing a lot of threads lately talking about how they didn't get this fp or that fp and lamenting the fact because it will make their trip less enjoyable. Granted I've only been once with fp+ and I didn't fully utilize it because that's not how we like to spend our time at Disney, we like to wander and not really follow touring plans of any sort. And when they had the old fastpass we would use it if we were there but would never run for the kiosks.

I don't know if this is only a line issue, but somewhat of a Fastpass+ issue. If you don't get the FP for the ride you want, now you are waiting in standby line. Of course if you go early or late you can minimize that standby wait time, but its not as good as having a fastpass. These people might be lamenting that they won't be able to do as many rides as they are accustomed, or will have to wait in more lines than they did on previous trips before FP+.

Personally I've been spoiled by so many trips to WDW at off-peak times, grabbing as many old paper fastpasses as I could. I remember going to WDW as a kid and waiting 2 hours for Splash Mountain, but I would never do that again. I've ridden everything so many times, I'm not going to kill myself running around the park like I used to, and I'm not going to wait in any line longer than 20 minutes when I could fastpass it or do it at rope drop, and go do something else.

Another big thing for me is the speed of the line, more than the length. I'd prefer waiting 30 minutes in consistently moving switchbacks than 15 minutes standing or moving at a crawl. With more rides having Fastpass, on our first FP+ trip, that sometimes affected my decision on whether to get in a standby line or come back later.

 

[DoingDisney]

I have often wondered this myself. I would genuinely love to follow along with the folks who say they never wait more than 15-20minutes for anything. Do they have a step-by-step touring plan? (I don't want to do that, so I check that off my list as a possibility) do they have a fuzzy recollection of the waits they've actually encountered? (maybe 15 min is an exaggeration that I will never be able to match) do they only go for the first 3 hours, then have a 4 hour resort break, then ride non-headliners on return? (I've never followed this pattern, maybe it's the ticket to no-line success?) I already know I've seen many of those people say that they do ride headliners, so it's not just that they spent all day whirling on the teacups

I have never expected to achieve a 20 min max wait on everything at Disney. I have used legacy FP, FP+ and internet tips for minimizing some waits where I can, but I've never managed a whole trip with 100% lines of 20 minutes or fewer, nor I have ever had the expectation that I *could* do that. I think I probably waited over an hour for Space Mountain on my early trips and 45-60 minutes isn't at all unheard of on my other trips for a few rides. 30ish is common for me. If I were wealthier, I'd surely invite one of these experienced DISers on my next trip and ask them to be my personal guide!! (no sarcasm - I really want to see it in action, I can't imagine it)

Not a fuzzy recollection or exaggeration at all. In fact the one time we got in a line that said it was only 20, ended up being 40 (and as we exited it now said 45) and we weren't very happy, but know that WDW's lines have a delay in their postings and its not their fault at all.

With Legacy FP (and touring at the right time of year, we go mostly in May) it was quite easy to never wait more than 20 mins. I have no idea if that was possible in the more peak times of year but peak times are only about 1/3rd of the year. With FP+ that's much harder, and requires much more criss-crossing the parks taking what FPs are available (if they are at all) ... but we did an ok job of it last trip, it was just harder than its ever been. We will see how the next one goes.

 

[BrianL]

Obviously people do still wait in lines or the Standby wait times wouldn't be 90+ minutes for certain rides. I think the people who post here though are "pros" and we are used to knowing how to wring the most out of our Disney trips. We're also more apt to get a little frustrated (and post about it) when those tips don't result in an ideal schedule. Most of us are also frequent visitors, so we may forgo something with a long line and just "get it next time." I don't mind waiting in reasonably long lines, but over an hour and I'll usually pass. I'm also in the park from Rope Drop to closing usually, so I'll try to catch it when the lines die down a bit. I certainly don't think having to wait in a line will ruin my trip though. It's all part of the game.

 

[3Gsandme]

I have often wondered this myself. I would genuinely love to follow along with the folks who say they never wait more than 15-20minutes for anything. Do they have a step-by-step touring plan? (I don't want to do that, so I check that off my list as a possibility) do they have a fuzzy recollection of the waits they've actually encountered? (maybe 15 min is an exaggeration that I will never be able to match) do they only go for the first 3 hours, then have a 4 hour resort break, then ride non-headliners on return? (I've never followed this pattern, maybe it's the ticket to no-line success?) I already know I've seen many of those people say that they do ride headliners, so it's not just that they spent all day whirling on the teacups

I have never expected to achieve a 20 min max wait on everything at Disney. I have used legacy FP, FP+ and internet tips for minimizing some waits where I can, but I've never managed a whole trip with 100% lines of 20 minutes or fewer, nor I have ever had the expectation that I *could* do that. I think I probably waited over an hour for Space Mountain on my early trips and 45-60 minutes isn't at all unheard of on my other trips for a few rides. 30ish is common for me. If I were wealthier, I'd surely invite one of these experienced DISers on my next trip and ask them to be my personal guide!! (no sarcasm - I really want to see it in action, I can't imagine it)

I think it depends on how you do things and what you like.

We only go to Disney once every few years. We aren't burnt out on rides like the tea cups or the carrousel where we can get on in 10 minutes. My kids like those rides. I LIKE the Tikki Room and the Carousel of Progress. We LIKE the TTA. We haven't been to the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor fifty times so popping in to take advantage of a short line isn't a problem for us. There are a lot of short wait rides and attractions that people like to turn their noses up at, but because we're lower frequency, we like them fine. And also, because we have little kids we like them fine. I'm not a huge Tea Cup fan, myself, but my kids like them and want to ride them a couple of times a trip and since the line is usually fairly short, it's easy to do.

If you can tour off season and/or are willing to do rope drop or late EMH, you can pretty much ride most of what you want with very short lines.

 

[MammerJammer]

Haha well.. I plan and research, have been to WDW many times, but I also have next to no sense of direction so I still use the maps. Thank goodness for the GPS on the app because I'm a lost idiot most of the time.

What GPS on the app?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Definitely yes to the subject question! Altho we try to minimize it by our 3 FPs, we have never gotten any more after (none worth it by then and we just come back another day). RnRc is just about always 60 min + altho the Single Rider line does help. Tower is a strange one that can be 15-120 mins sometimes (especially if one side goes down.)

Actually I don't need to tell you OP. Just load up the app on your phone and a few times a day, check the wait times for the attractions.

We had an hr before our next FP window opened and saw that GMR was only 30 min (normally higher) and we hadn't done it in about 6-8weeks so we got in line. That was a pretty hot (even in the shade until we got to the inside) long line for us but the movie sequence was nice and we jumped on our phones etc. 30 min is a long line to us...I really feel for the 60-120 'ers!

But there are long lines everywhere. How do the lil kids make it thru the Peter Pan cue (even with the pixie enhancements?!)

DHS was packed out last night. It finally didn't rain on us but was hot instead. Fireworks were stellar!!! The wind was finally in our favor and blew the ash the other way! We have to go out of town so I will only catch them one more time, Labor Day the last day. But anyway I digress. Bottom line, there are very long lines still and parks are just practically filled to the brim unless you come during a mass downpour.

I could never wait in lines this long! Book FPs, folks! Then skip 7D until closing (RD is going to be an hour) if you can't get a FP. Try TSMM during F! Be smart about your touring.

Use the App to your advantage! We noticed that HS and MK both had long lines but that Soarin was barely 50 min. If you can hop (a big advantage to having hoppers, you aren't stuck at a crowded park), than you can hop to a park with less lines!