Posted wait times

[Davey Jones II]

In various threads, people have mentioned inflated posted wait times, but I was wondering if that is consistent, or just at certain times of day. Are the actual waits normally lower than the posted wait times? I welcome any comments, thanks!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Historically they appear inflated but there isn't a common amount that they are inflated by. Might be 5 mins or 30 mins and can change throughout the day.

Wait times fluctuate as ride ups and downs (including slowing/stopping to assist guests in loading and unloading) change the actual wait time.

I will say consistently at the end of the night I find wait times are inflated, I believe to discourage guests from getting in line. One of our favourite times to hop in line is just before park closing!

 

[prestoncaldwell]

The belief is that the wait times are used to manipulate crowd bahavior, so an attraction that needs people drawn away from it has an overstated wait time, while one that needs people drawn toward it has understated wait times. I dont know about this, but I do think that the crowdsourced Wait Times app has been more accurate overall.

 

[Davey Jones II]

What about at rope drop? It seems that headliners have inflated wait times just after opening.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

One thing that I've learned to watch out for is that occasionally the posted wait time doesn't catch up when there's a sudden influx.

For example, one year we finished watching the parade on Main Street and saw that the posted wait time to meet Mickey was 5 minutes. Well, it had been 5 minutes while the parade was going on, but as soon as the parade ended, lots of people jumped in the line and it turned out to be more like 45 minutes since we were behind them and they just hadn't updated the time yet to account for so many people getting in line all at once.

So I try to stay aware of whether I see a show or something just letting out next door to an attraction and people heading straight for that attraction (especially if it has a low posted wait time), because that might be a red flag that the wait time will get updated after you get in the line and actually be longer.

 

[lynch34]

The wait times are not at all accurate anymore. Disney uses it as a tool to drive behavior. It's really a shame and dishonest as hell considering the prices they are charging.

 

[jaysmom4285]

We were at WDW in early December and found the posted wait times to be overstated most of the time . I always checked the Touring Plans expected wait time and found it to be pretty accurate in all but a few instances.

 

[gharter]

In October, most rides were consistently inflated. Especially near closing.

 

[ruthies12]

The belief is that the wait times are used to manipulate crowd bahavior, so an attraction that needs people drawn away from it has an overstated wait time, while one that needs people drawn toward it has understated wait times. I dont know about this, but I do think that the crowdsourced Wait Times app has been more accurate overall.

Would you mind sharing which wait time app you are talking about? I'd like to look for it. TIA!

 

[prestoncaldwell]

Wait Times for Disney World
Wait Times for Disneyland

 

[gharter]

Wait Times for Disney World
Wait Times for Disneyland

I use both of those, but found Touringplans seemed to be more accurate.

 

[prestoncaldwell]

You are 100% right. I searched what I thought were the right apps in Play Store, but I picked up the wrong ones.

As gharter says, the best ones are:

Disney World Lines by TouringPlans.com
Disneyland Lines by TouringPlans.com

I'd imagine they'd be named similarly in Apple.

 

[stinkpickle]

Disney appears to still be using the same wait time formulas they used during the FP+ days. But now, I don't see near as many people use the LL entrances, so stand by lines are flowing quicker.

 

[lynch34]

Disney appears to still be using the same wait time formulas they used during the FP+ days. But now, I don't see near as many people use the LL entrances, so stand by lines are flowing quicker.

Disney knows exactly what they are doing and they aren't using old formulas. They are manipulating behavior. It's clear as day.

 

[stinkpickle]

Disney knows exactly what they are doing and they aren't using old formulas. They are manipulating behavior. It's clear as day.

They were manipulating behavior before. It's nothing new.

 

[Lilsia]

The wait times are not at all accurate anymore. Disney uses it as a tool to drive behavior. It's really a shame and dishonest as hell considering the prices they are charging.

Not to mention that they base DAS return time on the posted wait time. Those people are not waiting much longer then those in line. It's not right.

 

[wisblue]

Comsidering that it’s virtually impossible to know wait times precisely, and that it makes sense to overstate rather than understate wait times, I don’t think the posted wait times are as sinister as others do.

 

[jaysmom4285]

I think Disney has a pretty good how to calculate and post accurate wait times. Back in the day, when we were in line for something (pre FP or FP+), it was not uncommon for a cast member to give us a red card and ask us to give it to the CM when we got to the boarding point of the attraction. I'm sure that was to measure the time it took us to get from point A to point B. And I'm also pretty sure that Disney has measured every point in every attraction line and knows with some precision how long it will take a person to go from any point in the line to boarding the ride, as long as the ride doesn't break down. It's always better to overstate than understate, since one always feels better having waited less time, but an overstated wait time can, and may be meant to, discourage people from getting in line. That's why I put a lot of stock in Touring Plans expected wait times, since they are supplied by people who actually just stood in the line. That has been very accurate for us the vast majority of the time.

 

[gharter]

Comsidering that it’s virtually impossible to know wait times precisely, and that it makes sense to overstate rather than understate wait times, I don’t think the posted wait times are as sinister as others do.

With MDE and MBs, I don't think Disney would have any trouble measuring wait times. They can tell where you are in the park.
OTOH, using Genie and overstating wait times, they can influence where people go and try to move them to rides/attractions (not the popular ones) with shorter wait lines.

 

[wisblue]

With MDE and MBs, I don't think Disney would have any trouble measuring wait times. They can tell where you are in the park.
OTOH, using Genie and overstating wait times, they can influence where people go and try to move them to rides/attractions (not the popular ones) with shorter wait lines.

I‘m not sure they are using MBs to track people and see how long they are waiting in lines but, even if they did, all that would do is tell them after the fact how long someone waited. That doesn’t tell them how long someone entering the line now would wait.

I’ve been going to WDW pretty regularly now for 30 years, and the posted wait times have always been generally longer than actual waits. And when you throw FP or LL into the mix it becomes harder to know precisely how the standby line will move because it can be affected by a sudden rush of people using the other line.

If the only goal is to shift people to other attractions, why are posted wait times at those attractions often overstated too? I have often walked into a ride like Star Tours with a posted wait time of 20 minutes and it has been a literal walk on.

I think their primary goal for all attractions is pad the posted wait time so that guests won’t be upset about waiting longer than expected.