Are posted ride wait times still inflated?

[chimoe]

Hello all

I remember ready late last year reading that ride wait times were usually 30% less than what was posted.

is this still the case today? If posted wait says 60mins can we expect a 40ish min actual wait?

 

[Marionnette]

Hello all

I remember ready late last year that ride wait times were usually 30% less than what was posted.

is this still the case today? If posted wait says 60mins can we expect a 40ish min actual wait?

My experience this past weekend was that some waits were inflated while others were within +/- 5 minutes of the posted wait time. There was no way to really predict which it would be and for those that took longer, we frequently exited to see that the posted wait time had gone up.

 

[Tinker326]

We just returned yesterday & I found the waits to be very accurate except near closing time. Within an hour of closing they seem to be inflated (example, at 10:40pm the stated wait at Test Track was 40 minutes & it was literally a walk on)

 

[BillFraser29]

We were there a few weeks back and the posted wait times were very accurate. MUCH more accurate then the line predictors.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

It varies. I would go into it expecting it to be correct and be pleasantly surprised if it's shorter. Very rarely, if ever, will the wait be longer than posted (in my experience).

 

[CastAStone]

Touring Plans did a nice piece on this 2 weeks ago. https://touringplans.com/blog/posted-vs-actual-wait-times-worst-offenders/

 

[loves to dive]

I was there almost two weeks ago and found most of them were accurate, as a previous poster stated, I didn't see any that were longer. I did find the evening and early - ish (I don't rope drop) morning hours a little less.

 

[ars0525]

I find them to be pretty close. Of course sometimes you'll enter a line expecting 30 minutes & keep walking & walking & walking til you're at the front loading. Pixie dust time!! Then other times I get in line thinking 40 minutes & oops its closer to an hour (and to be fair that hasn't happened THAT often & usually you can see why there's a delay). It happens.

You start to get a feel for how long the lines truly are (or aren't) with social distancing after you are experiencing it some.

 

[_19disnA]

We were last at Disney before covid and found the posted wait times to be both high and low. Some indicated long wait times and we walked right on, while others were the opposite. I have no idea if those posted times depend on an employee manually inputting a number or it is somehow triggered by technology Disney might be using. If done manually, I could imagine the employee might forget to update it or be busy doing something else at times.

You can find various blogs all over the internet where people have their own opinion about how it works. Many of these same people have opinions on what Disney does/doesn't do to inflate wait times. However, I would imagine Disney would have to accurately know the correct wait time all during the day in order to manipulate it to be something else. I seem to recall some older posts where at times Disney will hand a person in line a token and then determine wait times based on how long it takes that person to get to the front of the line. No idea if they still do that or often that might be done.

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

I was there 4/10-4/15, and the posted wait time was never less than the actual wait time, and in most cases, a 50 minute wait was 35, 45 minute wait was 30-35, so usually 5-15 minutes less. There were times the posted time was right on and I think once we got in a line that was 60 minutes and it was 63. The Touring Plans “Lines” app lists “expected” wait times, and those were usually fairly accurate.

 

[OB1]

Just back. Many of the times were accurate. If a low time was posted - like 15 minutes for Toy Story Mania - by the time we got in line, the wait was expanding and was often 20+ minutes. Seems that high times are more likely to be shorter, but the opposite for short times. Mickey/Minnie Railroad was 20 minutes, so we jumped in that line, and waited just over 25 minutes. We never did Tower or Rockin RC, and those seem to really vary.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Touring Plans did a nice piece on this 2 weeks ago. https://touringplans.com/blog/posted-vs-actual-wait-times-worst-offenders/

This was a great resource, thank you! Sounds like the takeaway is that WDW is still inflating wait times quite a bit, just not for 3 Caballeros.

 

[Timmy Boy]

To keep track of the wait times, "FLIK" cards were used. They were red cards on lanyards that had text written on them in spanish and english, stating "This card helps Cast Members determine the most accurate wait time. Please hand this to the Cast Member as you board the attraction." The CM would scan the card at the end of the line, hand it to a guest, then a CM would scan at the load area, and it would update the wait time. This technology has since been replaced with long range RFID readers scanning a magic band and scanning the same band again at the load area, thus eliminating the need for the cards. The wait time can be manually adjusted by a CM if needed, but if left alone, it would just read magic bands all day long.

Reasons for CM override would be during a downtime, or if the queue extends past the Greeter position (which it does now with social distancing) because the line entrance is where the scanner is located.

 

[gharter]

It really varied. We found about half the times were accurate and half were about half of the posted time. No common theme for those that are inflated.
I found the length of the lines and social distancing in the lines, made estimating wait times very difficult.
I posted multiple wait times to touring plans the week we were there and appreciated others who posted accurate times.

 

[Just take my money]

The last two days Slinky Dog was listed at 50 and 60 minutes when we got in line. Both times it was 30. Other rides across the park have been more accurate. BTMR said 25 and it was really just the 5 minute walk to loading. If you want to ride something just chance it will have the full waiting period.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

The last two days Slinky Dog was listed at 50 and 60 minutes when we got in line. Both times it was 30. Other rides across the park have been more accurate. BTMR said 25 and it was really just the 5 minute walk to loading. If you want to ride something just chance it will have the full waiting period.

BTMR was the most consistently over inflated on our Easter trip. We rode multiple times throughout the days with a posted 25-30 minute wait and it was walk-on every time.

 

[MarkS2112]

I would say that over our many trips they vary. Some are close some not so. FP returns would hurt some in the past. Now it may be party size and how they can load. Plus when people see a low time they tend to surge to that ride so it can change quickly. Overall I think they are generally close.

 

[Princess Katelet]

Is the Lines App free?? It keeps asking me for my Apple ID to purchase it, but nowhere does it give a price. I have it for DL, but I know I didn't purchase it.

 

[CastAStone]

Is the Lines App free?? It keeps asking me for my Apple ID to purchase it, but nowhere does it give a price. I have it for DL, but I know I didn't purchase it.

The Touringplans one? You can download the app for free and it has some basic things but a subscription to access the good stuff is around $15. The nice thing is it doesn’t auto-renew, so when it expires you’re not on the hook for it over and over.

 

[ajgardner]

We just finished up our trip, sitting in our hotel room now to go home tomorrow. Some were accurate others were way inflated. We found more to be inflated by 10+ minutes than not. I have a subscription to Touring Plans Lines App and we relied completely on those - they were accurate within a few minutes every time.