What's with the wait times!? (hint.. they're low)

[TP2000]

8:45pm Sunday evening, gorgeously cooled off. Disneyland is open until Midnight, DCA until 10pm.

Millennium Falcon: Target Run - 15 Minutes
Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Ween - 20 Minutes
Haunted Mansion Holiday - 35 Minutes
Radiator Springs Racers - 55 Minutes
Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark! - 75 Minutes

Yup. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all.

 

[flynnibus]

If holloween doesn’t become a breakout on both coasts... the execs are gonna start crapping themselves. I don’t think “wait for rotr” will hold them over. More promos will be coming stat... their metrics have to be in the toilet.p for back to back quarters.

These first three weeks of sept are quiet... if it doesn’t come on by last week of the month... get ready to cash in the promos

 

[TP2000]

If holloween doesn’t become a breakout on both coasts... the execs are gonna start crapping themselves. I don’t think “wait for rotr” will hold them over. More promos will be coming stat... their metrics have to be in the toilet.p for back to back quarters.

These first three weeks of sept are quiet... if it doesn’t come on by last week of the month... get ready to cash in the promos

Agreed.

At least in Anaheim they got a nice big bump this weekend from the HalloweenTime stuff.

It helps that Halloween Screams is performing nightly at Disneyland with the price of a regular ticket, plus that tired old Electrical Parade. But the Halloween decor in DCA and rides are pulling longer lines than Millennium Falcon; Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Ween, Guardians Monsters After Dark!, and of course Haunted Mansion Holiday in Disneyland.

 

[RobWDW1971]

If holloween doesn’t become a breakout on both coasts... the execs are gonna start crapping themselves. I don’t think “wait for rotr” will hold them over. More promos will be coming stat... their metrics have to be in the toilet.p for back to back quarters.

These first three weeks of sept are quiet... if it doesn’t come on by last week of the month... get ready to cash in the promos

1) Shock and disbelief
- Wait until AP's are unblocked

2) Denial
- It's like this every September

3) Guilt
- We should have focused on the original trilogy and had Star Wars music playing

4) Anger and Bargaining
- Darn Ops didn't execute and aren't saying "Bright Suns!" enough!!!

5) Depression, Loneliness, Reflection
- Chapek is not invited to Rotunda lunches

6) Reconstruction and Working Through
- Unlocking Cast Members and cutting staff

7) Acceptance
- On to Avengers Campus....

 

[DanielBB8]

Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark! - 75 Minutes

Yup. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all.

Double agree. How is Guardians who many called a Chapek cheap overlay doing better than a new Star Wars attraction? Chapek can at least claim the success of one cheap makeover. Now do the second one. Overlay Batuu as Tatooine. Ha ha. Will they do it?

Anyways, I will be at DCA soon for Halloween. I won’t be able to ride Monsters After Dark with 75 minutes wait unless I’m willing to waste most of my evening for one ride.

 

[mickEblu]

Double agree. How is Guardians who many called a Chapek cheap overlay doing better than a new Star Wars attraction? Chapek can at least claim the success of one cheap makeover. Now do the second one. Overlay Batuu as Tatooine. Ha ha. Will they do it?

Anyways, I will be at DCA soon for Halloween. I won’t be able to ride Monsters After Dark with 75 minutes wait unless I’m willing to waste most of my evening for one ride.

Easy. It’s fun and thrilling. Don’t give too much credit to the GOTG overlay. Had they given the same love to TOT with different ride profiles it would have been doing the same numbers.

 

[TP2000]

It's just after 10pm now, and DCA closed 10 minutes ago with a 60 minute wait, which they are still cycling out as I type.

Meanwhile at Disneyland...

Millennium Falcon: Target Run - 15 Minutes
Haunted Mansion Holiday - 40 Minutes
Hyperspace Mountain - 45 Minutes

The AP's are back, but they aren't behaving!

Can you imagine if I'd told you six months ago that the projected overlay of Hyperspace Mountain onto the 42 year old Space Mountain ride would have a wait more than twice as long than the new Millennium Falcon ride in the Billion Dollar Star Wars Land? You'd have said I was crazy.

The only crazy one here now is Mr. Chapek.

 

[flynnibus]

Well.. maybe they’ll add FP sooner than later to fix the bad optics of low wait times

 

[TP2000]

Well.. maybe they’ll add FP sooner than later to fix the bad optics of low wait times

The Falcon is closing Sunday night out strong with a 10 minute just before Midnight.

If anything, the wait times are always over-inflated. I never waited more than 15 minutes and the wait time was posted at 30. I can't think of anyone who has said their wait time was longer than the posted figure. Most folks say they waited less than the posted wait time.

They should probably fix that and always post at least a 60 minute wait, just to weed out the casual tourists. Then it would always be a 7 minute wait and you'd buzz right past Honda Accord and his pre-show.

 

[dennis-in-ct]

If holloween doesn’t become a breakout on both coasts... the execs are gonna start crapping themselves. I don’t think “wait for rotr” will hold them over. More promos will be coming stat... their metrics have to be in the toilet.p for back to back quarters.

These first three weeks of sept are quiet... if it doesn’t come on by last week of the month... get ready to cash in the promos

Perhaps the price increases have reached a point where the crowds have now said "too expensive"

 

[mickEblu]

The Falcon is closing Sunday night out strong with a 10 minute just before Midnight.

If anything, the wait times are always over-inflated. I never waited more than 15 minutes and the wait time was posted at 30. I can't think of anyone who has said their wait time was longer than the posted figure. Most folks say they waited less than the posted wait time.

They should probably fix that and always post at least a 60 minute wait, just to weed out the casual tourists. Then it would always be a 7 minute wait and you'd buzz right past Honda Accord and his pre-show.

Part of my group today were two cousins who are APs. But they are the least AP like APs. They don’t buy any merch, they don’t know anything about the history of the parks or Disney, they don’t know what IP means... I could go on and on.

They use the AP about 5-6 times a year and only bought it because they thought it would be something fun to do a few times a year. Took them to SWL. They were ready to leave after 15 minutes. They didn’t even care to ride Falcon. We explained the ride to them and told them it was a simulator that was pretty much only fun if you get the pilot roles (we told them that we would make sure they get pilot since we were a party of 6) and still they said “we ll see it next time.” They preferred leaving and going to try some new seasonal snacks instead like the fritters at Royal Street Veranda. So corn fritters and Bengal bbq beat out the falcon tonight. What I found interesting is that it was on their radar.... slightly. We spent most of the first part of the day at DCA where they mentioned they want to see SWL because their passes are expiring soon and they re not renewing. I encouraged that they see the land and ride Falcon but alas.

So this I feel is a microcosm of the issue. There is no sense of urgency to see SWL in its current state. It’s not a must-do.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I was walking out of DCA tonight and I swear I heard music from Gremlins 2 playing on the muzak.

 

[mickEblu]

Perhaps the price increases have reached a point where the crowds have now said "too expensive"

Yeah I think we may be starting to see that the “issue” is two fold. They may have really started out pricing a lot of folks AND SWL simultaneously is not seen as a MUST DO. I was skeptical on the former as the price hikes didn’t seem to stop the crowds in recent years but it’s seems that it may have finally happened. I put issue in quotation Marks as it’s not an issue for me. I am quite enjoying these lighter crowds.

 

[Disney Irish]

Yeah I think we may be starting to see that the “issue” is two fold. They may have really started out pricing a lot of folks AND SWL simultaneously is not seen as a MUST DO. I was skeptical on the former as the price hikes didn’t seem to stop the crowds in recent years but it’s seems that it may have finally happened. I put issue in quotation Marks as it’s not an issue for me. I am quite enjoying these lighter crowds.

If I might throw in my 2 cents.

As we've all been talking about, its probably a combination of a lot of things. I know I've mentioned some of this before, but wanted to type it in a single post with comments.

In my opinion (in order) is why there aren't larger crowds:

1. Price hikes
2. Fear of large crowds due to SW:GE opening (waiting until next year)
3. Larger AP blockouts
4. APs not renewing as much (this started when SoCal got cancelled and continued with the price increases)
5. SW:GE opening with only one attraction (again waiting until next year)

3 and 4 are I think the reason they introduced the FlexPass. 2 and 5 are the interesting ones, will January when RotR opens be crazy? Will next summer also be crazy?

1 is the thing that so many in the fandom have been asking for, raise the prices to curb the crowds. Disney finally did it and now so many of the same are deriding them for it. I actually find it funny. Anyways, this might be the new norm. We'll see how the next year plays out and its effect on the parks from long term projects to short term tweaks.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Part of my group today were two cousins who are APs. But they are the least AP like APs. They don’t buy any merch, they don’t know anything about the history of the parks or Disney, they don’t know what IP means... I could go on and on.

They use the AP about 5-6 times a year and only bought it because they thought it would be something fun to do a few times a year. Took them to SWL. They were ready to leave after 15 minutes. They didn’t even care to ride Falcon. We explained the ride to them and told them it was a simulator that was pretty much only fun if you get the pilot roles (we told them that we would make sure they get pilot since we were a party of 6) and still they said “we ll see it next time.” They preferred leaving and going to try some new seasonal snacks instead like the fritters at Royal Street Veranda. So corn fritters and Bengal bbq beat out the falcon tonight. What I found interesting is that it was on their radar.... slightly. We spent most of the first part of the day at DCA where they mentioned they want to see SWL because their passes are expiring soon and they re not renewing. I encouraged that they see the land and ride Falcon but alas.

So this I feel is a microcosm of the issue. There is no sense of urgency to see SWL in its current state. It’s not a must-do.

 

[MickeySoCal]

Part of my group today were two cousins who are APs. But they are the least AP like APs. They don’t buy any merch, they don’t know anything about the history of the parks or Disney, they don’t know what IP means... I could go on and on.

They use the AP about 5-6 times a year and only bought it because they thought it would be something fun to do a few times a year. Took them to SWL. They were ready to leave after 15 minutes. They didn’t even care to ride Falcon. We explained the ride to them and told them it was a simulator that was pretty much only fun if you get the pilot roles (we told them that we would make sure they get pilot since we were a party of 6) and still they said “we ll see it next time.” They preferred leaving and going to try some new seasonal snacks instead like the fritters at Royal Street Veranda. So corn fritters and Bengal bbq beat out the falcon tonight. What I found interesting is that it was on their radar.... slightly. We spent most of the first part of the day at DCA where they mentioned they want to see SWL because their passes are expiring soon and they re not renewing. I encouraged that they see the land and ride Falcon but alas.

So this I feel is a microcosm of the issue. There is no sense of urgency to see SWL in its current state. It’s not a must-do.

Very interesting, good data. Can't blame them on Bengal BBQ, some of the better tasting protein in the parks, a few skewers with a hummus plate and a tiger tail is YUM!.

A question for you? Are your cousins SW fans or were they ever SW fans and how do they feel about the new movies. I have heard that the new franchise, especially the last major release TLJ has really divided the fan base and kind of cooled a lot of fans to SWs. Also, why aren't they renewing? Do they not attend enough and prices too high or just somewhat bored with the parks?

I'm wondering because have a family member who is not renewing a pass and it was a combo of cost vs number of visits, though they are considering the Flex Pass. They also are not a fan of the new SW trilogy.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Part of my group today were two cousins who are APs. But they are the least AP like APs. They don’t buy any merch, they don’t know anything about the history of the parks or Disney, they don’t know what IP means... I could go on and on.

My impression is that there are more APs that fall into this general category than not.

 

[BubbaQuest]

Perhaps the price increases have reached a point where the crowds have now said "too expensive"

The numbers this weekend seem to indicate the $399/yr SoCal AP holders still exist in large quantities -- HMH and Guardians Holiday had long waits. Keep in mind these AP are locked in. They can only renew these SoCal passes if they purchased one prior to 2017.

The weird thing is that the SoCal APs seem to be doing the same things they do every year (HMH and popcorn buckets), and not spend a lot of time in SWGE.

 

[mickEblu]

Very interesting, good data. Can't blame them on Bengal BBQ, some of the better tasting protein in the parks, a few skewers with a hummus plate and a tiger tail is YUM!.

A question for you? Are your cousins SW fans or were they ever SW fans and how do they feel about the new movies. I have heard that the new franchise, especially the last major release TLJ has really divided the fan base and kind of cooled a lot of fans to SWs. Also, why aren't they renewing? Do they not attend enough and prices too high or just somewhat bored with the parks?

I'm wondering because have a family member who is not renewing a pass and it was a combo of cost vs number of visits, though they are considering the Flex Pass. They also are not a fan of the new SW trilogy.

Thank you.

No they are not SW fans at all. But they don’t hate it either. Just completely indifferent. I think they aren’t renewing because they just don’t use the pass enough and I’m guessing because of that they re not seeing the value of the pass when you consider cost. One of my cousins mentioned that they were starting some new program at school so she was going to have even less time. She’s female 26 years old and probably the reason her brother has a pass. He’s 23 years old. He would never have bought the AP without her so it makes sense why he’s not renewing either.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Part of my group today were two cousins who are APs. But they are the least AP like APs. They don’t buy any merch, they don’t know anything about the history of the parks or Disney, they don’t know what IP means... I could go on and on.

They use the AP about 5-6 times a year and only bought it because they thought it would be something fun to do a few times a year. Took them to SWL. They were ready to leave after 15 minutes. They didn’t even care to ride Falcon. We explained the ride to them and told them it was a simulator that was pretty much only fun if you get the pilot roles (we told them that we would make sure they get pilot since we were a party of 6) and still they said “we ll see it next time.” They preferred leaving and going to try some new seasonal snacks instead like the fritters at Royal Street Veranda. So corn fritters and Bengal bbq beat out the falcon tonight. What I found interesting is that it was on their radar.... slightly. We spent most of the first part of the day at DCA where they mentioned they want to see SWL because their passes are expiring soon and they re not renewing. I encouraged that they see the land and ride Falcon but alas.

So this I feel is a microcosm of the issue. There is no sense of urgency to see SWL in its current state. It’s not a must-do.

I feel like I have read a story similar to yours several times.. I can't help but feel like the Disney suits are a little lost.