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

[EPCOT-O.G.]

RSR had a 40 minute standby yesterday at around 5pm.

Most of last week Star Tours, Indy, Pirates, and others had waits of 5-10 mins. Each has been holding steady 25+ throughout the day.

 

[Disney Irish]

At what point does that tip though? If they cancel all live entertainment? If they start stagger opening entire lands? If they start closing restaurants randomly ala Paris? If they lay off enough mechanics that rides become deadly ala Big Thunder?

That is extreme "sky is falling" thinking don't you think? There is no indication that things will progress in that manner. And if it does the market will correct things just as it did before.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

That is extreme "sky is falling" thinking don't you think? There is no indication that things will progress in that manner. And if it does the market will correct things just as it did before.

That’s what I said at what point.... this summer with the lighter crowds a few cut shows and 1 track on the autopia and limited monorail hours weren’t too big of a deal..... but now more entertainment had been cut.... and then????

And of course we don’t really know what the situation is with maintenance... who can say how many hours have gotten cut in that department?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The only long lines seem to be Matterhorn (only running one side?) and Space Mountain because Space Mountain.

What about mansion? Or do you pretend it doesn’t exist this time of year?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It's just not that long.

 

[Happyrebster]

Ride times just don't tell the whole story. As noted in the OC Register article that I referenced above, locals filled both high-rise parking structures on Friday due to the return of the Halloween Screams fireworks show. As a local myself, I definitely know plenty of folks who will pop by Disneyland resort in the evening just for dinner and/or a show. Seasonal overlays and events can bring AP folks back into the parks who may only visit the rides a few times a year (or when they have company from out of town).

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It's a beautiful day with a nice breeze and low wait times. Anyone who planned a trip for this week really lucked out.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

My pessimism is that I don't believe it's Disney's intention to offer that trade off. I think they thought SWGE would pack the park to record levels and allow them to push prices to record highs simultaneously.

Iger confidently stated to Wall Street and media outlets that Disney wasn't concerned about the park's summer performance, and Chapek claimed the relatively modest turnout for SWGE was by design and publicly mocked Universal for having 10 hour waits for it's new Hagrid coaster.

Now far be it from me to take anything at face value spun by Disney to the media, but it isn't unreasonable to suspect that there may have been a years-long pricing and admissions strategy leading up to the opening of SWGE to weed out the cheap seats in favor of higher paying customers and a more manageable experience for guests. I'm also wondering if some AP fans are skittish about investing in another year of passes with recession fears looming. In any case, unless crowds rebound to pre-summer numbers in the next quarter, I'm inclined to believe the ongoing comfortable crowd levels could be a result of diminishing AP renewals as we cycle through the year and little to do with the public's perception of SWGE.

 

[TP2000]

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! Yet not surprising.

I rode the Falcon three times in June because the line was 15 minutes or less, and I'm honestly set for at least another year. I have no need to return until the Resistance ride opens and/or they offer Happy Hour specials at the Cantina (after providing the Cantina Hostesses guarding the doors the mental health care they so richly deserve).

As @George Lucas on a Bench smartly pointed out, it's gorgeous this evening in Anaheim. Dusky sun, 76 degrees, light sea breeze sweeping up from Newport Beach. Disneyland is open until Midnight tonight.

And this evening the wait times for the Falcon seem to reflect its accurate worth to the average Disney park customer:

9pm Eastern
DHS Falcon - 25 Minutes

6pm Pacific
Disneyland Falcon - 30 Minutes
Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark! - 65 Minutes

 

[Disney Irish]

That’s what I said at what point.... this summer with the lighter crowds a few cut shows and 1 track on the autopia and limited monorail hours weren’t too big of a deal..... but now more entertainment had been cut.... and then????

And of course we don’t really know what the situation is with maintenance... who can say how many hours have gotten cut in that department?

I mean we had #thanksShanghai cuts and all the doom and gloomers came out and said it was the start of the train to Pressler town. And yet it never happened. It passed, the cuts were reverted, and everyone basically forgot about it and moved onto the next topic.

This too will pass. And if it doesn't, as I said the market will correct it. But you like to play the "what if" game to the extreme. Ok, lets really play it out.

Crowds don't come back, so further cuts across the board at DLR. All entertainment is cut, all shows get cut. All attractions now open 2 hours late and close two hours early. All M&Gs are limited to twice daily with 5 hour waits. All maintenance is put onto yearly cycles now, meaning no more 3rd shift checks of any of the attractions more than once a year. An incident happens like BTMRR and a guest gets killed. CalOSHA gets brought in and its discovered its due to lack of maintenance, there is a very public trial because there is no settling this as the family wants to make an example out of Disney. There is public outcry, Disney is legally forced to bring back all 3rd shift checks of all attractions. All is right with the world again.

Point is even if the extreme happens the market will right everything. Because I didn't even talk about Wall Street. Long before a lot of the above would have happened Disney stock would have taken a huge hit. Iger would have been questioned on why its happening as we live in a 24 news cycle world and they would have corrected all of it. So long story short this is a short term thing that will correct itself out over the course of the next year. Entertainment will come back, as will future projects.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

But you like to play the "what if" game to the extreme

Umm no. I’m not asking what if... I’m saying at what point would you rather have larger crowds and a better park?

At what point do the cuts become great enough that you don’t enjoy the empty parks as much?

 

[Disney Irish]

Umm no. I’m not asking what if... I’m saying at what point would you rather have larger crowds and a better park?

At what point do the cuts become great enough that you don’t enjoy the empty parks as much?

Then you should have stated it that way from the beginning instead of being so vague....

Anyways, that is going to be a very personal question for each individual to answer. What is important to one isn't important to another. If all entertainment gets cut for example, that is going to affect someone who comes primarily for the entertainment. Versus someone who couldn't careless about parades and other entertainment and wants only to go on the attractions and eat the food.

Basically the answer you're after is the point at which the cuts affect all part of park operations equally to affect all guests equally. Which goes back to my post above, the market will correct it if that ever happens.

For now lets just enjoy the lighter crowds as I suspect it won't be this way next summer.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I definitely prefer the former.

At what point does that tip though? If they cancel all live entertainment? If they start stagger opening entire lands? If they start closing restaurants randomly ala Paris? If they lay off enough mechanics that rides become deadly ala Big Thunder?

That’s vague?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

and yes I agree with you 100%... it will be different for all people.

I don’t agree that entertainment will magically get hired back, that has not been the case so far.

 

[mickEblu]

That’s vague?

?

 

[Disney Irish]

That’s vague?

Yes, not as direct as this post:

At what point do the cuts become great enough that you don’t enjoy the empty parks as much?

and yes I agree with you 100%... it will be different for all people.

I don’t agree that entertainment will magically get hired back, that has not been the case so far.

We have a new parade debuting, which everyone seems to forget when talking about the entertainment cuts. So entertainment isn't being cut that much. Yes they've cut some things, but it takes a lot of CM to put together a parade. Anyways, will all that stuff cut come back in the future, maybe. But more likely they will create new entertainment offerings to replace what was cut.

 

[BrianLo]

At what point does that tip though? If they cancel all live entertainment? If they start stagger opening entire lands? If they start closing restaurants randomly ala Paris? If they lay off enough mechanics that rides become deadly ala Big Thunder?

I'm not sure, Paris was a different (non-Disney owned) entity at the time run by a group that literally couldn't afford the place.

HKDL has survived far worse and the parks have largely still kept up their offerings.

I actually think some panic to invest will kick back in. Star Wars Days, pop up shows, ticket promos. You can only cut so much to make a quarter look rosier before you resort to other, consumer positive, tactics.


What I do think is the ticket pricing march is for the moment very halted.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

We have a new parade debuting, which everyone seems to forget when talking about the entertainment cuts. So entertainment isn't being cut that much. Yes they've cut some things, but it takes a lot of CM to put together a parade. Anyways, will all that stuff cut come back in the future, maybe. But more likely they will create new entertainment offerings to replace what was cut.

Nobody is forgetting about the 1 day parade that is replacing the 1 day parade that the resort had. We also aren’t forgetting the same resort traditionally had 2 day parades and a night parade running daily.

 

[Disney Irish]

Nobody is forgetting about the 1 day parade that is replacing the 1 day parade that the resort had. We also aren’t forgetting the same resort traditionally had 2 day parades and a night parade running daily.

And we still don’t know what they have planned for next summer. There had been rumors that PtN was going to be seasonal, until it got put on hold. Now with rumors of it being reworked coming up again we may yet see it back next summer. So again these cuts are all likely short term and either new or refurbed offerings will made available. As @BrianLo stated you can only cut so much for a single quarter to make it look good. It’s not a long term strategy, investment will happen again.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Heard from a friend who's at DLR this week. He's an out-of-stater that goes regularly and even invested in APs for his family this year, but this was his first trip since SWGE opened. Said crowds are very low.

Also said SWGE is "kind of lame," and Falcon wouldn't be worth waiting any longer than 25 minutes to ride.