Accuracy of Stand-by Wait Times

[Takeitforgranite]

I saw a post yesterday where someone mentioned that stand-by times are purposely inflated to essentially make people feel better when the wait turned out to be less than posted.

Have you ever actually waited longer than the posted stand-by time? Of course, this excludes the morning when the parks are filling in and breakdowns.

The only time we have waited the posted time was for JC. It was right at an hour - the longest we have ever waited for anything in 5 trips. The constant stream of FP and handicapped riders really slowed the whole thing down. Otherwise, I'd say we typically wait 15-20 minutes less than the posted times.

What is your experience? I know there are times when an influx of Brazilian tour groups and 13 year old cheerleaders can skew the posted times negatively, but, on the average, I think they are inflated.

 

[Since1976]

My own personal experience has been that, barring a breakdown, wait times of 30 minutes or higher are actually 30% shorter than what's posted.

However, if you arrive on the tail end of an influx of people who just noticed the wait time is down to only 15 - 20 minutes, your wait time may end up being closer to 30 - 35 minutes.

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Wait times are always shorter, in my opinion.

 

[ConvenientTruth]

Like someone said....outside of an unforeseen breakdown, they are typically shorter.

 

[JillC LI]

The longest standby line we ever got on was 70 minutes at TSMM, and it turned out to be 40 minutes. It was our first time riding it, and I was glad we were able to experience the standby line with what turned out to be a reasonable wait.

 

[LostPrincessKarleigh]

We almost never wait the posted amount of time. We had a 45 minute wait for Space Mountain on our last trip and wound up waiting 10 minutes, if that.

 

[rt06]

Shorter by half, in my experience.

 

[jlsHouston]

My experience has been that I have always waited pretty much whatever the posted stand by time was plus or minus 5 minutes.
My longest wait was Kali, posted 50 minutes, we waited 65, it was hot, I was very unhappy.
After that expereince I never got into another line if it was at 45 minutes or greater, it put the fear of wait time in me

 

[jlsHouston]

My own personal experience has been that, barring a breakdown, wait times of 30 minutes or higher are actually 30% shorter than what's posted.

However, if you arrive on the tail end of an influx of people who just noticed the wait time is down to only 15 - 20 minutes, your wait time may end up being closer to 30 - 35 minutes.

This is me, I'm always showing up at the tail end I think and I never get a break on the wait time being significantly shorter, it is always the same just about or longer

 

[Yert3]

I always use to stopwatch app on my phone to time my wait in line and the wait times shown are always very wrong. My top two are:
Kilimanjaro Safari's - Wait time shown: 80 min
Actual wait time: 30 min

Soarin - Wait time shown: 120 min
Actual wait time: 45 min

After those two I pretty much don't even look at the wait times because of how inaccurate they are.

 

[dreamfinder]

Remember that the times posted from the FLIK system are accurate as to how long it took someone that long ago to wait in line. So unless they recently overhauled the system (and I can see this coming with the roll out of the Magic Bands IE doorway scan on enter and load) a 60 minute wait means that the last person who passed in the FLIK card waited 60 mins. So naturally when the system shows a 60 minute wait, people are less likely to get in line than a 30 minute wait, so in theory your wait should be less. The longer the posted time, the more likely this would be. However, several popular rides are known to inflate it at the end of the night to discourage people from getting in line just before park close.

 

[acishere]

Usually it somewhere between the time posted and 20 minutes shorter than what is posted. I have gotten in 60 minute lines that turned out to be 15, but they are rare occurrences.

 

[Pacha]

Usually shorter than posted by about 5-10 minutes.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Inaccurate. We have seen wait time listed as 15-20 and we spent longer. We have seen wait time listed at 70 and we spent less time waiting. Is this because FP+ and handicap effects on wait time cause significant variability? Hard to say. If we want to ride, we wait whatever time it takes, regardless of the posted wait time, because the posted wait time is usually very inaccurate.

 

[KLinder7]

To me depending on what ride it is, 10 min or less could be just about a walk on. The past 6 days don't think I've waited long than wait time or longer than 20 minutes for anything too.

 

[Tom Morrow]

they're usually pretty close, maybe 10-20 minutes shorter, except in the evening and closer to closing time. Test Track will often post 45 minutes right before close when in reality its 10-15. Tower of Terror often still reads 30 minutes near closing but is almost always a walk-on in the last hour before the park closes.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

I have noticed that the "actual" wait times posted on touringplans.com are pretty accurate. Usually they are about 10 minutes less than the posted wait, but I have seen them where the "actual" wait time they had posted was longer than the posted time.

 

[Figmentation]

I guess it also depends on the time of the year and Ride...
Rockin' Roller Coaster is typically longer than what is labed (Due to it being such a low capacity ride.. the fastpasses for that attraction backs up significantally throughout the day, and with them getting priority...)

But some attractions do feel shorter when it comes to wait times labeled

 

[JoeT63]

Under-promise and over-deliver. The Disney way.

 

[jaklgreen]

It's been usually about 10 min shorter then the time posted on average over the years.