Does Disney lie about wait times in their official app???

[Timsierramist]

I was browsing through the 2016 "unofficial" guide to WDW the other day when I came across this sentence which barely stops short of accusing Walt Disney's World's official wait time app of blatentely lying to it's guests to disperse crowds throughout the park.



I never heard of anything like this until I came across this page in the book, but I'm skeptical.

Does anyone think this is true or is the author of this book just trying to push their own wait time and planning app that is probably major part of said authors income.

 

[KLinder7]

A few times last year I looked at the app while being outside the queue and it matched. I'm sure there is a delay at times, but the theory sounds a little crazy.

 

[NYwdwfan]

I thought the wait times on the app are tied directly into Disney's systems so they would always match. Sounds like the author wears a tin foil hat.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

I too have seen that the wait times on the app were accurate to what the sign outside of the attraction stated.

 

[habuma]

The reasons behind the discrepancy in times may be up for debate, but in my experience the posted times have almost always been wrong and higher than the actual wait...many times significantly so.

It's not a perfect system. The times are largely based on someone carrying that little red card on a lanyard from the entrance to the CM who boards them. It's not precise, although I can imagine it being close-ish.

That said, I can imagine a slightly less conspiratorial reason for the times being higher:

• Let's say that the posted time is 60 minutes, but you only end up waiting 45 minutes. Assuming you're the kind of person that would wait that long in line in the first place, you are happy that you have 15 minutes given back to you that you didn't expect to have when you entered the line. The conclusion: Disney is awesome!
• On other other hand, suppose that the posted time is 20 minutes, but you end up waiting 45 minutes, forcing you to rush to that ADR that you thought you'd have plenty of time to make when you entered the line. You're frustrated and angry that you've lost 25 minutes because Disney's posted times are horribly wrong. The conclusion: Vacation ruined.

So, if Disney's times are a little high, it makes the guest experience that much better. If they're a little low, it has a negative effect on the experience. If they're exactly right all the time, that'd be nice, but it leaves no wiggle room for surprises.

Upon discovering this discrepancy, I decided to expect the posted time, but hope for the time from the unofficial guide. I have never been disappointed with this attitude.

 

[WhatJaneSays]

Yes, but no.

As I understand it the wait times shown in park and the wait times shown in the app are calculated just slightly differently. Both pull their main source of data from scanning the red cards handed out to people in line. The times generated by the red cards are put into some calculation with other factors and it automatically goes to the wait time boards in the park. Technically those times can be “manually” overridden but most of the time the other parts of the calculation besides the red card times account for most deviations that would call for an override. The times displayed on the app go through a different calculation to account for other occurrences like travel time though the park.

The wait time posted at the ride and the time posted on the app can be different but they are both “correct” and 99% of the time they are identical or within less than 5 minutes off from each other due to refresh times.

Can they inflate wait times to keep lines down or disperse people to other areas of the park? Sure, but it’s unnecessary.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Saying that Disney "lies" about something like wait times as if there is some nefarious ulterior motive is just comical.

It is very difficult to predict and "verify" current wait times because once you've verified a wait time, it changes for the next person, particularity some who just got in line. It's hard to nail down a wait time due to the dynamic nature of lines in general.

Wait times vary by:

• The number of people getting in line after the last verified wait time
• Cast members "moving" the line along
• Special needs guests
• Ride breakdowns and stoppages
• Fast pass holders coming during their window (variable)
• Exit speed of guests

No one is "lying" to you...get off the conspiracy theories and just have fun.

 

[Berret]

There's a reason why it's called an "unofficial" guide. There are always conspiracy theories about everything, especially big corporations, and this is just another example of one. Disney has no reason to lie about its wait times in an attempt to get more people to crowd into line or to shuffle them around the park to other areas. Considering the lines are always shifting, changing, and moving at different rates, there's no feasible way to give an exact wait time at any one moment. The only way I could see that is to have a cast member give EVERY guest a red tag that was tapped against the first reader reader, and then after they wander through the line, another cast member would have to tap EVERY red tag against that little reader. Of course, this would cause wild fluctuations in the line time.

Come to think of it, I guess the Magic Bands could also serve in this capacity, but not every guess has one, so you still couldn't get an "accurate" line time at any one moment. Anyway, as Chef Mickey said, just have fun. Disney isn't (necessarily) out to get you.

 

[Goofyernmost]

There's a reason why it's called an "unofficial" guide. There are always conspiracy theories about everything, especially big corporations, and this is just another example of one. Disney has no reason to lie about its wait times in an attempt to get more people to crowd into line or to shuffle them around the park to other areas. Considering the lines are always shifting, changing, and moving at different rates, there's no feasible way to give an exact wait time at any one moment. The only way I could see that is to have a cast member give EVERY guest a red tag that was tapped against the first reader reader, and then after they wander through the line, another cast member would have to tap EVERY red tag against that little reader. Of course, this would cause wild fluctuations in the line time.

Come to think of it, I guess the Magic Bands could also serve in this capacity, but not every guess has one, so you still couldn't get an "accurate" line time at any one moment. Anyway, as Chef Mickey said, just have fun. Disney isn't (necessarily) out to get you.

They don't make a single dollar more by giving out intentional false information. So that is correct. I can't think of any reason why it would be beneficial for them to alter the actual wait times. You're going to find out sooner or later what the actual time was. If it was longer you will be upset and perhaps influence any future plans to visit. If it's takes less time then posted, then you are happier, but, you will still have waited a long time. I think that they come as close as possible to proper times. Many are followed either manually by the CM giving you a card to give to the CM on the other end and with the new system the Band is scanned when you enter the queue and again when you get to the end. Now if the crowd lightens up after you have been in the line, the message will be longer then those behind will experience. If there is a rush on the queue, it will be longer. I once went to Soarin when the wait time was 25 minutes... it took 90 minutes. The previous group got though faster then those of us behind did. As stated, it is not an exact science. The best way to approach it is if you want to see it bad enough, bite the bullet and hit the line. If not pass it by! There really is no such thing as a short line in Disney very often anymore.

 

[Herdman]

I think it's entirely possible that the wait times could be manipulated by Disney to try and keep the park's crowd more evenly distributed. There is little doubt that one of the main reasons for the Fastpass+ system is so Disney knows well before hand which parks may have the highest attendance that day so they can staff properly. The two could easily work hand in hand.

 

[Ted Daggett]

I think one reason that the actual times may not agree with posted wait times is that if everyone sees that Space mountain has a 20 minute wait, then they are all going to flock over to that ride at the same time. The people that get in line before the red card travels through the line will see the 20 minute wait time posted when they enter, but it could go up to a 40 minute wait while they are in line. Alternatively, if it shows Space mountain has a 90 minute wait time, it may defer people from waiting that long, and if people get in line before the red card travels through the line, the wait time could drop to 60 minutes.

Last time I was there, we left Splash Mtn and were leaving the park for the day. It had just started to rain. As we walked past PotC we noticed that the posted wait time was 10 minutes. So we decided we would get in line and do one last ride before we left. However, due to the rain, it seemed that everyone was pouring into the line to get out of the rain. Once we were inside, I re-checked the app and it had increased to 30 minutes while we were standing there.

The number of FP+ given out for the rides at a certain time period would also affect wait time. If the park knows that 100 people have FP+ for a certain ride from 1 pm to 2 pm and the ride takes 200 people per hour, and 100 people are in line, they know that the 200th person should take one hour in line.

 

[Chef Mickey]

The bottom line is that even if they invested into making waiting times as "accurate" as possible, they still wouldn't be reliable. It's similar to an efficient market. If the wait time for Peter Pan is "correctly" listed at 10 minutes, you'll never get there in time to actually only wait 10 minutes because the opportunity is gone almost instantly and the wait time goes up.

 

[mousehockey37]

Basically, the times will never be dead on in agreement because of people and their party sizes.

Also, if the posted time for Peter Pan is 60 minutes and you hit a time where a bunch of people use their FP+, the standby line is going to go slower because FP+ is the priority. Sure, the standby will be mixed in slowly, but that FP+ is catered to.

So if you get a red card and a bunch of people show up to use their FP+, you're going to be upping the wait time because of all the people that are cruising down the other lane.

 

[wdwperry]

I doubt they would lie about their wait times but sometimes they do get their information wrong or the app glitches. I don't think anybody would believe Test Track has a 255 minute wait on an off peak day at 10:25 in the morning...

 

[Dead2009]

Whoever wrote the article doesnt understand how time works.

 

[The Mighty Tim]

My experience with using that app on my last trip was that as far as official wait times went, I won some and I lost some. There were times where the wait time was actually 15 - 20 minutes shorter than advertised, but there were times where it was 15 - 20 minutes greater than advertised. I don't the refresh rate of their wait times, but what I did notice was that the advertised wait time outside the attraction more or less matched the time displayed in the app.

I should point out that in my experience of travelling to WDW, the +/- 15 minutes on the advertised wait time has always been a thing, even before the app was invented (heck, even before apps themselves were invented!). The one thing I did find useful about the app was that when we were in a line that seemed a lot longer than originally expected, I was able to check the app and see that the wait time had indeed increased.

 

[Retroman40]

No one has to manipulate stand by wait times to create an effect on guests - the "system" does it automatically. A short time back I was at the AK and upon exiting the Festival of the Lion King we noted a 10 minute wait at EE. We beat feet over there (along with many others I'm sure who noticed the short wait) and found a 20 minute time both on the sign at the ride and the app. It jumped to 30 while we were in line. We were on the ride in 22 minutes and upon exiting saw it was now a more "normal" 40 minutes wait. Like any feedback scheme there is a certain amount of lag in the responsiveness of the system. The system is quite accurate under "steady state" conditions. Also the higher capacity the attraction has the more accurate since "disturbances" like loading disabled guests or a "surge" (think 100 teenagers in a tour group) don't have as much of an impact overall.

Unfortunately some attractions have queues that are not clearly visible from outside (think Space Mountain) so it's hard even for experienced guests to judge if the system is lagging. It's really easy to look at the queue on an attraction like The Tommorowland Speedway and make a call on the accuracy of the wait time since you can see the whole queue. The idea that someone is sitting in some command center purposely manipulating wait times in an effort to shift guests in a fun conspiracy theory though. While some may disagree with me (and that's OK) I think that if the system is accurate to within +/- 10 minutes it is doing well. Of course, you can always ask the Greeter CM if they think the stand by time is accurate. They have a pretty good idea of recent attraction entry.

 

[mimitchi33]

I think I remember my family getting picked to do the red card thing once when I was a child. I didn't understand what it was all about until now. Thanks!

I doubt they would lie about their wait times but sometimes they do get their information wrong or the app glitches. I don't think anybody would believe Test Track has a 255 minute wait on an off peak day at 10:25 in the morning...

View attachment 133283

That reminds me of how I recently saw an Alice in Wonderland item on Shop Disney Parks for $24,999.99, but when you clicked on it, it was $24.99.
Though I do remember a time when the wait for Figment was listed at 328 on Lines (back before MDE was released). I wonder if that was true or it was an error, and I'm guessing the latter.

 

[Timsierramist]

Well, as I said, I was certainly skeptical that this was true. The consensus seems to be that the highlighted line from my first post is not true, which leads me towards the idea that the author of the book was simply attempting to make their own wait time app appear more valuable, which instead, brings renewed skepticism into other parts of the book I've read. Besides that little caveat however, I have found the Unofficial Guide (2016) to be useful if not just an overly fun read before heading to WDW even though I originally swore I would never buy it because I could find the same information "on WDWmagic or other 3rd party sights". For example, I had always wanted to know how to "hack" the resort air conditioners so they wouldn't automatically switch off when you were not present... . Up until reading the guide, I always thought buying a balloon and letting it drift around was the best way.

Also, I get the whole idea behind wait times fluctuating based on a X, Y and Z and the simple fact that there is no way for the wait time information to be 100% accurate. My questions was more geared towards the books claim that Disney intentionally misinforms it's guests about actual wait times in order to disperse crowds.

The team that creates the Unofficial guide go into a lot of work and research to create the book and I would be curious to know what research and investigative work they have conducted that leads them to this conclusion, if any.

 

[anchorman314]

The other thing to keep in mind is that a wait time of X minutes is what the wait was X minutes ago. Due to the way the red scan cards work, the system doesn't know that the wait it 20 minutes until those 20 minutes have passed. Any line that forms (or doesn't form) behind the red card will not be reflected until the next red card is scanned.