Extended Queue Lines through Backstage

[TrainsOfDisney]

What are they doing!!!! They hide the backstage areas of MK better even when you are walking right through the backstage areas!

 

[rct247]

They really only do this for 30mins to a couple hours max at that at the beginning of the day. Lines in the morning anywhere can stretch out to lengths that aren't normal until the queue sucks people in and the crowds balance out in the park.

The thought is probably, do you want a grid lock in the land or do what to stash them somewhere else until it subsides. They already disrupt the flow in the park when they shut the access into Star Wars from Toy Story.

 

[Lilofan]

Ever been to Epcot on NYE? There are bypass walkways that guests walk thru the backstage to get from Futureworld to Worldshowcase. Makes for an interesting walk.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Part of the issue is modern lines are not built to sustain long waits without FP+. For instance, if Smugglers runs through 1500 people per hour...
A 120 minute wait without fastpass has 3000 people in it.
A 120 minute wait with 50% fatspass distribution has 1500 people in in.

Disney has to figure out where the extra 1500 people go for the same wait time.

The actual numbers are roughly 75%-80 Fastpass, 20-25% Standby. Also, the increased number of people in a standby queue with no Fastpass is offset by the fact that it's moving 75-80% faster than it would with a Fastpass line. It is true though that some modern rides do have a physically short standby queue due to the expectation that 80% of riders will be entering through Fastpass, and thus do not have enough space. Expedition Everest is a good example of this.

 

[Purduevian]

Also, the increased number of people in a standby queue with no Fastpass is offset by the fact that it's moving 75-80% faster than it would with a Fastpass line.

Wondering if you can explain this to me a little better. If there is an attraction with no fastpass and a pph capacity of 1000 with a 1 hour wait... There are 1000 people in line. No matter how fast the line moves, 1000 must physically have a place to stand. If the same ride has FP and dedicates 75% to fastpass and has a 4 hour wait, again there are 1000 people in line. No matter how slow the line moves, 1000 must physically have a place to stand.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Wondering if you can explain this to me a little better. If there is an attraction with no fastpass and a pph capacity of 1000 with a 1 hour wait... There are 1000 people in line. No matter how fast the line moves, 1000 must physically have a place to stand. If the same ride has FP and dedicates 75% to fastpass and has a 4 hour wait, again there are 1000 people in line. No matter how slow the line moves, 1000 must physically have a place to stand.

Uh.. let me see.

With a Fastpass line, the Standby line moves up to 75-80% slower, but less people are using it because such a high number are riding via Fastpass instead.

Using Expedition Everest as an example, it can handle approximately 2000 riders per hour. The Standby queue, without any extensions, actually only holds somewhere in the ballpark of 500 people, yet if it's full you'll see it posted at an hour or more, because of Fastpass. The queue was designed with the assumption that during high demand times, most riders would be entering through Fastpass.

If you were to remove the Fastpass line, the Standby line would physically have more people entering it, but this is offset by the fact that the line is moving that much faster. So the Expedition Everest queue would still not be big enough to hold everyone, but it would move significantly faster and the wait time would be significantly less.

This is the primary reason we're frequently seeing the Smuggler's Run queue spilling into the land, with actual wait times often half of whatever is posted. When they finally open up Fastpasses for Smuggler's Run, we likely won't see the queue extend into the land anymore (maybe on peak days), and the actual wait time will be significantly longer.

 

[Purduevian]

If you were to remove the Fastpass line, the Standby line would physically have more people entering it, but this is offset by the fact that the line is moving that much faster. So the Expedition Everest queue would still not be big enough to hold everyone, but it would move significantly faster and the wait time would be significantly less.

Gottcha, I think we are talking about 2 separate things. You mean the wait time is offset by the lack of fastpass. I thought you were implying that 1000 people in line without a fastpass system was physically shorter (takes up less space) than 1000 people in line with a fastpass system.

Going back to expedition Everest for example with a line that can hold 500 people. The 501st person in the standby line will be in the extended queue regardless of whether or not fastpass is on or not. However yes i totally agree the wait is much shorter without fastpass if they are the 501st person in line.