For the clock watchers

[TalkToEthan]

I’m curious as to how you define or measure wait times for attractions.

Take Rise of Resistance as an example. Is queue time over when we enter the room with BB8 and the Ren hologram? Or is it when we board the transport with the calamari pilot or is it when we finally take a seat on the 8 person trackless vehicle? (For me the BB 8 room)

Or what about Guardians? Is the wait time when we enter the first holding room and Nova Prime appears? Or is queuing time over once seated on the coaster? (For me the very first holding room with Prime)

And something like Haunted Mansion…..does wait time end once we enter inside the foyer and into stretch room or is it when we get in doom buggy? (For me the stretch room)

 

[JIMINYCR]

I would define the queue time ending as once we are being presented with any sort of set up spiel for the attraction to come. As an ex. once we enter the stretching room and as a group we are being addressed. We are no longer in a line waiting for something to happen. The build up for the attraction has already commenced before we sit in a ride vehicle which then continues the action.
So its the same with the BB8 room and the Nova holding room.

 

[TalkToEthan]

I should have made a second part to the question: how does Disney measure?

 

[jloucks]

The second I stop moving and start waiting behind other people, the line starts.

So, pretty much how you laid it out.

The Haunted Mansion stretching room, while it is part of the line, doesn't register as part of the line in my brain.

Sooooo, in theory, you can have multiple lines for an attraction with little breaks during the progression between lines. When you leave the Haunted Mansion stretching room, you are back in an unpleasant smelly line for a little bit.

 

[Touchdown]

Rise starts with BB8. HM starts at stretching rooms, mainly because the “line” that happens after them is usually extremely short. RRRC, ToT, Guardians however don’t end until I strap in, they all have a considerable queue post preshow.

 

[TalkToEthan]

I would define the queue time ending as once we are being presented with any sort of set up spiel for the attraction to come.

Yes, a very good and fair way to look at it and I’m guessing that’s likely Disney’s general definition, too.

 

[hismattjesty]

The definition I've used and which seem to be industry standard, is once you enter the main entrance of the attraction, or get behind people in a line, the wait time begins. Once you enter the first pre-show room (Master Gracy portrait at HM, BB-8/Rey room in RotR, Holding areas of ITTBAB and MV 3-D, etc.), you have officially begun the attraction and time ends.
I can say that when I was there 8/19-8/31, EVERY wait time was inflated by 40% or more, and I logged every attraction in every park I went on. other than RotR being a 2 hour wait (8/25 when it never opened until 5pm that day, and walking out of Oga's Cantina it looked like Run Disney going through the park to the attraction), I never waited more than 25 minutes for any attraction in any park. In fact, the worst offender was FoP on 8/28, At 8:20am, posted wait was 95 minutes. We were in the pre-show in 26 minutes. One of the best trips I've taken since the dead days of 2005-2007 during that time of year.

 

[Marionnette]

Way back in ancient times, CMs would hand random guests a card as they entered the queue. At the end of the queue, another CM would take the card and scan it. Posted wait times would be adjusted according to how long it took the card to travel from the back of the queue to the end of the queue. If the attraction had a pre-show, the card was always collected at the entrance to the pre-show. So my vote would be that wait times begin whenever you enter the queue (even if it is moving) until you reach either the pre-show (if there is one) or the vehicle loading area in the absence of a pre-show.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Way back in ancient times, CMs would hand random guests a card as they entered the queue. At the end of the queue, another CM would take the card and scan it. Posted wait times would be adjusted according to how long it took the card to travel from the back of the queue to the end of the queue. If the attraction had a pre-show, the card was always collected at the entrance to the pre-show. So my vote would be that wait times begin whenever you enter the queue (even if it is moving) until you reach either the pre-show (if there is one) or the vehicle loading area in the absence of a pre-show.

My understanding is that the queue ends at any pre-show element. So this would be the correct answer, and the old red card system is why.

 

[TalkToEthan]

So my vote would be that wait times begin whenever you enter the queue (even if it is moving) until you reach either the pre-show (if there is one) or the vehicle loading area in the absence of a pre-show.

I fully agree with that but I’m wondering about your “(even if it is moving)” .

A few times over I’ve entered queues like Pirates and Everest whereby there were people in front of me and people in front of them steadily walking non stop——but walking slower than my normal pace; thus slowing me down——all the way to the seat assignments. I still call that a “walk on” or 0 wait time.

 

[Marionnette]

I fully agree with that but I’m wondering about your “(even if it is moving)” .

A few times over I’ve entered queues like Pirates and Everest whereby there were people in front of me and people in front of them steadily walking non stop——but walking slower than my normal pace; thus slowing me down——all the way to the seat assignments. I still call that a “walk on” or 0 wait time.

In biochemistry circles, we would refer to those slower reactions in a series of chemical processes as the "rate limiting step". IOW, no matter how fast the people behind them are capable of moving, the slower-moving individuals are controlling the speed with which the line will move.

 

[TalkToEthan]

In biochemistry circles, we would refer to those slower reactions

You mean like a protein or more specifically enzyme? Or maybe those do the opposite like speed things up

 

[TalkToEthan]

Keep those rate limiting step punks off the roads, too