Restaurant capacity and live entertainment restrictions are currently limiting Walt Disney World theme park attendance according to Bob Chapek

[Ayla]

The wait times are calculated using long range RF from MagicBands as well data from the My Disney Experience app now. The flick cards were not as accurate as they sometimes weren't scanned at the merge point (guest held onto them, CM forgot to scan), and they didn't have as many data points as they do now.

Also, while I am not suggesting that Disney is nefariously inflating wait times to sell Genie+/LL/after hours tickets (I have no insight into the current state of affairs), wait times are not controlled by the CMs at the attractions themselves. There's a team that handles that based on the data from the aforementioned sources.

The posted wait times on the attraction are the exact same info posted in the app.

 

[Brian]

The posted wait times on the attraction are the exact same info posted in the app.

Correct. Neither are controlled by the attraction's CMs. My point in mentioning that is that I wouldn't take an attraction CM's word for it as to any potential strategy regarding wait time manipulation.

 

[UNCgolf]

This. I can't speak to attraction wait times, but there were similar best practices in place across many LOBs, even pre-MM+.

If you quote a guest a 30 minute wait and it turns out to be 40, they're likely to complain. If you quote them 40 and it ends up being 30, it's a win.

Exactly. There's really no reason to take any chance of underestimating a wait time. There's no potential benefit there; it's all risk.

 

[UNCgolf]

While Disney definitely has a financial reason to inflate the wait times now, I remember back in 2019 the posted wait time for Navi River was like 50 minutes and the actual wait was around 20.

I felt like WDW always kept “new” and headliner attractions above a certain limit just so people would think they were something special.

There was a 30-35 minute wait posted for Little Mermaid when I was last there in early 2020 (pre-COVID) and it was a walk-on. Literally didn't see a single other person in the whole queue; just strolled through and got in a ride vehicle.

 

[JoeCamel]

There was a 30-35 minute wait posted for Little Mermaid when I was last there in early 2020 (pre-COVID) and it was a walk-on. Literally didn't see a single other person in the whole queue; just strolled through and got in a ride vehicle.

I wonder if they have a base of how long it takes to to stroll from the wait time board to the ride through the queue? I don't think any go to 0 when empty. Everything else is added on top to get the displayed time?
I always thought inflating displayed wait times was de rigueur for attraction operations to get the perceived GS up?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

There was a 30-35 minute wait posted for Little Mermaid when I was last there in early 2020 (pre-COVID) and it was a walk-on. Literally didn't see a single other person in the whole queue; just strolled through and got in a ride vehicle.

Had a similar experience with HM this past October. Posted wait was 40 minutes. Line was past the front gates.

Actual wait? 10 minutes. It was just one long single file line. Didn't even go through the extended queue.

 

[flynnibus]

Here's what we found on a recent test:



This seems to be consistent each time we send somebody to check the actual numbers.

All this proves is Disney is conservative Wait Times.. usually about 15-20%. This is not under contention. You're highlighting a condition that existed before Genie+ was a glint in Bob's eye. Your claim is more than just wait times are conservative. You claim there is intent and infer some change in behavior specific to Genie+. Let's see that analysis.

 

[Ayla]

I wonder if they have a base of how long it takes to to stroll from the wait time board to the ride through the queue? I don't think any go to 0 when empty. Everything else is added on top to get the displayed time?
I always thought inflating displayed wait times was de rigueur for attraction operations to get the perceived GS up?

The lowest wait time I've ever seen at WDW is 5 minutes, which meant it was a walk-on. I have not seen a 5 minute wait in years.

 

[networkpro]

The lowest wait time I've ever seen at WDW is 5 minutes, which meant it was a walk-on. I have not seen a 5 minute wait in years.

Then you must not have been going during the non-peak times over the past two years.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Then you must not have been going during the non-peak times over the past two years.

Hell when we were there this summer wait times were so small they let our family ride BTM 3 times in a row without having to get off the actual train.

 

[Ayla]

Then you must not have been going during the non-peak times over the past two years.

There have been plenty of times where the ride was walk-on in the last two years when I went. However, the posted wait time did not accurately reflect that.

 

[chama1]

I just read that Disney+ fees are going up....and it's not going to be a "couple of dollars"....

 

[MisterPenguin]

I just read that Disney+ fees are going up....and it's not going to be a "couple of dollars"....

Source?

 

[Ayla]

Source?

From last week, a speculative article based on the earnings call.

Disney Plus may raise prices after September, Disney CEO hints

But you won't have to start paying more until Disney Plus starts releasing additional shows and movies every week.

www.cnet.com

The pertinent paragraph from the above link.

Disney is optimistic it'll have a higher quantity of new, exclusive programming flowing steadily onto Disney Plus by 2023, which starts in early October on the company's fiscal calendar. "Then [we'll] have the flexibility, if we were to so choose, to then look at price increases on our service," Chapek said Wednesday during a conference call to discuss the company's latest financial results.

 

[MisterPenguin]

From last week, a speculative article based on the earnings call.

Disney Plus may raise prices after September, Disney CEO hints

But you won't have to start paying more until Disney Plus starts releasing additional shows and movies every week.

www.cnet.com

The pertinent paragraph from the above link.

When the source is the CEO, we really don't need some news organization to report on it. You made it sound like it was some secret leak!

But, yeah, Chapek indicated that a price hike could happen once they can start flooding D+ with new content, much more so than they are right now. All the previous COVID troubles have prevented that from happening.

However... where's your source that it's not going to be just a couple of dollars? Neither Chapek nor the CNN article mentions that.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

When the source is the CEO, we really don't need some news organization to report on it. You made it sound like it was some secret leak!

But, yeah, Chapek indicated that a price hike could happen once they can start flooding D+ with new content, much more so than they are right now. All the previous COVID troubles have prevented that from happening.

However... where's your source that it's not going to be just a couple of dollars? Neither Chapek nor the CNN article mentions that.

They'd be foolish to raise it more than a couple of dollars, IMO. People are used to streaming price increases in that range.

ETA: And Bob should be wary of raising prices too often...we all know how addicted to price hikes Chapek is.

 

[MisterPenguin]

They'd be foolish to raise it more than a couple of dollars, IMO. People are used to streaming price increases in that range.

ETA: And Bob should be wary of raising prices too often...we all know how addicted to price hikes Chapek is.

I'm wondering if they'd ever add an ad-supported cheaper sub to D+ when they hike the 'premium tier.'

Oh, we're off topic... um...

Is Disney Still Short on Staff? Here's What We Know. | the disney food blog

Disney has been experiencing staffing shortages since the pandemic. So what does the current situation look like in the Disney parks?

www.disneyfoodblog.com

 

[disneygeek90]

We (touringplans) can‘t convince ourselves this is happening. Looking forward to your analysis.

Last Sunday night I got into the JC line right when fireworks started. Posted wait was 30 mins and I'm not exaggerating, I waited 30 seconds.

I get wait times can fluctuate drastically during fireworks but yikes, that was one hell of a variance. And surely they knew it wasn't 30 mins seeing a line of a dozen people.

 

[Ayla]

When the source is the CEO, we really don't need some news organization to report on it. You made it sound like it was some secret leak!

But, yeah, Chapek indicated that a price hike could happen once they can start flooding D+ with new content, much more so than they are right now. All the previous COVID troubles have prevented that from happening.

However... where's your source that it's not going to be just a couple of dollars? Neither Chapek nor the CNN article mentions that.

You're asking the wrong person. I made no such claim. All I did was google for a source of Disney+ raising the price.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I'm wondering if they'd ever add an ad-supported cheaper sub to D+ when they hike the 'premium tier.'

Oh, we're off topic... um...

View attachment 621230

Is Disney Still Short on Staff? Here's What We Know. | the disney food blog

Disney has been experiencing staffing shortages since the pandemic. So what does the current situation look like in the Disney parks?

www.disneyfoodblog.com

IMO, ad-supported should be free unless it's got some other huge benefit (like Hulu's live TV, for example). Vudu has ad-supported free content (and a surprisingly large amount, TBH).