Spaceship Earth wait time longer than Soarin? Why?

NickMaio

Well-Known Member
This happened last Summer also - - - - I totally do not understand it?
It had the highest wait time in the park. The line was slammed all day - - - - - never seen it before.
I guess its back.

Frozen was 10-20 mins all day...
 

Oddysey

Well-Known Member
As of 12:44 pm today

I can tell you from frequenting the parks for many years that the last several months posted wait times for SE are massively inflated versus actual wait times. This is occurring for many attractions and I have no idea why.

Just 3 weeks ago I literally walked on to Imagination near the 7:00pm closing time and the wait time was posted at 20 minutes. A family walking in behind me asked the cast member at the door if the wait time was actually 20 minutes and the cast member replied "yes" effectively sending the family away. This is the second time of have witnessed this exact scenario for Imagination in the last 6 months.

The conspiracy side of me is thinking Disney wants to push guest away from FW by a certain time and into WS to purchase food/drink etc. However, I have no way to verify said conspiracy. If anybody has any information on why posted times are consistently higher than actual wait times please clue me in. I have paid close attention to this issue and I am exceptionally curious as to why this is occurring.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Spaceship Earth almost always has an inflated wait time in the first half of the day. People walk in, see an attraction and immediately get in line. Soarin’ in comparison is a decent hike. During the afternoon and into the evening the wait times drop significantly.

For the same reason Despicable Me has a high wait time in USR. It's just past the main gate.
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Its the first attraction they see. People are more likely to jump on line upon entering the park and experience it right away than go into EP and turn around to do it later on. It sits away from everything else. Theres more distance to travel to retrace steps in order to come back to it.
 

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
I can tell you from frequenting the parks for many years that the last several months posted wait times for SE are massively inflated versus actual wait times. This is occurring for many attractions and I have no idea why.
It makes some sense for spaceship earth as like others have said, it's the first ride they see and the icon of the park. So maybe they inflate the time to try and disperse the crowds better around the park. Imagination on the other hand would make little sense unless they just want to tank the numbers even more to justify getting rid of it for a new IP.
 

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
I can tell you from frequenting the parks for many years that the last several months posted wait times for SE are massively inflated versus actual wait times. This is occurring for many attractions and I have no idea why.

Just 3 weeks ago I literally walked on to Imagination near the 7:00pm closing time and the wait time was posted at 20 minutes. A family walking in behind me asked the cast member at the door if the wait time was actually 20 minutes and the cast member replied "yes" effectively sending the family away. This is the second time of have witnessed this exact scenario for Imagination in the last 6 months.

The conspiracy side of me is thinking Disney wants to push guest away from FW by a certain time and into WS to purchase food/drink etc. However, I have no way to verify said conspiracy. If anybody has any information on why posted times are consistently higher than actual wait times please clue me in. I have paid close attention to this issue and I am exceptionally curious as to why this is occurring.

I guess some spitballing ideas:

  • Parks (smart parks at least) will always veer towards exaggerating wait times instead of underestimating them. If its quicker than expecting, the guest is thrilled, if its longer than expected, the guests are really angry. So there's no reason to ever underestimate a wait time. The guests are already in the park, and have already paid admission, so there's no reason to puff to get them on the rides.
  • The wait times may include the pre-ride shows and the walk-throughs that are needed to get on the actual ride. Sometimes you think a ride is pretty much a walk-on, but you also had to go through pre-shows that are technically not part of the ride.
 

lentesta

Premium Member
How/when/where will you be sharing your findings? I spoke with a CM recently who noted that Disney is manipulating the posted wait times, intentionally. We rope-dropped HS two weeks ago and the posted wait time for Slinky was 75 minutes (at rope drop!!!). Our actual wait time was only (😕) 55 minutes.

As soon as we have enough data. We'll probably comment on it next week with whatever we have, and finish the study in 2 or 3 weeks.
 

danheaton

Well-Known Member
Part of it is the placement like others have mentioned. It's also the impact of FastPass Plus and the tiering. Soarin' Around the World isn't as popular now, and the third theater has helped the capacity. Plus, a lot of people are picking Test Track and Frozen for Tier 1. For Tier 2, there are fewer great options. So many pick Spaceship Earth. That slows down the Standby line for Spaceship Earth because FastPass guests just keep going past them.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Part of it is the placement like others have mentioned. It's also the impact of FastPass Plus and the tiering. Soarin' Around the World isn't as popular now, and the third theater has helped the capacity. Plus, a lot of people are picking Test Track and Frozen for Tier 1. For Tier 2, there are fewer great options. So many pick Spaceship Earth. That slows down the Standby line for Spaceship Earth because FastPass guests just keep going past them.

Very true. I tend to almost always pick SSE for Tier 2. What's left: Imagination? Nemo? Turtle Talk? Pixar Film show? Yeah, there' still M:S and LwTL but those are probably the most popular Tier 2.
 

danheaton

Well-Known Member
Very true. I tend to almost always pick SSE for Tier 2. What's left: Imagination? Nemo? Turtle Talk? Pixar Film show? Yeah, there' still M:S and LwTL but those are probably the most popular Tier 2.
Right. I always pick SSE for Tier 2, and then it's usually about where we'll be in terms of touring. LWTL, Nemo, and Imagination can all have 5-minute waits or 30-minute waits depending on where you hit them, but you can easily get a rolling FP for them afterwards too. It's more about just getting through the 3 at a certain poin.
 

Wngo905

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
As in several years. Not tomorrow. Probably after Guardians or Rat opens so that there is still an alternate attraction to offset the closure.
Have you not seen or been following the SSE post that has the attraction going down for remodel (2+years) around the end of this year or beginning of next? HUGE POST, don't see how you missed it. LOL
 

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