"Wait Time" signs-intentionally wrong?

[Dr Albert Falls]

Wondering if any CM's can give insight on this.

I am 100% convinced that the "Wait Time From This Point" signs are almost always exaggerated.

For example, Mission:Space will say "45 Min" regardless of whether the line is outside the door or only filling half of the inside queue. My recent "30 Min" single rider wait actually took less than 10.

We already know that the Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror put "13 Min" up even when the ride is a walk-on.

I've never actually stood in line for "Living With the Land", but I highly doubt people are waiting 60 minutes for the boat ride. But it sure is a good gimmick to get people to pick up a FastPass and kill time in the food court.

My guess is that the other attractions do it for the psychological factor. More people will pick up FastPasses if the line seems to long--- those that choose to wait will be pleasantly surprised when they're out of the attraction 15 minutes earlier than planned.

I don't mind that Disney does this. But it doesn't make sense now that they're using automated wait time counters (those white plastic cards that are swiped as select guests enter the queue, and swiped again when they board the attraction)

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

A CM needs to push a button to reset the waiting time......... It was probably more of a wait before you enterded..... It's mostly accurate..........

 

[Shaman]

Originally posted by Dr Albert Falls
Wondering if any CM's can give insight on this.

I am 100% convinced that the "Wait Time From This Point" signs are almost always exaggerated.

For example, Mission:Space will say "45 Min" regardless of whether the line is outside the door or only filling half of the inside queue. My recent "30 Min" single rider wait actually took less than 10.

We already know that the Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror put "13 Min" up even when the ride is a walk-on.

I've never actually stood in line for "Living With the Land", but I highly doubt people are waiting 60 minutes for the boat ride. But it sure is a good gimmick to get people to pick up a FastPass and kill time in the food court.

My guess is that the other attractions do it for the psychological factor. More people will pick up FastPasses if the line seems to long--- those that choose to wait will be pleasantly surprised when they're out of the attraction 15 minutes earlier than planned.

I don't mind that Disney does this. But it doesn't make sense now that they're using automated wait time counters (those white plastic cards that are swiped as select guests enter the queue, and swiped again when they board the attraction)

I've had the same experience...and have wondered the same thing...but sometimes its the other way around...sometimes the wait is posted as shorter when in reality the wait is longer than the posted wait....

About those white plastic cards....I've been handed those on two occasions...to give to the CM at the end of the line right before you go into an attraction.... and I have wondered how they work...and for what they were for...on the second occasion I figured it had something to do with number of guest...I didn't know it was directly related to wait time.....then again both times this happened to me....I was going in M:S and the wait time was posted as higher than it really was.....

 

[surfsupdon]

My family sees the same thing, and we use it to our advantage. We know the posted times are highly exaggerrated so we will wait in the line while others are deterred off by a fastpass or to come back later.

Big, BIG case in point is always Big Thunder. During our trips, they post 60 minutes are we are literally on in almost 30.

You have to post higher than what youd expect.

 

[X2CommNavISTC]

Well, something got messed up when I sent it the last time, and it didnt get sent, so in a nutshell....

The white cards are like a clock. At the entrance, they activate it, the computer begins to clock the time it takes to get from the entrance to the loading area. When they scan it at the loading area, it stops that clock set for that card, sends a signal to the wait clock and with most of the digital ones (TT, MS, RnRC), it switches it. Obviously there are some that need to be changed by hand but still.

A con about using those infernal things is that sometimes, you'll activate one, (Say over at MS) and that person chickens out, well, sometimes, they dont bring the card back (its does happen surprisingly) or they do, and we dont know what the wait was. So, we have to activate ANOTHER one. I, I just hate those things.

One thing Ive noticed is a decline in the useage (if thats a word) of the fast passes. Seeing this, I've thought that the longer wait times that are posted are set intentionally to get people to get a fast pass. Obviously, some people dont worry about the times, but there are those who still do.

But with some times, its obvious. Rides like Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion.....Wait Time: 13 minutes.....

 

[O'Malley]

Theory: I think "The Land" wait time is exaggerated on purpose. The old expression "if people see a long line, they immediately get in thinking they're missing something" (in fact, I just read this in "Mouse Tales 2" about the line for Jungle Cruise in Disneyland). This may be the reason we see 60 minute wait times on the digital display for "The Land". We recently rode "The Land" twice, once when the sign said 45 minutes (we walked on), and another time we waited 10 minutes when the sign said 60 minutes. Later we ate in the food court, and had a table close to the entrance of the ride. Every few seconds, someone would walk up to the Cast Member and ask what the ride was about (is it scary, etc.) Then, even with a 60 minute wait time displayed, we heard several families talk amongst themselves saying that this ride must be as good as Test Track because of the long wait time. :hammer:

I still love this ride, and I am still amazed at the greenhouse portion. The fish were all gone (rehab) during our last trip, but it's still a nice ride!

 

[X2CommNavISTC]

Originally posted by O'Malley
Then, even with a 60 minute wait time displayed, we heard several families talk amongst themselves saying that this ride must be as good as Test Track because of the long wait time. :hammer:

The only thing that comes close to being as good as test track is a trip to the proctologist....and they both suck...

Good thery though.

 

[DCA Fan]

I believe I heard that they exaggerate on purpose. It's a human nature thing, because if you post a time longer than it actually is, guests will think they are making their way through the line more quickly than usual, thus they stay relatively happy.

 

[Blake]

I agree they tend to usually be a little shorter than the posted wait time. However, a few years back, Splash had a posted wait time of "75 minutes" and i waited 2 1/2 hours! ONe that really bugs me is Dinosaur. EVERY afternoon its posted at "45 minutes" and the wait is never that long (in my experiences).

 

[Sir Hiss527]

I have no clue why Disney does this? When I did M:S the sign said 60 min, and it was only like 10-15 min. In my opinion the Fast Pass sucks...Yea it's great of course if your the one with the ticket. But that's all they let in, they rarely let Stand-by in, like there only let in like 10 stand-by like every 10 minutes.

 

[Blake]

Originally posted by Sir Hiss527
I have no clue why Disney does this? When I did M:S the sign said 60 min, and it was only like 10-15 min. In my opinion the Fast Pass sucks...Yea it's great of course if your the one with the ticket. But that's all they let in, they rarely let Stand-by in, like there only let in like 10 stand-by like every 10 minutes.

When i was at Test Track the a littole while back- i swear they let in 4 Stand-by guests every ten minutes while they just kept waving hudnreds and hundreds of Fastpass guests through! I guess this is why they refer to it as "stand-by" and not "regular line" like Universal!

 

[EvilMortimer]

Universal's Express is a rip off of Fast Pass, everyone knows that. Universal's system is actually too advanced with the screens and everything. Most people actually don't like it. Sue, it has more features, but it's too complicated. Disney started the first Ride Reservation System, and I think it will stay that way. The name Stand by and Regular line are nothing but the same exact thing with different names. Disney's is really more descriptive, but Universal doesn't want to get sued.:lol: As for the wait times, subtract 10 from any wait time and you should get an exact wait time. One that's not Disney's version. Exceptions: Test Track, Mission: SPACE, and other attractions that have stand by lines and break down often.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Originally posted by Blake
When i was at Test Track the a littole while back- i swear they let in 4 Stand-by guests every ten minutes while they just kept waving hudnreds and hundreds of Fastpass guests through! I guess this is why they refer to it as "stand-by" and not "regular line" like Universal!

If you notice at Test Track now they have a sign at the Stand By entrance saying that the line could move as slowly as one party every five minutes. Sounds very discouraging.

 

[X2CommNavISTC]

Originally posted by Sir Hiss527
I have no clue why Disney does this? When I did M:S the sign said 60 min, and it was only like 10-15 min. In my opinion the Fast Pass sucks...Yea it's great of course if your the one with the ticket. But that's all they let in, they rarely let Stand-by in, like there only let in like 10 stand-by like every 10 minutes.

It SEEMS like it. Youve got to remember this, there are three lines (Stand-By, Fastpass, and Singles). When they load a room, they try to even it out (So lets say 20 FP, 16 Stand-By and the rest are Singles). Add in the fact that each room is loaded about every five minutes or so, it can seem a little longer.

True, there are times when one room was nothing but singles, but that was because the line for Singles was like, f'n longer than a walk from EPCOT to MGM and back, so we really had no choice but to load just them.

And actually, out of all the lines, the Singles are the ones that, on a regular (normal day, if those exist at ISTC, I have yet to see one), have the longest wait times because they are there to fill in the open spots on the trainers....and with only four positions per trainer? Well...It can take a bit to finally get in there.

 

[Merlin]

There's a book about Michael Eisner called "Prince of the Magic Kingdom" in which Eisner himself states that the wait times are intentionally exaggerated. It's the "under promise and over deliver" philosophy... If you are expecting to wait 60 minutes and you wait 50 instead, you feel like 60 minutes went by a lot faster. Eisner said he used the same strategy at ABC when he was showing pilots to advertisers. He would show a 22-minute pilot for a sitcom and say that it was 28-minutes. The viewers would think that they had watched a very fast-paced 28-minute pilot.

 

[TomDisney]

Originally posted by Merlin
If you are expecting to wait 60 minutes and you wait 50 instead, you feel like 60 minutes went by a lot faster.

Because you know if it says a 60 minute wait, there's gonna be one guest who complains come that 61st minute and he's not on the ride yet!!! :hammer: :lol:

 

[josh_e_washie]

Hey good point...I've also seen it work in the opposite way as well. For example, one time I was in line for RnRc and the wait time siad 0 min. and I know I waited at least 20. I hope these get fixed soon because my friends waiting at the exit weren't happy waiting that extra time!

 

[PixieTinkerbell]

As a former attraction cast-member, for those rides without electronic wait time systems, cast members are told to add 5 minutes to the estimated wait time. The reasoning behind this is that is guest wait less time they will be happier. Also, they will be less likely to try and schedule two attractions/shows too close to each other in time, and then miss the second one. Most current cast members dislike the electronic wait time system because it is never exactly right, it is always behind. Most times if a sign says 10 minutes or less you can assume that their is no wait. Any other time just subtract 5 mins. This exclude MS, TT and RRC.

 

[KevinPage]

Livin with the Land is always at least 45 minutes and the line ALWAYS shows it. My wife and I never understand why it's so darn popular (probably since its a boat ride in a food court and easy to go on when you finish a meal) but I don't think they are lying

 

[EthylCooper]

I think the biggest reason for the variations is that the line lengths change more often than they can update the wait times.

I rarely trust the signs now....I've ridden everything often enough at this point that if I can see the queue, I can tell for myself how long the wait will be (and I'm rarely off by more than a few minutes). Of course, this doesn't work for ToT, GMR, or any others where you can't see the end of the queue till you're in it.

What I'm really hoping for soon is either a new version of Pal Mickey or the PDA thingie they were talking about when they released him, so that we can see approximate wait times for anything from whereever we are, especially from outside the park or from a different park. The biggest reason I didn't buy the Pal Mickey after renting him for 2 days was that he didn't give me any wait information. (The inside of his booklet had him saying something like "Hey, I hear the wait time at Tower of Terror is really low!" but all he ever told me was when the parades were getting near.)