Walk on rides no longer?

[macfreak]

We went in 06 and in 11 and other then the day we whet to Mk that they were shooting the Christmas parade we walked on allot of rides and intact pirates and space mountain and star tours we did over and over in a row.
There were times I saw the rides get busier but didn't seem to last.

Now I read all these reports that with changes in the system and such it makes it almost impossible to do walk on rides and those with long waits before pooh and Peter Pan for example are now even longer.

Is this true or have the times of year just changed as to best time to go?

 

[sxeensweet]

There is still plenty of "walk on" rides. The only ones that get really long waits are the more popular ones as some you mentioned above like Peter Pan and the other obvious ones like 'Soarin for example, etc. Just depends when you go. We just got back this week from being there 10/13-10/26. Easily could walk on to many rides but definately needed fast Passes for the most popular ones. And even some of those (not all) later in the evening had little to no waits. We walked on to Seas with Nemo, It's a Small world, Carosel of Progress, Big Thunder, Dumbo, Barnstomer, Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy, Journey into Imagination, Star Tours, Winnie the Poo, and others I'm forgetting I'm sure etc etc.
Again the later in the day the better but even some earlier in the day can be walk ons or a very short wait.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Walk on rides have gotten fewer and fewer as the crowds have increased and slow seasons have disappeared. Taking advantage of EMH's gives you much better opportunities to walk on the more popular rides especially as you get into the later evening hours and guests fade away. As ride lines lengthen guest begin moving on to the less popular things which cause those lines to lengthen. You now go to Disney expecting to wait more often.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

As others have mentioned, walk on rides are starting to decrease at certain times of the day. Test Track may have a long wait time, but if you don't mind getting split up, do the single rider; I've never waited more than about 10 minutes doing single rider. It's the same with Rock N' Roller Coaster...just do single rider.

Some rides though, like Peter Pan's Flight is going to have a long wait pretty much all day, so unless you do a FP or do it first thing in the morning or late at night, you're going to end up waiting at least 45 minutes.

As crowds get bigger, wait times are going to grow.

 

[rucifee]

There is still plenty of "walk on" rides. The only ones that get really long waits are the more popular ones as some you mentioned above like Peter Pan and the other obvious ones like 'Soarin for example, etc. Just depends when you go. We just got back this week from being there 10/13-10/26. Easily could walk on to many rides but definately needed fast Passes for the most popular ones. And even some of those (not all) later in the evening had little to no waits. We walked on to Seas with Nemo, It's a Small world, Carosel of Progress, Big Thunder, Dumbo, Barnstomer, Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy, Journey into Imagination, Star Tours, Winnie the Poo, and others I'm forgetting I'm sure etc etc.
Again the later in the day the better but even some earlier in the day can be walk ons or a very short wait.

I'm not so sure about this one. I was down at MK Monday evening and Haunted Mansion was a 50 minute wait when I rode it, fortunately I had an FP+ in hand. Dumbo was 20 minutes, and Barnstormer was 10. Pirates was 50, Space Ranger Spin was 30, and even Small World had a 30 minute wait. It's possible to do a few of the rides you've listed by walking on sometimes, but it isn't the norm.

 

[Kosmo1986]

There are definitely longer waits now, but overall I think I now wait less time. FP+ can limit your wait on the high profile rides like space mountain and peter pan, but now lines for pirates, haunted mansion and even its a small world have gotten longer, but in general these lines go pretty fast and normally are not longer than 20 minutes.

I will say that the mornings are getting busy and I have noticed that once it gets dark the parks really start clearing out. The Worst time seems to be between 12-4, We usually set up fast passes between 11 and 2 and go back to the hotel and rest and when we go back at 6 its not so bad.

 

[sxeensweet]

I'm not so sure about this one. I was down at MK Monday evening and Haunted Mansion was a 50 minute wait when I rode it, fortunately I had an FP+ in hand. Dumbo was 20 minutes, and Barnstormer was 10. Pirates was 50, Space Ranger Spin was 30, and even Small World had a 30 minute wait. It's possible to do a few of the rides you've listed by walking on sometimes, but it isn't the norm.

We walked on those rides (or only up to 10 min waits like for HM) I mentioned Sat 10/17, Wed 10/14, Wed 10/21, Sat 10/24 easily after 7pm. We were there Monday 10/26 but we're only there for about an hour for a quick stop before we headed home. So I can't say waits for Monday 10/26 because we did not ride anything.
On the Wednesday's I mentioned they had EMH's (but rose rides long before those started those nights), but the Saturdays was regular hours until 12am. Like I mentioned you can easily in the evening have little to no waits. And sometimes earlier in the day. (Had several earlier that were not bad).
I also said that it depends when you go. Every day is completely different but it is still possible some days at certain times of the year.
We had no problems riding rides we did not have fast passes for (we got FP for all popular rides like 7DMT etc though) especially after 7pm. Yes earlier in the day, morning and early afternoon, the waits were a lot longer but if you stay after 6-7pm at this time of year as we go this time most trips it's not that bad at all in our experiences recently.

 

[rucifee]

We walked on those rides (or only up to 10 min waits like for HM) I mentioned Sat 10/17, Wed 10/14, Wed 10/21, Sat 10/24 easily after 7pm. We were there Monday 10/26 but we're only there for about an hour for a quick stop before we headed home. So I can't say waits for Monday 10/26 because we did not ride anything.
On the Wednesday's I mentioned they had EMH's (but rose rides long before those started those nights), but the Saturdays was regular hours until 12am. Like I mentioned you can easily in the evening have little to no waits. And sometimes earlier in the day. (Had several earlier that were not bad).
I also said that it depends when you go. Every day is completely different but it is still possible some days at certain times of the year.
We had no problems riding rides we did not have fast passes for (we got FP for all popular rides like 7DMT etc though) especially after 7pm. Yes earlier in the day, morning and early afternoon, the waits were a lot longer but if you stay after 6-7pm at this time of year as we go this time most trips it's not that bad at all in our experiences recently.

We're there just about every weekend and sometimes a few times during the week. There are good days and bad, now that it's "offseason" maybe we'll have a couple of good days.

 

[sxeensweet]

We're there just about every weekend and sometimes a few times during the week. There are good days and bad, now that it's "offseason" maybe we'll have a couple of good days.

I hope so! We were blessed at least in the evening to have those shorter waits. The afternoon was packed and longer waits but later was not bad at all. We won't be back until probably Dec 2017 so I'm jealous y'all get to go so often! Haha! We have gone every year the past 4 years (after having skipped 3 years) so waiting 2 years to build up some funds and points again will be hard.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

We won't be back until probably Dec 2017 so I'm jealous y'all get to go so often! Haha! We have gone every year the past 4 years (after having skipped 3 years) so waiting 2 years to build up some funds and points again will be hard.

Wow! What's making you wait so long? Funds? Of course, the longer you wait, the more amazing it shall be! We get to go this year but next year we are getting married (Whoo hoo!) so no WDW for us in 2016. We are going to Aulani in 2017 so maybe we will make it back late 2017 to the World...fingers crossed!

 

[sxeensweet]

Wow! What's making you wait so long? Funds? Of course, the longer you wait, the more amazing it shall be! We get to go this year but next year we are getting married (Whoo hoo!) so no WDW for us in 2016. We are going to Aulani in 2017 so maybe we will make it back late 2017 to the World...fingers crossed!

Congrats on the upcoming wedding!!!!
Yes waiting the 2 years is to build up more points again (we are DVC as of 2013) and mainly because of funds as they have been a tad tight lately. We like to go for 2 weeks at a time once a year or every other year. And with us having gone this year when it was tight we need to skip a big trip next year. We will probably travel somewhere closer to home for some smaller trips next year to save money for our next big Disney Vacay in 2017 and back in 2018 for another.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Awww, thanks We registered for Disney Honeymoon at Aulani! Sweet, we are really interested in being dvc but not quite in the financial place to commit yet. That's amazing you go for two weeks every year! We feel lucky to be able to go for one week! Where are you based? We get lucky with cheap Southwest flights from Denver to MCO!

 

[sxeensweet]

Awww, thanks We registered for Disney Honeymoon at Aulani! Sweet, we are really interested in being dvc but not quite in the financial place to commit yet. That's amazing you go for two weeks every year! We feel lucky to be able to go for one week! Where are you based? We get lucky with cheap Southwest flights from Denver to MCO!

Awesome! My DH wants to go to Aulani eventually.
Yes we are blessed to now go for about 2 weeks at a time. DVC allows to because of not paying cash for a deluxe room /villa (that we are spoiled to) as it would cost way too much like before we joined and payed. lol.
We are in south Louisiana so we just drive. It takes about 10-12 hrs and we have no kids so it's not bad at all to make the drive.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Wow! Lucky that you can drive! That saves you some money! Wonderful that DVC has worked out so well for you!

 

[sxeensweet]

Wow! Lucky that you can drive! That saves you some money! Wonderful that DVC has worked out so well for you!

Yes totally saves a lot of money over flying!
And believe it or not we swore we would never join DVC and one day while at home called for information then crunched the numbers of spending for trips and it just made sense for us so we finally joined. There are a lot of
Perks and some minor downfalls here and there, but it's been worth it overall for us.

 

[KLinder7]

Oh there are walk ons. Depends on time/place or if you are called Figment.

 

[EmmieSue]

I don't know how we managed it, but when we went last May we managed to walk on quite a few rides and Peter Pan was nearly a walk on. (We waited a minute or two in the spot where it's like you are getting showered with faerie dust.) But then by the time we got off it was posted at 45 minutes.

 

[docdebbi]

after our visit Oct 19-25, we have decided there is no such thing as a walk-on. AND NO OFF SEASON. lines were incredible. kept checking with touring plans- repeatedly read for the previous day "what we expected-4, what we saw-9".

seriously, we had a line for philharmagic, carousel of progress, wedway people mover (with a lady standing way outside the queue with a "line starts here" sign), and stitch's great escape. when these have lines, there are NO walk ons. it was crazy!!!

decided we will not go back in October again, Disney got their wish with the MNSSHP and food and wine festival, October is no longer slow. will try April next time- away from easter, spring breaks, and before school is out. see if that is any better

 

[Horizons '83]

Ellen's Universe of Energy is a walk on ... but seriously, everyone by now should expect no walk on's unless you are at the rope drop or the 2 hours before the park closes. Its been that way for a while now.

 

[dreamfinder]

Disney has done a great job of attracting crowds in what used to otherwise be slow seasons. Toss in things like more people needing assistance loading omninmovers (slows down an otherwise very effective ride) and more awareness/better distribution of crowds by FP+, you can definitely run into lines almost anywhere. But as PP's have pointed out, you can still luck out and get walk ones almost anywhere as well. It's all about timing.