Over the weekend, That Park Place sent a number of staff to Walt Disney World theme parks to figure out a simple question:
Are the wait times at Walt Disney World accurate?
Over several days, we rode a number of attractions, checking the time at each and every queue. The way we measured this was to time the wait our staff had in lines to the time in which Lightning Lane guests merged with the main line. Given the crowded nature of MLK weekend due to the Cheerleading and Dance Team championships, we felt this weekend would give us the best chance at understanding how Spring Break and Summer crowds are going to work. We wanted to know if Disney is inflating the queue times, and how much benefit Lightning Lane purchasers are gaining in time around the park. Here are the results:
Haunted Mansion:
65 Minute Posted Wait Time, 41 Minute Actual Wait
Flight of Passage:
75 Minute Posted Wait Time, 40 Minute Actual Wait
Kilimanjaro Safaris:
30 Minute Posted Wait Time, 24 Minute Actual Wait
Soarin’:
50 Minute Posted Wait Time, 35 Minute Actual Wait
Test Track:
45 Minute Posted Wait Time, 25 Minute Actual Wait
Rock’n Roller Coaster:
65 Minute Posted Wait Time, 71 Minute Actual Wait
Toy Story Midway Mania
55 Minute Posted Wait Time, 31 Minute Actual Wait
We also did some end-of-the-day checks at the Magic Kingdom. Here is what we found:
Pirates of the Carribean:
20 Minute Posted Wait Time, Walk-on Actual Wait
Space Mountain:
35 Minute Posted Wait Time, 5 Minute Actual Wait
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad:
45 Minute Posted Wait Time, 20 Minute Actual Wait
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin:
25 Minute Posted Wait Time, 14 Minute Actual Wait
What we discovered was that other than Rock’n Roller Coaster (which went down briefly while our staff waited), the queue wait times posted by Disney were substantially longer than the actual time guests wound up waiting. When combined with the merge points for Lightning Lane, we found that Lightning Lane picks via Genie+ provided almost no benefit except for a very few attractions at peak crowd levels. We also found that often, Lightning Lane purchasers were seen entering empty queues for attractions that had almost no chance of ever featuring long waits. These families likely hadn’t been to Walt Disney World often and were wasting their Lightning Lane options on rides that had no merit for even including a Lightning Lane.
However, the Lightning Lane paid options are not all a loss. Rides like Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog nearly require a paid Lighting Lane (not available via Genie+) option if you want to avoid a 90 minute+ wait… often getting close to three hours. It doesn’t seem wise to spend your day in a three-hour wait if you can pay one-hundred dollars to get your family through the line and go do other things. The truth is, Disney World should bring back the free Fastpass system. It simply isn’t fair that wealthier families can have three more hours at the park by virtue of paying to skip massive lines.
It’s hard to say why Disney is inflating their queue time posted waits. Is it to drive more Genie+ purchases? Is it to prevent frustration for guests if rides break down?
Whatever the case may be, we can’t endorse the idea of paying for Genie+ when we found almost no discernible upside for the purchase.
Let us know in the comments below if your experiences have been more or less the same. We’re always interested in hearing different thoughts!
