This Is Why We Tell You Not to Trust Disney World Wait Times

If you’re visiting Disney World, you’re probably concerned with wait times, and we get it. Who wants to spend an entire vacation waiting in line?

Now, a lot of us will just fork over the dollars for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass. But some of us just like to take our chances…and there’s a reason for that. Posted wait times in Disney World are often not what they seem.

Have you ever jumped into a standby line in Disney World that said it was a certain amount of time, but then you waited for a significantly shorter time? Well, that happens a lot. Even one of our readers, Martha, talked about visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios earlier this week with Rise of the Resistance having a standby wait time of 45 minutes — but she only waited 20 minutes. 

Now, this happens more often than not, for various reasons. The most obvious reason is that Disney tends to overinflate wait times. This is likely to adjust for things like ride downtime, the weather, crowd levels, and Lightning Lane Multi Pass lines. Some Disney World visitors may think that Disney is overinflating wait times to deliberately sell Lightning Lane Multi Pass, but that probably is just not the case. It’s a way to factor in everything that can make a standby wait longer (in other words, it’s Disney math).

Another reason wait times are often overinflated has to do with managing crowds. If a ride shows a longer wait time, it might get guests to other attractions, effectively spreading them out throughout the park to keep congestion down.

Finally, overinflated wait times could have something to do with guest expectations. If you get in a line with a long wait time, but that wait tends to be a lot less than you expected, you’re going to end up being happy about it. That means an actual lower wait can increase customer satisfaction. Imagine the above situation when a visitor got in a 45-minute line and only waited 20 minutes. We’re sure she was pretty thrilled.

I have a personal theory as to why ride wait times are often overinflated. Ride wait times could be the amount of time it takes to walk through the queue, see the pre-show, and then get on the actual ride. In my mind, though, a wait is only when I’m actually in line for the ride’s pre-show. So if I’ve entered the Haunted Mansion stretching room, in my mind, the wait is over. However, it’s possible that Disney’s wait is based on when you actually get on the Doom Buggy.

Like I said, this is just a theory, but it makes sense. It’s also why pre-shows are so important…they make you feel like you’re on the ride before you actually are in a ride vehicle.

So the next time you see a posted wait time in Disney World, and you really want to ride that attraction, just go ahead and get in line. More than likely, you’ll end up waiting far less than the wait time says.

Check back with AllEars again soon for more.

The Lie Everyone Believes About Disney World Wait Times

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!