As one Theme Park Insider reader asked, Have people gone crazy?
New attractions almost always draw huge crowds. That's why parks build them — to grow their audience and bring new customers into the parks. But when the wait time for any attraction passes a certain point, the excitement of a new attraction can morph into the disappointment of a bad customer experience.
So... what is that point? What is the maximum amount of time that you would be willing to wait for a theme park attraction?
Before you answer, let's set up a hypothetical: You're on the last day of your vacation for the year. And today is the day that the world's best attraction has opened (or reopened) at the park you are visiting. It's never been available to you before, and you won't be back to this park for several years, so this is your only opportunity to ride (see it, meet the character, etc.). People you trust have told you that you will love this attraction, and you've already done most of what you wanted to do on this vacation.
Given all that, how long would you be willing to wait to experience this attraction?
In the comments, please tell us what is the longest you have waited for a theme park attraction, and whether you thought that worth the wait.
Oh, and one more thing, would you be willing to take a moment to help recognize Theme Park Insider by voting for us in this USA Today poll? Thank you, as always, for reading and for being part of the Theme Park Insider community!
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I probably wouldn't have done it other than cedar point is a 12 hour drive and I wouldn't be back anytime soon. (Except I ended up going back next year, but haven't been back since. It's too far away to make that trip with any regularity.)
Other than that coaster, I can't remember a time when I waited more than 40 minutes for an attraction (even on RSR at DCA we used the single rider line most of the time and rode in 20 minutes or so). And in this day and age, I don't believe I have the patience to wait more than an hour. There are so many other things to do at parks, why would anyone want to spend multiple hours in one line?
Also, from a financial perspective, folks who are spending upwards of $140 to stand in line five to six hours waiting on a family coaster / dark ride, are really wasting their money!
When it comes to shows like Fantasmic or World of Color, or select meet and greets, I guess I have waited for over an hour to get a certain spot, or see a certain character, but for a 2:00 - 4:00 minute ride... no way.
That said, I convinced my family to wait a half hour for The Great Movie Ride midday; haven't been taken seriously since!
The longest line I ever waited in was for Splash Mountain when it was relatively new. Over four hours! I got there in the "early magic hours" before the park had opened to regular guests, but I think the problem was that the ride opened late. The line didn't move for an hour in the beaming hot sun. The result was that when I finally got to the ride, sun burnt and dehydrated, I HATED it. It took me 20 years to forget that experience enough to enjoy the ride for what it is.
An hour seems to be the breaking point for me. Also, having an annual pass to the Disneyland Resort, I am unwilling to wait more than 30 minutes for a ride there.
Unless we really want a group photo of a ride, my friend and I will take the single rider option. This can save more than an hour on rides such as Radiator Racers.
But from that date on, I have checked to see if tapings and other special events are going on and avoid the parks if they are.
As for the goings on at Diagon Alley this week, I drove by the park and the traffic outside it was bad enough. I didn't like the books that much that I would risk my sanity standing in those lines...LOL
As for the longest I've waited for a ride, I remember waiting an exceptionally long time for Indiana Jones Adventure when it was new, although I was very young and don't remember how long the line actually was. The longest confirmed wait I've done was 3 hours for X at Six Flags Magic Mountain the year after it opened due to one train operation and breakdowns. Worth the wait? At the time, yes, but I would never wait that long for it again (an hour is about my max for anything at SFMM now).
One question I have is how much of the "wait time" distorts (or enhances) the enjoyment of the ride?
The attraction could be a really fun experience, but after waiting so many hours, does that waiting time factor seep into a riders final review of the attraction?
My family and I are probably just impatient - we usually will not wait too long (less than 45 minutes) for any attraction, new and/or "hot-ticket" or not. There are far too many other things to do at most of the parks AND if there is a long line at one attraction, it could mean that lines are shorter on other rides.
We make use of the "single-rider" line when available unless it is a first-time ride for one of our younger family members.
Also, we keep abreast of current wait-times using one of the several apps that are currently available for many of the larger parks.
To fail to use Fastpass+ is ridiculous. It is quite easy to plan your day at least 60 days in advance if staying on site. I enjoyed using it to visit Anna and Elsa at the Magic Kingdom meet and greet. No waiting 3 hours. More like 15 minutes after getting thru the rope drop.
I also go to parks on off-season.
I would never want to wait to greet an park employee playing a character. I'm not sure I'd wait 6 hours to meet Kristen Bell (I did however meet her for Veronica Mars, so there's that).
But if I had a kid who had to see the characters, what else can you do? Except hate Disney, because you know that for about another $1000 in costume, and $10 an hour for two more employees, they could cut the wait time in half. It's not like a coaster that costs them $20 million -- meet and greet, unless it is the real actors, is a totally artificial scarcity.
I will not be going again until it gets fixed and wait times dramatically reduce.
On my last trip to Disney with my mother, I reluctantly agreed to wait in a 60 minute line for Toy Story 'cause she really, really wanted to ride it. The wait only turned out to be about 40 minutes and then I decided I really, really liked the ride, so we got suckered into the going back thru the line. That 60 minutes turned into about 75. At Disney, it all depends on whether you get in line AFTER a big glut of FP folks have gone thru, or right BEFORE they show up. After is much better timing :-).
We'll be trying Gringotts for the first time in September.... hopefully the crowds will be a bit more sane and most of the bugs will be worked out.
Since I didn't actually fit the second time, I would have to say it was not worth it. But someday after I lose some weight it'll make a great story!
The people I was with didn't believe me that they had a single rider line. Seeing the empty single rider line after waiting two hours was icing on the cake. To this day I still hate that ride
I think DHS has such potential, but to do any kind of massive update or expansion, they're going to have to shut down LMA and I heard they're closing the Indiana Jones stunt show, which are two big storage areas for people who need to rest their feet, thus getting them out of the interior of the park. Without those two holding areas, I imagine it'll make DHS feel more crowded and therefore make lines longer at Rock N Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania, and Tower of Terror that much longer. But they have to do it.
And when they finally do a massive overhaul of the park (I'm looking at you, Star Wars), I will still wait no longer than 2 hours.
9 hours is a lot but it's nothing compared to the year and a half I would've waited until the next time I visited the park. Definitely worth it!
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