Wait times seem high today - anyone in the parks today that can verify this?

[Babybears]

We will be arriving in two weeks, and like many others, are concerned about wait times with no Fastpasses available. We have a good system and usually utilize early arrivals, fastpasses and single rider lines to get a ton done each day. We knew when booking this time that we needed to go with the flow and be open to a new way of navigating the parks and have been watching the boards these past weeks to help plan our strategy (thank you everyone for great info!!). For the most part, the wait times have seemed manageable, but today everything looks quite busy. (60 for SM, 30 for Buzz, 70 for Splash, 30 for IASW). I guess I'm just getting nervous that the wait times are trending up as capacity increases. It sounds silly, but we have never navigated without Fastpass so I feel a bit out of my element!

 

[OneThree]

I have been watching wait times too as we are also two weeks out from our trip. Today (7/6) does seem busier than previous days so I don’t know if that is tied to increased capacity, the holiday or both.

I have noticed times are all over the map. Around noon I noticed 50 minutes for Dumbo and 70 minutes for Astro Orbiters. Who the heck waits that long for those rides? Other rides like Soarin’ and Indy have had 30 to 40 minute waits at times which doesn’t seem that bad to me.

 

[amy85]

Same! We're coming in two weeks too, and I've been stalking wait times every day. The 4th seemed slow, yesterday a bit more, and today crazy!!! I'm really hoping it's a fluke. I actually have a friend there now. They said DCA was slow yesterday, I'll let you know what she says about Dl today

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I’m here and it’s super crowded! Way, way WAY more crowded than my visit on 6/17. Night and day. Wait times are accurate and long!

 

[Erin M]

Ugh I was wondering this myself as we fly in next week. The wait times today seem like a lot. I am happy to wait 30 ish minutes sometimes, maybe even 45 for something we really want to do, but these 60+ times are going to be hard on a busy body 7-year-old. Maybe it's just a little residual from the holiday? The announcement of the new three day tickets for California residents (which are starting today) can't really be it because they just announced it.

I am getting a little nervous. I haven't had to navigate the parks without Fastpass in a long, long time. I'm sure it's still magical though, because dole whip and churros, and music.

 

[ttig34]

I did notice when looking at one day tickets a few days ago, today was the only day this week that one day tickets were sold out. So hopefully today is an anomaly, and the rest of the week will be okay. Guess we shall see!

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

It could be because Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days for 1-ticket visits.

 

[AquaDame]

I hope so… I was getting excited and we check in tomorrow…

 

[amy85]

My friend confirmed yesterday was very busy with long lines....today isn't looking much better

 

[Erin M]

I was just watching them myself. It definitely spikes a bit mid-day and hangs out that way for a few hours. I guess our strategy won't change too much, get in early, take a break mid-day and come back later until the kid just can't hang anymore. I wonder what the threshold on wait times is for fastpasses to come back? I realize that the theory is not having fastpass actually helps keep the whole line moving faster, but man I sure love to hoard my fast passes and then blow through a bunch of rides all at once.

 

[smeg3030]

Freshbaked retweeted a tweet that it's packed today.

 

[Babybears]

The ride times are currently what I would expect on a normal, busy summer day. However, the lack of Fastpasses makes these wait times really twice as bad, IMO. It's easier to stand in a 60 minute line knowing you have a fastpass coming up for your next ride. And even rides that are usually our "go-to" when the park is busy have really high return times. I mean, Monster's Inc right now is currently 35 minutes. That is almost always a walk on for us. I guess I am just hoping that they bring back fastpass or maxpass very soon if the wait times stay where they are. Also hoping this is a fluke as it's a holiday week.

 

[OneThree]

The ride times are currently what I would expect on a normal, busy summer day. However, the lack of Fastpasses makes these wait times really twice as bad, IMO. It's easier to stand in a 60 minute line knowing you have a fastpass coming up for your next ride. And even rides that are usually our "go-to" when the park is busy have really high return times. I mean, Monster's Inc right now is currently 35 minutes. That is almost always a walk on for us. I guess I am just hoping that they bring back fastpass or maxpass very soon if the wait times stay where they are. Also hoping this is a fluke as it's a holiday week.

This. Wait times do not seem out of line for a busy period like the week of July 4th but I agree without MaxPass/FastPass it does make things more challenging.

 

[Erin M]

I know this is an error, but it made me giggle. That’s some dedicated people in line.

 

[Lm3js]

Looks like Space Mountain and and Peter Pan have been down a while today (7/8)..both of those usually create a crowd draw.

 

[sammybk]

It seems like there definitely was a step change around July 2nd in capacity. We were in DL on June 20 and July 1. Both days had similar crowd levels (perhaps 5%-10% more on July 1). We were in DCA July 2nd, and it was crowded to the point we preferred to relax in sit down dining areas than stand in line in the heat.

I have been peeping on wait times since, and many of the queue lengths seem to have had a 50% - 100% increase in just the past week. I would gladly pay extra if they would just keep the attendance cap as it was June 20-July 1. I would rather count on everyday being busy, but not packed and people moving to 'off-peak' days because reservations are full otherwise. It was nice not having to think about crowd calendars knowing days were capped, and it didn't matter going on Thursday vs. Saturday since they were both sold out to the lower capacity max.

I felt like when reservations were tough to get, you almost wanted to go because of that. It was limited capacity and a hot ticket. Now that you can just go any day and they are packing the parks, I feel no need to try to get extra trips in. I'll just wait until off-peak season, whenever that comes again.

 

[Erin M]

I’m trying really hard not to be upset/thrown off for our trip next week. I wasn’t expecting wait times to be 45+ for a large portion of the rides. I’ve already told DD we likely won’t ride RSR just because we can’t hang with an 80 min wait. Maybe we’ll get lucky with a 50 sometime while we’re there? But honestly, the capacity of two weeks ago vs. now seems pretty increased and the lack of any sort of fast pass is going to be hard. I am defiantly having second thoughts about it all but it’s too late to change things now. Regardless we’ll have a good time doing what we can, but for the cost it’s a tough pill to swallow that we may not be able to ride certain things at all. It’s just not feasible with small children who are still required to wear masks. I’m a little mad at myself for jumping the gun too fast.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I’m trying really hard not to be upset/thrown off for our trip next week. I wasn’t expecting wait times to be 45+ for a large portion of the rides. I’ve already told DD we likely won’t ride RSR just because we can’t hang with an 80 min wait. Maybe we’ll get lucky with a 50 sometime while we’re there? But honestly, the capacity of two weeks ago vs. now seems pretty increased and the lack of any sort of fast pass is going to be hard. I am defiantly having second thoughts about it all but it’s too late to change things now. Regardless we’ll have a good time doing what we can, but for the cost it’s a tough pill to swallow that we may not be able to ride certain things at all. It’s just not feasible with small children who are still required to wear masks. I’m a little mad at myself for jumping the gun too fast.

I agree that it's so hard with little ones. I will welcome the return on FP myself. You will probably see RSR drop under an hour at some point in the day and jump on it. Don't delay because other people will see it too and rush over. I find my child can wait in one long line a day (maybe two if one was in the morning and one in the evening) so the rest of the time I try to keep it under 20 minutes. It's nice now that they can snack/drink in line! Much more feasible!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

It’s just not feasible with small children who are still required to wear masks.

Not to open a can of worms, but they're only "required" to wear them indoors (and even that is not enforced). We will personally be wearing masks indoors (so my daughter, who's a rule-follower, isn't alone), but in an outdoor line like RSR, we will take advantage of snacking our way through the line without masks! Conquering the RSR line might be more feasible if there's popcorn or a churro involved.

 

[Erin M]

Not to open a can of worms, but they're only "required" to wear them indoors (and even that is not enforced). We will personally be wearing masks indoors (so my daughter, who's a rule-follower, isn't alone), but in an outdoor line like RSR, we will take advantage of snacking our way through the line without masks! Conquering the RSR line might be more feasible if there's popcorn or a churro involved.

This is a good point! I also have a rule follower, comes by it naturally, but if she feels comfortable in an outside line we may try the snack route.