First official trip with my new Magic Key. Thoughts.

[Foxhound3857]

A bit of a hairy drive with the traffic but I made it at a relatively decent time, was on the bus and in the park by 10:30AM, left for home around 8PM. In that time I was able to do Indy twice (and it broke down just as I got on the second time, go figure), Pirates, Big Thunder, Star Tours, Jungle Cruise, and I squeezed in a RotR via Lightning Lane, which I did not know one could pay for without Genie+. That came as a surprise.

Still, the crowds were surprisingly wild for a Tuesday; I was hoping coming in the middle of the week would be much more calm, but the shortest line I had was 45 minutes for Pirates, and that was in the morning as soon as I arrived. I was told Wednesday is a better day to come if you're looking to avoid crowds and long waits, but really today was sort of an experiment to get my footing and learn how to navigate the park on my own, since I was always with someone else on previous trips and merely followed along. And of course to satisfy my craving for Bengal BBQ.

While it was a lot of fun, it was also kind of a mixed bag because of the crowds and lines, and I think if this is the average even for what's supposed to be a relatively quiet weekday, Genie+ is probably going to be mandatory going forward, so I can better plan ahead what my next ride will be and not be left to the mercy of chance. Maybe that was just me expecting too much though. I figured it was going to be 20-30 minute lines at the most, on a fairly chilly day when kids are in school and most people are at work. But what I consider crowded and what my brother considers crowded are two vastly different metrics, I suppose.

At least Indy was fixed without them having to offload us, and I got the room I was missing, the Fountain of Youth, so I'm 3/3 now.

 

[SFMommy]

I’m no crowd expert. But if you were there this past Tuesday 2/20…it was a vacation week for many school. Sometimes referred to as “ski week” here in Northern California. The week of President’s Day. So that may have contributed to the crowds.

 

[Foxhound3857]

I’m no crowd expert. But if you were there this past Tuesday 2/20…it was a vacation week for many school. Sometimes referred to as “ski week” here in Northern California. The week of President’s Day. So that may have contributed to the crowds.

I was there yesterday, 2/27. Interesting to know though. I'm going to try a Wednesday next time.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

It is crowded every day

Rain or shine doesn't matter now because you reserve a day

You can get lucky and go early summer or early chritmas time and its not insane and you feel like you came at the right time but....yeah 9/10 times when I go its busy not insane but busy

 

[twodogs]

It is crowded every day

Rain or shine doesn't matter now because you reserve a day

You can get lucky and go early summer or early chritmas time and its not insane and you feel like you came at the right time but....yeah 9/10 times when I go its busy not insane but busy

This.

 

[Foxhound3857]

This.

So there's never gonna be a day where you have plenty of elbow room, don't bump into people and only get 20-30 minute lines?

 

[twodogs]

So there's never gonna be a day where you have plenty of elbow room, don't bump into people and only get 20-30 minute lines?

I wish I could say I have seen one at all recently. We went for the opening week of SWGE back in 2019, and due to a lot of press about how overwhelmed it would be (and limited reservations), it was not very crowded. Every other time I have been (which is several times per year), I have never seen 20-30 standby waits after the first 1-2 hours of park opening. If you can get there at RD, you can have those types of waits in the early morning, but by 10-11am, most of the waits are longer than that by a lot. You can check https://www.thrill-data.com/ to see a lot of data about waits on everything.

I wish it were different, but Disney is actively doing things to keep the parks crowded at all times (special events at off times, reducing staffing at slow times so that waits are never that low, etc) because that is how they maximize profit/shareholder value.

 

[Foxhound3857]

I wish I could say I have seen one at all recently. We went for the opening week of SWGE back in 2019, and due to a lot of press about how overwhelmed it would be (and limited reservations), it was not very crowded. Every other time I have been (which is several times per year), I have never seen 20-30 standby waits after the first 1-2 hours of park opening. If you can get there at RD, you can have those types of waits in the early morning, but by 10-11am, most of the waits are longer than that by a lot. You can check https://www.thrill-data.com/ to see a lot of data about waits on everything.

I wish it were different, but Disney is actively doing things to keep the parks crowded at all times (special events at off times, reducing staffing at slow times so that waits are never that low, etc) because that is how they maximize profit/shareholder value.

Artificially inflating wait times so people feel pressured to commit to Genie+?

 

[twodogs]

Artificially inflating wait times so people feel pressured to commit to Genie+?

Maybe. Did the times that were posted generally match your actual wait times?

 

[twodogs]

Also if you were solo, did you take advantage of the Single Rider lines on the rides that have them? Can save a bunch of time in line that way!

 

[Foxhound3857]

Maybe. Did the times that were posted generally match your actual wait times?

All except Jungle Cruise, which was only a five minute wait. I asked about Space Mountain before I left, they said "Yeah, about 90 minutes." At 8PM at night.

That's pretty bonkers for a ride to have that big of a wait at that hour.

 

[Foxhound3857]

Also if you were solo, did you take advantage of the Single Rider lines on the rides that have them? Can save a bunch of time in line that way!

I know Incredicoaster has one, dunno what other rides do.

 

[Love Tink]

So there's never gonna be a day where you have plenty of elbow room, don't bump into people and only get 20-30 minute lines?

There are definitely days that are more crowded and less crowded! I was there at the end of January and it was great.

Do you ever check Is it Packed? I find their DL calendar very reliable, as they incorporate blackout dates. They show "Yup it's Packed" for the day you were there. I'm guessing winter break for either local school districts or districts in Arizona.

 

[twodogs]

Space Mountain (some times), Matterhorn, MFSM, RSR, Goofy's Sky School, Webslingers... I think there are others.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/single-rider-line/

 

[Foxhound3857]

Space Mountain (some times), Matterhorn, MFSM, RSR, Goofy's Sky School, Webslingers... I think there are others.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/single-rider-line/

Radiator Springs and Space Mountain both have Single Rider Lines? That'd save me a lot of time in the future, and that's one LL I don't have to buy too. Only have to pay for RotR then.

 

[MonocularVision]

Radiator Springs and Space Mountain both have Single Rider Lines? That'd save me a lot of time in the future, and that's one LL I don't have to buy too. Only have to pay for RotR then.

FYI: In my limited experience, RotR wait time has always been far less than the posted wait time, especially in the evening/hour or two before the ride closes. On one recent visit, the wait time was 45 minutes and we literally waited 4 minutes before entering the pre-boarding show room (which is when most people consider the start of the ride)

I think the ride has been running really well, doesn’t have the same demand it used to, and is a people-eater in terms of numbers of guests. At this point ILL seems like a bit of a rip-off.

RSR is another story. The stand-by line can be brutal

 

[brightlined]

Radiator Springs and Space Mountain both have Single Rider Lines? That'd save me a lot of time in the future, and that's one LL I don't have to buy too. Only have to pay for RotR then.

Per a suggestion from a FreshBaked piece a few months ago, I've been getting in the standby line for ROTR right at 9:15am, and the wait has been between 30 and 45 minutes, regardless of what the sign says. I think that's around when the rope-drop group has gone through and everyone else is off doing something else. (And I suspect there are very few LLs issued for the morning hours.)

For the sake of full disclosure - I've only done it a couple of times so far. (Most often, I'll peek over as I'm passing by and see if the line is minimally outdoors. That's usually under an hour, if not 45 minutes or less.) But, with an MK, I can't imagine buying an LL for ROTR again.

 

[twodogs]

Radiator Springs and Space Mountain both have Single Rider Lines? That'd save me a lot of time in the future, and that's one LL I don't have to buy too. Only have to pay for RotR then.

Yes they do! Sometimes SM isn't open for Single Riders, but I think it has been lately. Someone here can hopefully chime in (@WonkaKid maybe?). RSR Single Rider can still get a line, but it is vastly shorter than the stand by line and usually vastly shorter than the ILL$ line also. You can ride it multiple times with a pretty short wait most of the day!

Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run also has a pretty quick Single Rider line, though you may usually get placed as the Engineer (my favorite since I feel less motion sick if I am not the pilot). The Matterhorn single rider line can move slowly since it seats 3 in a ride vehicle, so that allows for more flexibility to seat groups and less openings for singles. But it is still usually far shorter than Stand By. Webslingers is usually a very quick wait in Single Rider, and that can save a lot of time at DCA.

If you are able to get to the parks much earlier than you did this time, and use Single Rider, I think you will have a much better experience and get on many more rides, no matter what day of the week you visit next time.

 

[soniam]

Touring Plans initially predicted a 5 for yesterday but actually saw a 9. So, yeah, it was busy. Not sure how you could have predicted that or why it was so busy.

EDIT: They did note that about 8% of the ride capacity was unexpectedly down.

 

[Foxhound3857]

Yes they do! Sometimes SM isn't open for Single Riders, but I think it has been lately. Someone here can hopefully chime in (@WonkaKid maybe?). RSR Single Rider can still get a line, but it is vastly shorter than the stand by line and usually vastly shorter than the ILL$ line also. You can ride it multiple times with a pretty short wait most of the day!

Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run also has a pretty quick Single Rider line, though you may usually get placed as the Engineer (my favorite since I feel less motion sick if I am not the pilot). The Matterhorn single rider line can move slowly since it seats 3 in a ride vehicle, so that allows for more flexibility to seat groups and less openings for singles. But it is still usually far shorter than Stand By. Webslingers is usually a very quick wait in Single Rider, and that can save a lot of time at DCA.

If you are able to get to the parks much earlier than you did this time, and use Single Rider, I think you will have a much better experience and get on many more rides, no matter what day of the week you visit next time.

Alas, I'm too lazy to get there any earlier than that. I set my alarm for 7AM and was out the door by 8. I'm not a morning person, at all. 9am is a normal wakeup time for me.