How long is too long to wait in line?

We've waited for an hour during busy times, but we play "line games" to pass the time.

I rarely wait more than 30 minutes. We usually go at off times and 30 minutes for anything except Space Mountain should be less than that.

Wife and I usually go during the "slower" times and a half hour is just about our limit for a wait time. I have found in my experience that the estimated wait times posted at the attractions are usually conservative and that the wait times are shorter than stated.

That's a really good point. A lot of times when we're there in the off times, we see "30 minutes" and it really means 10-15. But when it's busy, it still says "30 minutes" but it actually means 30 minutes in this case, which is a surprisingly long time when you're not used to it. I can't even imagine waiting in line an hour for a ride. I'd just come back the next morning!

I've found that the whole "we'll come back to this later" philosophy can actually add time to your wait due to how large WDW is and the time you spend walking around. We look at the weight time and say do it or skip it, the flipping point is usually 1 hour for us. (of course use fast passes when you can.)

I definitely agree that "coming back" can often mean just adding 20 minutes of walking to get the same wait. If something's terribly long we usually just get a fastpass and go ride some "short wait" rides while we wait. Each of the lands usually has something with a quick moving line like Pirates or Buzz Lightyear.

When we say we'll "come back," that's always when the ride/attraction/store falls into an unretrievable abyss of doom, never to be returned to!

Yeah "come back" usually means: Tomorrow at the earliest.

Hi,

I think I waited an hour (without Fastpass) for Soarin'. Most of the time, if the wait time is more than 30 minutes, I'll skip it.

Jim

We'll only wait a long time for a new ride (ie Toy Story Mania) or the BIG ones like Soaring and Space Mt. Even then, we do what we can to find quick ways to get on them. The reason we're usually willing to wait for Soaring is the Fastpass is SO out of the way to get to from the rest of the park that by the time you get there you don't want to go ALL the way out and then come ALL the way back in later!

We didn't even get to Rock and Roller Coaster this last trip because the lines were so ridiculous (at least an hour) and we never got to the Studios early enough to get the FastPass for it. That ride just isn't worth anything more than a Fastpass wait!

As far as the posted times - we went on ToT twice - once when it was posted at 40 minutes and took about 30, once when it was posted at 30 and was practically walk on...

My limit is usually an hour, and that's only for big rides or favorites. I've found, as many of us have, that waits longer than that can detract from your overall enjoyment of the ride. For long waits, we too, find ways to entertain ourselves.

The longest I would even consider waiting is 30 minutes. And only for a ride I really, really, really wanted to go on. But usually there's a FastPass for those rides.

That's pretty close to my rules too. Even if the trip is during a busy time, I'd rather just try again later than spend 45 mins in a line. Most "30 minute" waits in my experience turn out to be less anyway.

oct 09 when we went, we never spent more than 30 mins in a line. It was like we had the park to ourselves. I thought it was amazing. I look at all the pics of the huge crowds, I dont think I could do it. If I waited for more than an hour to get on a ride, I would have to ask someone to slap me!
Really though, going any other time of year seems foolish to me.....

15-20 Minutes for a ride & no more than 30 for an e-ticket..and that's if I'm in a really good mood. If I'm hot and cranky all bets are off!
This is why I love the FastPass.

Thats why I love going in January, I think the longest we eveer spend in a line during that trip is for Soarin which is usually about 20 min. Other then that everything is about 5-10. Oh yeah, forgot about TSM now, that could still be 90 minutes.

Going in early December we rarely have to wait more than 20 mins. Sometimes we go through the queue so quickly there is not time to take in any of the detail.

Last year and our previous visit in 2007 were about the same overall. At the moment it looks like being a couple of years before I can conduct further research

You should apply for a grant so you can do your research more regularly!

When we were in college we went in January and it was the BEST time we ever had. I remember Splash Mountain had about a 15 minute wait in the middle of the afternoon & FastPass times would only be about an hour away.

30 minutes is generally our limit, though on occasion we've waited in line 60 minutes for Soarin' or Toy Story Mania. But that's rare. We get to the park 30 minutes before opening, have a plan for what we want to ride, then anything after that is gravy and will depend on the wait time. If a wait time is too long and we don't have a FastPass, we move on to something else. Works well when we stay for 14 days and hit each park at least twice.

Our worst experience ever was at Universal a few years ago. The Hulk. It was about and hour and a half - we did it only because we were only there for one day and we kept thinking it would go faster. The park was packed with kids for end-of-the-school-year class trips, and it was a disaster.

If I go to a non-Disney park and see a bunch of people wearing similar shirts or being dropped off via bus, I just turn around and leave. Roving bands of teenagers are the worst!

Oh NO! And I bet the ride wasn't even worth it.

The Hulk is an awsome coaster. Fast and twisty with lots of inversions and it seems to go on for ages.

Isn't that the one that splashes through water? The problem is that those coaster rides are always over SO fast.