Just read this article in which the author writes of waiting in line with his kids for the Frozen Ever After attraction. Waiting in line for 3 hours. In Florida heat of 91 degrees. With a huge number of young children wilting under the oppressive sun.
Come on, there has to be a better way to manage this. Couldn’t they ask people to book a time in advance? There, waiting time abolished! Apart from being pounced on by an alligator it seems that dying of heat stroke is another of the risks taken when you visit Disney World.
When we took our kids a decade ago, they had a system called “Fastpass” (IIRC). You couldn’t actually book a time, but you could swipe a card and get a receipt for some future time (usually an hour or so) and return then to avoid standing in line.
Disney isn’t stupid. They long ago figured out that people standing in line have their wallets in their pockets. This violates everything Disney stands for.
There are FastPass options. There’s also going in the off season, or following the instructions laid out in “The Unofficial Guide to Disney” which offers multiple ways to plan your day around lines (seriously, we followed the instructions to the T and walked onto all but one ride the entire 10 days we were there; we even went on rides multiple times).
Disney does a really good job of line management- setting the lines up through winding interactive displays, having misting fans during the summer, etc. There will always be rides that will draw the bigger crowds; if you’re going at the height of tourist season and don’t expect line waiting to happen, and you’re not willing to avail yourself of the FastPass (which I think are called Magic Bands now), then it’s on you.
Disney is increasingly doing what they can to eliminate off-season–higher rates at peak times, incentives at “off” times, etc.
That being said, summer is still a busy time, what you’d be seeing here is a combination of it being summer, this being a ride that is absolutely brand-new, a brand-new ride that is actually having several technical issues that are causing frequent short-term closures, and one that is for something that is still a very, very popular movie.
You can get Fastpass+ reservations for this 1-2 months early online, but those are in limited numbers (balancing act–the more of those that they have, the longer the standby lines get), so if you don’t get one, or don’t know about it, standby is what you have to deal with if you want to ride that.
(and just to make the wait seem even more hard to fathom, if you’re not familiar with the new Frozen ride but had been to Epcot previously, this is a reworking of the old Norway boat ride)
My daughter stood in this line just a few days ago. She said it was long, but comfortable, and many of the people in line were occupying themselves with Pokemon Go, as she was. Apparently the parks are a good place to play the game - lots of walking and lots of people. Go figure.
When I found myself at Disneyland/world Paris 25 years ago I waited in line for 30 - 45 minutes once or twice and then decided it wasn’t worth it and only did stuff that didn’t have a line. Still good fun although I wouldn’t recommend going in the middle of summer even in Paris. And food and drinks were obscenely expensive.
Fastpass is indeed free. You get three of them, and can get more one-at-a-time after that.
The problem with the Frozen ride is that it’s in Epcot and is tacked on to the Norway land. It’s not a major ride in and of itself (like Soarin’ or Test Track) so the line isn’t inside of the structure where the ride is. Some of it is yes, but since the ride is so new and popular they have to bring the queue outside.
Also, good luck getting a Fastpass for it as the times have been booked for the next two months (and counting!)
No, the package dealer just added to their marketing materials to make the deal sound even better. Or they screwed you, if it was actually a separate line item they made you pay for.
Note that if you’re staying at a Disney hotel, you can book your fastpasses up to 60 days in advance, but if you’re not, it’s only 30 days in advance. Which has led to people booking a 1 night throwaway room (or camping site) to get that 60 day access, since the most popular attractions (it was the Elsa/Anna meet & greet when we went last year) get booked up right at the 60 day point.
Last time we went - admittedly, 10 years bck - I found the Fast Pass thing nearly useless. It was only for some rides, you could only have one going at once (maybe two?), and as the day went by the wait for your fastpass slot would become longer and longer - e.g. swipe your card at noon and get a slot for 4 PM.
This was during high season (July). Our kids were 9 and 12 at the time. I think we may have ridden 4-5 rides each day when all was said and done.
Disney World in high season is an exercise in misery.
Unfortunately, when you’ve got kids, you have to go on school breaks - and that’s when everyone ELSE with kids has to go as well.
Back in 1987, we were there in October - this was pre-kids - and it was wonderful. Never waited more than 5 minutes for any ride. We’ve been talking about going back there some day now that the kids are adults (of sorts; both still live at home) and we can leave them behind.
BTW, I don’t think Disney raising prices during heavy seasons is part of any effort to move the crowds. It’s simply a recognition that they’ll charge what the market will bear during that time. Lowering them during off seasons may well be an effort to attract more people who have that flexibility.
One of the reasons I love the “year round” schools where we live where the standard 12 week summer vacation is split up into 4 x 3 week vacations. All our vacations are off-season.
Disney has figured out that if they can make the kid really want something, the parent(s) will do a lot to give it to them. They are, first and foremost, a business and like any other business they want people to spend money on their movies, parks and merchandise.
Other amusement parks do this too. Its the same principle. Disney is very VERY good at this. In fact, many of the things you see at any amusement park (turnstyles, back-and-forth lanes for lines, entertainment while you wait, etc) were probably invented by Disney.
Another advantage of staying at a Disney resort is the “magic hours”, times before or after the regular park opening, when only those staying at a Disney resort can visit one of the parks.
I went in 2008, where I met my brother, his wife, their two kids and my mother. We were there for a week over the kids’ spring break and we had a great time. My mother had bad knees (still does; still hasn’t scheduled the knee surgery) so she used a scooter we rented from an outside company. That allowed us to jump ahead of some of the lines. For the most part, we chose whichever ride had shorter lines, but we particularly enjoyed the test track ride and did it several times.