Originally Posted By busymomof3 Wow! 5 days in the park last week, and it seems like the line never got shorter. What's the best time to get there? My kids are 2, so we can't torture them in an hour long line.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Usually if you go to Fantasyland right at park opening, that's the best time to avoid long lines on Peter Pan and the other dark rides.
Originally Posted By Lightning Bry Kar2oonMan is right. get there right when the park opens and its the shortest then.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 If you're there multiple days, like it seems you were, and you had multi-day park hoppers, you should have had one day of early entry; that's a particularly good time to do it. But everybody's right; right after opening is the only time to avoid a long line, unless it's a particularly light day. Once in a while, right before closing will be okay too, but you can't count on that.
Originally Posted By nemopoppins But, even when the line is long, it's not really an hour. It just feels that way. I think I've not waited more than 1/2 hour. Except when the line is beyond the chains and the ropes, which then if you come later it will go back to normal.
Originally Posted By Westsider People consistently overestimate the length of lines by dramatic amounts at Disneyland. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people look at the Pirates line with the first switchback of extended queue set up past the bridge and say "Jeezus! Look at that line! It's over an hour long!". And then when we collect the wait time cards for the end of the day the length of the line at that point was actually 14 minutes. When the full courtyard in front of Pirates is completely full the line is 9 or 10 minutes long. We put the sign at 15 minutes just to be safe and no one believes us. They look at it and say "That's more like a 45 minute wait, right? You kids should change that sign!". We don't argue with our valued Guests, so we just smile and nod and say "Yes sir, thank you". Meanwhile us "kids" are busing our tail feathers operating the most efficient attraction in Disney history and cycling through 2,800 riders per hour on Pirates. On an average Saturday we'll load and unload over 40,000 people on that one ride alone. 40,000! In one single operating day! When all three switchbacks behind the house are open at Haunted Mansion that is an 17 to 19 minute line, but people look at it and say "GAWD! That's like an hour and a half line to get on that ride!". The other day a man waited four dispatches at Winnie The Pooh, about a 90 second to 2 minute wait, and he gets on his cell phone and tells his wife "We're doing okay. We only had to wait about 10 minutes to get on this Winnie The Pooh ride. But it's really crowded here! Are you still in Tomorrowland?" As the Mark Twain pulls away from the dock and the Columbia is clearly visible coming around the corner about two minutes away from being moored at the dock, Guests will tell each other "Great, they sent that boat already. It's going to be half an hour before we leave on the next one!". 18 minutes equals an hour and a half at Pirates. 17 minutes equals 45 minutes at Haunted Mansion. Two minutes equals half an hour on the Mark Twain dock. 90 seconds equals 10 minutes at Winnie The Pooh. God help those Cast Members working at Peter Pan's Flight! Look at that line! It must be two hours long for that dinky little line! Disneyland should do something!
Originally Posted By nemopoppins Westsider, have you noticed that sometimes on HM, one side of the line is practically empty and the other side is to the gate? I feel silly just walking past all the waiting people. What could they be thinking and why don't the CM's point people to both sides?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Often they do tell people that both sides are open, but everybody just follows the person in front of them. Whenever I ahve the chance, I will always take the queue that is way short, but I do feel bad about passing so many people along the way. Also, another good time for Peter Pan is just after the fireworks. At least for Remember, they had a line forming during (and just after) the show behind the rope clearing Fantasyland. Once the area opens up, the queues are all escorted to their proper areas, and then the rest of the people are allowed to file in behind that. I did that once and had about a 5 minute wait in the middle of spring break crowds, so it wasn't too bad.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo While I agree for the most part with Westsider’s post, Peter Pan is a slightly different case. Mansion, Splash, Pirates—and most E-ticket attractions—are relatively high capacity. The line might look long warding off many guests, but once in line it becomes pleasantly shorter than expected. Peter Pan on the other hand, is low capacity and looks deceptively short compared to the other popular attractions. Many non-discerning guests will stroll into line without a care and surprised that 30 minutes later they are still two switchbacks from boarding. That’s why I believe it’s always long, people just don’t know what they are getting into. And no, most people don’t believe the “wait†signs, “45 minutes! It doesn’t look a minute over 15. Come on, kids.†As noted, I believe the best time to hit it is right after fireworks. Just make sure you are in line before the fireworks end; it fill up again fairly quickly.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ ^ Really? I've only heard the opposite. "15 minutes? Looks more like 45 to me. I'm not getting in that line!" I'm in total agreement with Westsider. I rode Pirates the day it re-opened after the movie upgrades. Every switchback was open and I got in line at the Mark Twain. It took 20 minutes.
Originally Posted By onlyme Re: Peter Pan line...In order to avoid the long line, you must not only go directly to the attraction at Park opening, but RUN all the way! Kiddies, grannies, strollers, I don't care-get out of my way. It's funny how that attraction is so darn popular. Maybe it's the 'flying'. 5 minutes after park opening, the line is long, and it stays that way 'til closing. There are absolutely no slow periods. But, it's something that I have to do a few times a year. Too bad it's not longer than 45 seconds
Originally Posted By RoadTrip In my experience (admittedly somewhat limited at DL) the line for Peter Pan has always been the longest line in the park. During our last trip to DL we waited about 45 minutes for the ride, and that was about 10:00 at night. But I also agree with those who say that the signs are usually correct or show a time longer than the actual. The sign showed a 60 minute wait when we waited for 45 minutes.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo >>18 minutes equals an hour and a half at Pirates. 17 minutes equals 45 minutes at Haunted Mansion. Two minutes equals half an hour on the Mark Twain dock. 90 seconds equals 10 minutes at Winnie The Pooh. >> and one minute equals about two hours at the restroom . . .
Originally Posted By onlyme >>and one minute equals about two hours at the restroom . . .<< Ah, you've met my wife?
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<^ Really? I've only heard the opposite. "15 minutes? Looks more like 45 to me. I'm not getting in that line!">> Oh yes...when we could only manage to have one (maybe two) tracks operating at Autopia, I would tell guests the line would probably be 20 to 30 minutes. But many would disbelieve it seeming how the line is fairly short. I used to hear these types of things from guests in the off-season fairly often when attractions are at minimum capacity: “Why did it take 20 minutes with such a short line?! It used to be 5! You CMs are horrible!â€
Originally Posted By TheHoop I find it way interesting that there is a career in 'queue management'. It seems there is a LOT more to it than appears to the eye.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I'd say the FaL dark rides (esp. PP and Mr. Toad), Dumbo, the Autopia, and the Sun Wheel are probably the most deceptively "short" lines that will often take longer than those not familiar with them will figure, just looking at the line. While "people-eaters" like Pirates, HM, and Small World will look more daunting than they really are.
Originally Posted By nemopoppins But isnt' the Peter Pan line only 30 minutes unless it's out of the ropes?
Originally Posted By gadzuux I think disney is missing a major opportunity by not capitalizing on the seemingly eternal devotion of the public to the peter pan ride. This attraction could easily be moved to a larger location and turned into something much more ambitious. The same basic ride technology and story, only done on a much larger scale. Imagine gliding over a more thorough rendition of london at night, and then passing behind the clouds to the 'second star on the right' and then swooping down into a vast and wondrous 'never-neverland'. They already know that this ride has timeless appeal. They should step it up a couple of notches and make 'peter pan' one of the signature disney attractions. If they don't, universal certainly could. They had their own peter pan movie a few years back, and it would be an opportunity to "best" disney at their own game.
