Recently I gushed about some of my favorite queues at Walt Disney World. You know the ones I’m talking about – The attractions where waiting is almost as much fun as riding! Boy, I’m a huge fan of Disney’s efforts towards making the wait actually part of the attraction, the storyline, the amusement. I seriously adore what they’re doing with queues these days.
There are a few attractions though…I hate to say it, but I avoid the standby lines like the plague. Even after bragging, right here on this very blog, that I’m all Zen with the waiting when I’m in the Disney Bubble. It’s not uncommon for me to see a 40 minute wait time and say, “Heck, yeah! Let’s do this!” I have SO many must-do rides, but have found that I’m actually good at staying in the here and now…appreciating that I’m on vacation at my most beloved home away from home. I don’t mind waiting…usually.
You may be asking – What’s the deal, Lisa? You’re a pretty big Disney fan and yet you just admitted that you…YOU must have a FastPass for certain rides or what? You won’t wait? You’ll walk away? Seriously?
It’s just that there are certain attractions with standby lines I find I try to avoid if at all possible. I’ll rope drop, FastPass, late night, rainy day – take advantage of everything imaginable to avoid waiting there. In those lines. Tell me you don’t have a few of those on your own touring plans.
I’ll list my top three and explain what I find so…avoidable:
1. Soarin’ – If I could just bring a snack or something. I adore Soarin’, but pretty much need a FastPass to ride. I’ll go early in the day, but if the wait is more than 30 minutes, I can’t bring myself to do it. I’d rather go sit at Sunshine Seasons and nosh on a chocolate croissant while The Fam carries on without me. Even with the queue upgrades to add some interactive elements, it’s industrial, cold, boring and causes me to drain my cell phone battery to kill the time by surfing the interwebs, tweeting, checking Facebook, etc. The Soarin’ standby line kills my cell phone – that’s it in a nutshell. The cell phone battery effect.
2. Toy Story Midway Mania – I’ll freely admit that I have classic ADD. It’s okay. I’m used to it. But when I hit the standby line at TSMWM, it’s like stepping into my own brain. I’ve always got a lot going on – in full, living Technicolor. I’ve got a heck of an imagination, am constantly thinking about one topic after another – like a pinball bouncing around in an arcade machine. I’m fine with waiting for TSMWM…at first. The colors, the huge toys and games, Mr. Potato Head talking incessantly – all fun and exciting in the beginning, quickly become much too much. No can do, ride queue.
3. It’s a Small World – I actually love the “Happiest cruise that ever sailed”. I don’t care that the song sticks with me for days, I don’t care that there are hundreds of dolls in there. We’re the same age, remember? 1964 New York World’s Fair – my family visited the fair the summer before my arrival and experienced the original ride (technically, I suppose I did too)! What kills me in this line is that awesome clock! I wait for it to do its thing and in between “performances”, I start to notice stuff. Things that make me twitch. A man and woman having an argument, parents looking the other way while their little ones misbehave, some unfortunate tattoos – I can’t help it! It’s best I avoid waiting here if at all possible.
What about you? What standby lines to you avoid? Which ones to you love the most?
I confess, I guess I’m jaded, I won’t wait in any line for any ride for more than 30-45 minutes tops. Even ToT, my favorite. I just say, “Catch you next time” and move on.