Save time by eating!

Walt Disney World Touring Plans
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I was, for the fun of it, playing around with an Animal Kingdom Touring Plan for a similar day in May this year to match what we’d probably do in 2020.

Anyhow, after adding all the attractions I’d want, I optimized the plan a few times, and got the total wait time down to about 359 minutes. I included two rides on FOP and two on EE.

I also did some moving things around and doing evaluate, but this resulted in times of closer to 380 minutes.

Finally, I decided to include two meal times…one for lunch around 11 am and one for dinner around 5 pm.

To my surprise, the total wait time dropped to 336 minutes. That’s a savings of 23 minutes waiting after adding in a total of an hour for eating.

This suggests that optimizing for waiting isn’t really optimized. It would be nice if TP would optimize the shortest wait times and then highlight where there are breaks that can be filled with other things (such as eating, having snacks, etc).

This also got me to wondering if it would be helpful to SUGGEST places to eat that are along the path between to two attractions, or near one of the two attractions, if there is a break. When I was adding in the eating, it made me choose. But generally, I’d want to pick something that is near where I’m if I’m just doing quick service. So, I had to find out where I’d be and then pick something in that area manually.

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I’ve thought of this too. Suggest a place to eat on my route.

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That would be very helpful, esp for people (like me!) who don’t know where everything is or what is most convenient.

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Yes! And include average wait/eating time. I find I always have to have a map open for this kind of thing.

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From the looks of things, optimize is doing something akin to arranging rides FIRST to fill up the next available time with the least wait (or well, least wait opportunity). But that isn’t necessarily what I’d want it to do.

For example, if I have a simple plan with rides X, Y, and Z, and set a starting time of 9:00 am, then it will likely put rides X, Y, and Z in the most efficient order, but not leave gaps. So, if wait times are, respectively, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 40 minutes, then the optimized plan comes to a total wait time of 90 minutes, first riding staring around 9, and the entire plan done by 10:30 (well, plus ride/walking time).

But, let’s say that the wait time for ride X is actually 10 minutes at noon, and ride Y has a lowest 10 minute wait at 2:00, and ride Z has a wait time of 30 minutes at 4:00. If I hit optimize, then, what I’d like to see is that I am free from 9:00 to noon. Then, I do ride X at noon. Then I’m free until 2:00, at which point I do ride Y. Finally I have free time until 4:00. In this way, I’m only waiting a total of 50 minutes.

The downside to this is that I have a bunch of empty space in my plan…but now I know I can fill in those spaces with anything I want. In this way, I can flesh out my plan.

Of course, it would be more complex because there would be far more than 3 rides in the plan…but even if I had 8 rides in the plan, I’d want the plan that gives me the lowest wait time and leave open breaks for me to decide what to do with.

I realize this is a non-trivial request. But I can’t figure out how to get TP to ACTUALLY show me the best plan where my wait times are minimized.

ETA: Another advantage to this functionality is that it would allow me to see, for example, that perhaps wait times are so long in the mid-afternoon that it would put most of the rides up front or near the end with a big gap in the middle. I could then see that there is a 3 hour gap (for example)…which is enough time to leave the park and rest and then head back in.

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336-359 minutes, in one day? That’s 5-6 hours in line. Is this for Memorial Day?
Wow, I do not have that kind of wait in me. May the force be with you!

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That is about 7 attractions (two times on FOP, twice on EE, Navi, etc.) plus four shows.

I’m not saying this is our actual plan. I’m just playing around for now.

This is not Memorial day. Wednesday after Mother’s day.

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But if the park is open 12 to 14 hours, that is less than half the day waiting in line. This actually sounds promising to me. :thinking:

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Yes. 12 hour day, half the day in line. 1 hour devoted to eating. And 2 hours listed as “Free”.

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Oh, wow, you guys are made of better material than I am. I’m the kind of person who. stands in front of the microwave and yells “Hurry!” :rofl:

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:rofl:

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ME TOO!! And my kids are even worse LOL.

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Yes, well. I’m at a Disney Park. I have to fill my time doing SOMETHING! :wink:

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I have my own decidedly unique attitude toward park days. Not everyone needs to be a commando. It’s the only way I feel fulfilled.

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I don’t know, man. I’m thinking Nomad Lounge sounds better. I don’t care what it is , I am not waiting hours for ANYTHING except maybe the Pope but I already saw him once, so maybe not!

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That’s a steep cover charge… :wink:

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Yep, but as always, it’s a question of value! There’s a lot to do in the queue, too. :smile:
I mean, you know, seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was all right.

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Well, why bother going to Disney, then?

Well, when I’m at Cedar Point, waiting 1 1/2 hours for Millennium Force is fairly normal. Of course, not all rides deserve such waits. The longest I ever waited for a ride was 2 1/2 hours. But it wasn’t worth it. Millennium Force I waited 2 hours when it first opened. I’d still wait that long if necessary, although obviously I prefer not to!

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I meant the cover charge for Nomads Lounge.
I’d see the Sistine Chapel! Maybe even the Pope? But only after I’d ridden EE three times…

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I’m going to Disney because there’s a lot of things there that I can’t see/do anywhere else. I can go see/do other Disney things without waiting in line.