Why such a long wait for NEMO at park opening?

[andypooh]

Is NEMO in fantasyland? I wouyld think that if you run right to this ride when the park opens there should be no wait?

[mook3y]

Isn't the queue is in Tomorrowland?

If you were first into the park I would think you would be one of the first in line.

[grego77]

Not necessarily. The queue is very confusing and when the park opens, some CMs aren't quite awake yet, causing people to scramble going in different directions trying to find the line and where it ends.

I went right over to it when the park opened and STILL had to wait around an hour. The reason for the long lines is not actually the AMOUNT of people waiting (that's actually a normal amount for any ride)...the problem is only 9 subs run. They run in groups of 3, and can't go until all 3 are ready. It takes roughly 8 mins to unload and redload the subs, and the ride itself is around 15 mins. When you add the fact that only around 25 people can be in any sub, you are bound for LOOOONGG waits.

It's a great ride, but not worth waiting for over an hr in MHO.

[mook3y]

Wow...

I am guessing because of the new show they have to run 3 at a time? That seems odd to me, but... i have not been able to see it yet.

Boy, the wait during the day could be bad enough on the old version of the ride.

Let me guess... with the new Nemo theme, the line probably doesn't drop way off at night anymore?

[ChipDale]

The Subs always have been a very slow-loading attraction. You have to go down a very narrow spiral staircase (and get back up the staircase when it's over).

The attraction is located in Tomorrowland.

[Carol]

Anyone gone during Early Entry? What have the wait times been like during that hour??

I'd hate to spend the whole hour in line -- but I do want to go on the attraction.

[andypooh]

i assume if the ride is in tomorrowland you cannot go during early entry. that is for fantasyland only, correct?

[Mufasa]

Some Tomorrowland attractions such as Buzz Lightyear, or Space Mountain along with the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage will open for Early Entry, although generally EE is focused on Fantasyland attractions depending often on things like anticipated crowd levels.

The Nemo Subs will operate with up to 8 submarines in the fleet, and they don't have to be dispatched in groups of 3 (it is possible to dispatch only 1 or 2 depending on how many subs are operating and how the operations panel has been configured).

Dispatching the submarines in groups of 3 at a time allows for a more efficient loading process, but as has been pointed out in this thread they are a slow loading attraction, with limited capacity since each sub carries a maximum of 40 guests.

A tip for the submarines and loading- if you're the first person to enter the sub from either the front or the back staircase, be warned that those seats have a bit more limited headroom since they're situated next to/under the spiral staircase and that could bother some adults.

If you're a hotel guest and are able to get out on that first monorail into the park as part of EE, then you could have an advantage since you disembark right at the submarine voyage entrance.

The lines sometimes will tend to taper off in the early evening in response to people going for dinner or waiting for the parades/fireworks and the attraction remains open past Disneyland's scheduled closing time for up to 2.5 hours but I don't think it's ever been that long right at closing.

Generally the shortest waits I've seen during a day have been between an hour to hour and a half but usually it seems to hover around 2.5 hours on most days (perhaps that tends to be most people's maximum limit with their patience for how long they'll wait for an attraction).

[BrerGnat]

The wait is actually LONGEST the first couple hours of park opening.

I arrived inside the park via the second monorail of the day last Friday at 9:15am. By the time I disembarked the monorail, the line was 3.5 hours!!! I am not joking...this was not an early entry day. In a short 15 minutes, it seems as if everyone who entered the park went straight to Nemo.

On the positive side, there were NO lines on ANYTHING else until roughly 10:30 am. I walked onto Dumbo after a 5 minute wait at 10:40...that is unheard of.

According to the CM's I have spoken to, the best time to ride Nemo is:

-Right before the afternoon parade
-Right before the Fireworks
-Around 10pm, right AFTER the fireworks

Forget trying to get on the first monorail of the day if you want to ride Nemo first thing. The monorail has not been very reliable lately, you might catch it on a day that only one train is running, or it's down right at opening time.

If you are dead set on riding Nemo first thing, do it on an EARLY ENTRY weekday, if possible. Be at the FRONT GATE, not the monorail, 1 hour before park open.

Don't head for Tomorrowland. Head to the LEFT of the Matterhorn (where the Alice in Wonderland ride is). That is closer to the ride entrance than if you enter through Tomorrowland. The LOADING area is in tomorrowland, but the LINE entrance is in Fantasyland!

[Chescat]

We started our quest for Nemo at 2:00pm and boarded the submarines at 4:15pm. We saw the line was only at the old autopia area by the matterhorn (I know that sounds funny but it looked short to us from the other lines I've seen). We had been told it was 1:45 min wait when we started.

Over half the time was in some shade so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just your back starts giving out at some point.

Frustrating thing I saw was when you get to the bottom to the "one hour wait" area, that's where they let in the wheelchair people or others. We saw many people sneaking in line there as the cast members unhook the chain to go to the next section. We had some sneak behind two people behind us. We almost had a riot there. I told a cast member but nothing was done. We confronted this family of 10 but got the usual we don't speak english so we ignore you. This is so unfair when this happens. Been seeing more and more of it last few years. (We screamed at a guy on the hotel monorail. He pushed his way past all of us and I said there is a line here. He said we will all get on. I said no we won't and made such a scene he had to back off. As we left the station, we saw him standing there at the gate and he flipped us off)

[2Epcot]

The lines sometimes will tend to taper off in the early evening in response to people going for dinner or waiting for the parades/fireworks and the attraction remains open past Disneyland's scheduled closing time for up to 2.5 hours but I don't think it's ever been that long right at closing.

Generally the shortest waits I've seen during a day have been between an hour to hour and a half but usually it seems to hover around 2.5 hours on most days (perhaps that tends to be most people's maximum limit with their patience for how long they'll wait for an attraction).

According to the CM's I have spoken to, the best time to ride Nemo is:

-Right before the afternoon parade
-Right before the Fireworks
-Around 10pm, right AFTER the fireworks

I visited the park on Saturday with my brother and his family. We ended up getting to the park late after a long day at Sea World the night before. When we arrived around 11:30am we were told by a CM the wait was 2 hours. We did what was mentioned by others, we went back at 10:45 at night after the fireworks. The CMs said the line was the shortest it had been all day. It still took between 60 and 90 min. to get on the sub.

[SebastianTDS]

I just went to DLP 4days in a row from Wed to Sat last week.
Most of those days, I got to the main gate about 45min before the park open.
(I was a early entry guest so I mean I was there at 7:15 on Thu and 6:15 on Sat)

I never run in the park so I just walked slowly to Fantasyland and took some pics, enjoyed seeing the park awake....then 45-60minutes wait for NEMO. Always.
I only took once, 45min wait. As someone said, it's an awesome ride but NOT worth for 90min wait, in my opinion.

So just get to the park 1hour before open.
Only 1h would make your day wonderful!
Be sure to go forward to the Matterhorn and then to the SmallWorld...You can see the line on your right

[Lizzie]

I am going in August and than again in December. So I am thinking I should plan on skipping it in August, and since we are going at the beginning of December I am hopping the line should be shorter than.

[BrerGnat]

Lizzie, that should work out well. Early December is a great time to visit and if you go during the week, hardly no crowds until later in the month, closer to Christmas.

I still think Nemo will have lines averaging 1 hour or so, just due to the low capacity/slow loading nature. Very old, but popular rides like Peter Pan and Storybook Land Canal Boats usually have a wait between 30min-1 hour, year round.

I will keep everyone posted as to how the wait time for Nemo is (or is not) decreasing with time, since I visit about weekly, year round.

[BklynChick]

Thanks so muchfor giving us the most direct route (I was going to post on this) and agreeing to keep us posted on the queue. Hopefully things will calm down a bit by October.

[WDWizard]

I hope the crowds die down by early August when I go! I would hate to miss Nemo Subs during my visit.

[NYdaily]

At this point, I think the average wait time is until September.