ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Like scores of other Disneyland fans, Craig Yoshihara has developed his own time-tested technique for avoiding long wait times for rides in the park.
The pastor from Dinuba, Calif., who visits at least once a month, rushes in as soon as the gates open and quickly heads to Space Mountain and Star Tours before hitting other popular rides. He walks in a counterclockwise direction around the park _ against the tide of visitors _ and avoids the queues between lunch and dinner time, when the park is most crowded.
"I don't think most people spend the time looking at flow patterns in the park," Yoshihara, an annual pass holder for nine years, said of his strategy. "It's really good to do your research first."
There is good reason for such efforts. Average wait times at the Disneyland Resort have been on the rise over the last few years, despite efforts by the park to ease crowding by raising ticket prices on peak demand days and expanding a ride reservation system, among other changes.
In fact, Disney has faced queuing problems for so long that it has become a pioneer in line management, dating from the early days of the park when it used stanchions and tape to create switchbacks that are now widely used at airports and theme parks worldwide.
A Los Angeles Times analysis found that the average wait time for the resort's most popular rides in the first six months of the year was 24.4 minutes, a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2015 when the park posted record-high attendance numbers.
In the first six months of the year, the ride with the longest average wait time at Disneyland was Space Mountain, at 65 minutes, up from 48 minutes in the same period in 2015, according to the analysis.
The ride may have gained popularity because the park revamped the attraction in late 2015 to include characters and scenes from "Star Wars" movies. The "Star Wars" overlay ended June 1.
At adjacent California Adventure Park, Radiator Springs Racers had the longest average wait time, 86 minutes, up from 73 minutes in the first six months of 2015.
