iPhone App Aims To Cut Theme Park Wait Times

Now an iPhone can do more than just help you kill time while waiting in theme-park lines: it can help you avoid them altogether.

Jacksonville father of four Brent Pope, 44, released a series of applications called Wait Watchers, which shows wait times for Disney and Universal theme-park attractions -- and costs 99 cents per theme park....

The applications depend on parkgoers to keep the information up to date. Using Global Positioning System technology, the application allows users to submit a wait-time update only if they are in the theme park.

Think you can shoo away crowds by greatly exaggerating a ride's wait time? Think it would be funny to say the hardly ever crowded Carousel of Progress has a 110-minute wait? Pope's prepared for that and will block an iPhone ID if a user gets flagged multiple times for sending totally wrong times....

Disney has been working on it's own mobile magic with Verizon Wireless for several months to create a richer application that would allow Verizon customers to get updated information on attraction wait times, as well as locate shows, restaurants and Disney characters in the parks. It also will let guests play mobile games and get messages from Disney characters.

The application will be released sometime in 2009, according to Disney. And there will be some mobile features available for park guests without Verizon....

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