Just an update on this for those pondering, I have only just returned to the game after hitting 50 a long time ago, (Think back at the relaunch of XIV) so I have all of the content patches to do.
And I'm queuing and I'm enjoying the story, the fact I MUST do this chain is a feeling of something done rite, The choice made to progress the story to access the heavensward content isn't a hindrance.
Que time varies and I'm no tank however the longest I've had to wait so far is 40 min.