diff --git a/services/frontend/tests/e2e/boards-swipe.motion.spec.ts b/services/frontend/tests/e2e/boards-swipe.motion.spec.ts
index 15528e1b3..7f36d9d6a 100644
--- a/services/frontend/tests/e2e/boards-swipe.motion.spec.ts
+++ b/services/frontend/tests/e2e/boards-swipe.motion.spec.ts
@@ -243,9 +243,13 @@ test.describe("dragging the board page", () => {
     // arrived board's node in the middle of the window.
     await expect.poll(async () => (await scrollsAsked(page)).at(-1)).toBe("smooth")
     await expect.poll(async () => Math.round(await scrolled(page))).not.toBe(Math.round(opened))
-    const node = (await page.getByTestId("board-node-3").boundingBox())!
-    const box = (await page.locator(SCROLLER).boundingBox())!
-    expect(Math.abs((node.x + node.width / 2) - (box.x + box.width / 2))).toBeLessThan(24)
+    // Polled rather than read once: the poll above answers the moment the smooth scroll starts,
+    // so a single reading is taken somewhere along the travel rather than at the end of it.
+    await expect.poll(async () => {
+      const node = (await page.getByTestId("board-node-3").boundingBox())!
+      const box = (await page.locator(SCROLLER).boundingBox())!
+      return Math.abs((node.x + node.width / 2) - (box.x + box.width / 2))
+    }, {message: "the arrived board's node off the middle of the window"}).toBeLessThan(24)
 
     // A hit on one of the strip's own nodes is what it always was: the line does not move at
     // all, because the node the visitor aimed at would slide out from under their finger.
diff --git a/services/frontend/tests/e2e/committee-save.spec.ts b/services/frontend/tests/e2e/committee-save.spec.ts
index 82942fd1c..a402324b4 100644
--- a/services/frontend/tests/e2e/committee-save.spec.ts
+++ b/services/frontend/tests/e2e/committee-save.spec.ts
@@ -34,19 +34,16 @@ test.describe("the committee manager", () => {
       return route.fallback()
     })
 
-    // Waited for before the page is opened, so a save that lands early is not missed — which
-    // means its budget also covers opening the page. A cold dev server compiles this route on
-    // the first visit, and on a loaded runner that alone outran the default five seconds.
-    const saved = page.waitForRequest(
-      request => request.method() === "PUT" && /\/committees\/900$/.test(new URL(request.url()).pathname),
-      {timeout: 60_000},
-    )
-
     await page.goto("/committees/manage")
     await page.getByTestId("committee-edit-btn-900").click()
     await page.getByLabel("Committee name").fill("Events Committee Renamed")
     await page.getByLabel("Description").fill("A description long enough to satisfy the rule.")
 
+    // Opened here rather than above the page: the five second budget is for the submit and the
+    // request it makes, and a window opened earlier spends it on the load and the two fills too.
+    const saved = page.waitForRequest(
+      request => request.method() === "PUT" && /\/committees\/900$/.test(new URL(request.url()).pathname),
+    )
     await page.getByTestId("committee-form-submit-btn").click()
 
     const request = await saved
diff --git a/services/frontend/tests/e2e/esports-season-drag.motion.spec.ts b/services/frontend/tests/e2e/esports-season-drag.motion.spec.ts
index b970d1d84..c75afa854 100644
--- a/services/frontend/tests/e2e/esports-season-drag.motion.spec.ts
+++ b/services/frontend/tests/e2e/esports-season-drag.motion.spec.ts
@@ -347,9 +347,13 @@ test.describe("dragging a game's page between seasons", () => {
     // arrived season's node in the middle of the window.
     await expect.poll(async () => (await scrollsAsked(page)).at(-1)).toBe("smooth")
     await expect.poll(async () => Math.round(await scrolledIn(page, STRIP))).not.toBe(Math.round(opened))
-    const node = (await page.getByTestId("esports-season-node-63").boundingBox())!
-    const box = (await page.locator(STRIP).boundingBox())!
-    expect(Math.abs((node.x + node.width / 2) - (box.x + box.width / 2))).toBeLessThan(24)
+    // Polled rather than read once: the poll above answers the moment the smooth scroll starts,
+    // so a single reading is taken somewhere along the travel rather than at the end of it.
+    await expect.poll(async () => {
+      const node = (await page.getByTestId("esports-season-node-63").boundingBox())!
+      const box = (await page.locator(STRIP).boundingBox())!
+      return Math.abs((node.x + node.width / 2) - (box.x + box.width / 2))
+    }, {message: "the arrived season's node off the middle of the window"}).toBeLessThan(24)
 
     // A hit on one of the strip's own nodes is what it always was: the line does not move at
     // all, because the node the visitor aimed at would slide out from under their finger.