Walt Disney World Wait Times for Second Week of October 2021
The 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World has come and gone, at least the official date.
The parks will celebrate for another 18 months, though. Even so, the crowds have died down at the parks, right? Err, hold that thought.
Let’s talk about the wait times for the second week of October of 2021.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Prepare for an M. Night Shyamalan-sized shock. The line sizes at Animal Kingdom increased after the 50th-anniversary events on October 1st!


Photo: Disney
As usual, the longest wait came at Avatar Flight of Passage, which had been 50 minutes. However, last week, that number spiked to 83 minutes!
Sure, that one could be an outlier…but it’s not. The second most crowded attraction was Na’vi River Journey went up from 35 to 45 minutes.


(Kent Phillips, photographer)
Remember that these are average wait times, factoring in seven days’ worth of data throughout the day.
So, the evidence suggests a more crowded park, but that could just be Pandora: The World of Avatar, right? Well…


Image Credit; Disney
Expedition Everest increased from 18 minutes to 36 minutes. Yes, that’s double. I’ll explain my theory if this trend continues at other parks.
For now, here’s the rest of Animal Kingdom:
- Kilimanjaro Safaris: 32 minutes, up 16
- DINOSAUR: 22 minutes, up 11
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug!: 16 minutes, up 8
- TriceraTop Spin: 11 minutes, up 5


Photo: Disney
The average Animal Kingdom attraction required a wait in line of 35 minutes, up 133 percent from last week. Eek.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Remember that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance works like all the other attractions at this park.


Image Credit: Disney
As such, we’ll probably lead with it for a while. This week, it’s not even close.
Rise of the Resistance required a wait of 135 minutes, up 45 minutes from last time. So, it increased 50 percent in a week, which isn’t ideal.


Photo: Disney
Slinky Dog Dash spiked from 71 to 101 minutes as well. So yes, Hollywood Studios had two different rides with waits in excess of an hour and 40 minutes.
Folks, it’s not gonna get any better from here. A total of six (!) attractions had hour-long waits at Hollywood Studios last week.


Image Credit: Disney
Here are all the gory details:
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith: 69 minutes, up 24
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run: 65 minutes, up 18
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway: 64 minutes, up 14
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: 62 minutes, up 7
- Toy Story Mania!: 49 minutes, up 9
- Alien Swirling Saucers: 40 minutes, up 7
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue!: 23 minutes, up 9
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy: 15 minutes, no change
- Muppet*Vision 3D: 12 minutes, up 2
Overall, the average Hollywood Studios attraction came with a wait of 51 minutes, up 11.
Tower of Terror isn’t running both sides right now. So, I have an explanation for that one. Everything else is just…people. Lots and lots of people.

EPCOT
Once again, EPCOT proves the sanest of Walt Disney World’s theme parks. Here’s the data:
- Frozen Ever After: 59 minutes, up 19
- Test Track: 55 minutes, up 18
- Soarin’ Around the World: 37 minutes, up 21
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends: 18 minutes, up 10
- Spaceship Earth: 17 minutes, up 9
- Living with the Land: 16 minutes, up 9
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros: 15 minutes, up 9
- Mission: SPACE: 13 minutes, up 4
- Turtle Talk with Crush: 9 minutes, no change
- Journey into Imagination with Figment: 8 minutes, up 2


Image Credit: Disney
The average EPCOT attraction required a wait of 25 minutes, up nine minutes or 56 percent. So, at this point, it’s time to wonder what’s going on.
I believe I have the answer, too. When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened, people braced for massive crowds.
Many didn’t want to put up with the aggravation and waited a few months before taking their trips.


(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
I suspect the same premise applies here. Many customers wanted to enjoy all the 50th-anniversary amenities, but they didn’t want to fight the crowds.
Ironically, they would have done better if they had shown up on or around October 1st. But, instead, it’s the second week of October that has proven brutal.

Magic Kingdom
This theory would collapse if Magic Kingdom didn’t experience a surge. Alas…
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: 78 minutes, up 20
- Jungle Cruise: 77 minutes, up 17
- Splash Mountain: 70 minutes, up 24
- Haunted Mansion: 62 minutes, up 18
- Peter Pan’s Flight: 60 minutes, up 15
- Space Mountain: 55 minutes, up 19
- Pirates of the Caribbean: 48 minutes, up 17
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: 41 minutes, up 13
- It’s a Small World: 41 minutes, up 15
- Astro Orbiter: 40 minutes, up 7
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: 40 minutes, up 15
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 38 minutes, up 9
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid: 34 minutes, up 12
- The Barnstormer: 30 minutes, up 18
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover: 29 minutes, up 16
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant: 28 minutes, up 13
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin: 27 minutes, up 10
- Tomorrowland Speedway: 22 minutes, up 8
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor: 20 minutes, up 5
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel: 19 minutes, up 7
- Mad Tea Party: 18 minutes, up 6
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress: 6 minutes, up 2
- Country Bear Jamboree: 6 minutes, up 3
So, yeah. The average Magic Kingdom attraction came with a wait of 41 minutes, way up from 26 during the 50th-anniversary event.
Will this trend continue throughout October? I’m starting to think yes. After all, the ticket sales for Disney After Hours: Boo Bash suggest large crowds.
Hopefully, next week’s results settle a bit from these, though.