Walt Disney World Wait Times for Second Week of December 2021
When we talk about the calm before the storm, we’re referencing weeks like this.
During the first two weeks of December, Walt Disney World provides its usual respite from the real world.
Credit: Disney
People happily escape to the Disney Bubble and have a grand time. However, the situation changes in a few days.
This Friday represents the final workday of the year for many people. So, thanks to that newly found free time, folks are heading to Orlando.
So, wait times are about to spike dramatically. But, before they do, let’s get a baseline by evaluating the wait times for the second week of December.
Ten days from now, we’ll think of this time as the good ol’ days.
Photo: MickeyTravels.com
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Realistically, the wait times have already started creeping up. Longtime Disney fans know that the first week of December presents the best opportunity.
That’s the downtime between Thanksgiving and Christmas when the holiday decorations remain, but the tourists aren’t overwhelming the place.
To wit, Avatar Flight of Passage increased from 76 to 93 minutes this past week.
I haven’t checked the data ahead of time, but I fully expect that trend to continue for everything else.
(Kent Phillips, photographer)
Thankfully, Na’vi River Journey remains the same at 73 minutes. So, there’s that. But, unfortunately, Kilimanjaro Safaris is also creeping up.
The world’s greatest Jeep ride increased from 48 to 55 minutes. For this reason, I expect the rest of the chart to consist of similar or longer wait times.
Photo: Disney
Let’s examine the rest of Animal Kingdom to check:
- DINOSAUR – 28 minutes, up 1
- Expedition Everest – 27 minutes, up 5
- TriceraTop Spin – 14 minutes, up 4
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 13 minutes, up 2
Yes, everything at Animal Kingdom either maintained or increased slightly. For this reason, the average attraction wait increased from 37 to 42 minutes.
Image Credit: Disney
Sure, the jump may not seem like much, but guests waited 14 percent more last week than the first week of December.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
As usual, Hollywood Studios remains the wild card. We can tell plenty about what’s happening at Walt Disney World by studying the crowds here.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance increased to 153 minutes, which is more than 2 ½ hours of line time. That’s up 14 minutes or right at ten percent.
On the plus side, Slinky Dog Dash actually dropped five minutes. Its average wait of 85 minutes is higher than at this time last year.
Image Credit: Disney
However, the pandemic was keeping away more guests then. So, that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.
Here’s the rest of Hollywood Studios:
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 73 minutes, no change
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 71 minutes, up 6
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 69 minutes, up 10
- Toy Story Mania! – 63 minutes, up 1
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 54 minutes, down 6
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 38 minutes, down 4
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 29 minutes, down 7
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 19 minutes, up 4
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 13 minutes, up 2
As you can see, Hollywood Studios fared a bit better than Animal Kingdom. Some of its wait times decreased a decent amount.
For this reason, the average wait time dropped three minutes to 48 minutes. That bodes well for EPCOT.
EPCOT
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure remains available only by Lightning Lane or virtual queuing. So, I’m still not listing it.
Demand for the attraction remains strong enough that I’m not expecting Disney to switch to a standby queue until the first quarter of 2022 at the earliest.
Here are the rest of EPCOT’s wait times:
- Frozen Ever After – 95 minutes, up 11
- Test Track – 50 minutes, up 7
- Soarin’ Around the World – 44 minutes, no change
- Spaceship Earth – 20 minutes, up 5
- Living with the Land – 18 minutes, up 2
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 17 minutes, no change
- Mission: SPACE – 16 minutes, up 4
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 15 minutes, down 1
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 13 minutes, down 2
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 10 minutes, no change
The average EPCOT attraction required a 30-minute wait, up a modest two minutes from last time.
Image: Disney
Magic Kingdom
Let’s examine the data at Magic Kingdom. Then, I’ll summarize everything.
- Jungle Cruise – 82 minutes, down 13
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 77 minutes, down 5
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 75 minutes, down 7
- Haunted Mansion – 50 minutes, down 5
- Splash Mountain – 48 minutes, down 5
- Space Mountain – 46 minutes, no change
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 43 minutes, up 2
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 43 minutes, up 4
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 42 minutes, up 2
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 42 minutes, down 2
- Astro Orbiter – 40 minutes, up 6
- It’s a Small World – 36 minutes, down 6
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 34 minutes, down 1
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 29 minutes, up 11
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 28 minutes, down 4
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 26 minutes, down 4
- The Barnstormer – 25 minutes, down 2
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 23 minutes, up 1
- Mad Tea Party – 21 minutes, up 3
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 20 minutes, up 1
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 19 minutes, up 3
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 18 minutes, down 1
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 17 minutes, no change
- Country Bear Jamboree – 11 minutes, up 6
- Town Square Theatre – 11 minutes, down 3
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
The average Magic Kingdom attraction came with a wait of 35 minutes, down a minute from last time.
Final Thoughts
So, the overall trend at Walt Disney World involved slightly but not dramatically larger crowds.
More attractions increased in wait time than decreased, but it was closer than I’d feared.
Only five attractions experienced increases of 10+ minutes. That’s usually a sign that everything maintained rather than spiked.
Next week’s wait times should include longer waits. But, then, the following week’s waits may cause your eyes to pop out of your head.
Welcome to the holiday season, my friends!
Feature Image: Disney
