Wait Times for Pre-Christmas Week at Walt Disney World
Okay, let’s get to it. We’ve entered the busiest time of the year at theme parks, especially Disney ones.
Here are the wait times at Walt Disney World this past week. I can tell you that there’s a rubbernecking element here.
You’re gonna wanna look. It won’t be pretty, though.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The last time we published this article, Avatar Flight of Passage averaged a wait of 93 minutes. However, it has *ahem* increased a bit.
Over the last seven days, guests waited 161 minutes for Avatar Flight of Passage.
Somewhere, somebody is bragging about how they rode this attraction three times in an hour in July of 2020. And they’re probably gonna get punched in the mouth for it.
Image Credit: Disney
Thankfully, Na’vi River Journey isn’t that bad, though. This ride required a 72-minute wait, which is actually a one-minute drop from last time!
Okay, it’s not much, but let’s take the win. Here’s the rest of Animal Kingdom:
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 60 minutes, up 5
- Expedition Everest – 50 minutes, up 23
- DINOSAUR – 45 minutes, up 15
- TriceraTop Spin – 22 minutes, up 8
- It’s Tough To Be a Bug! – 20 minutes, up 7
- Kali River Rapids – 15 minutes, n/a
(Kent Phillips, photographer)
Overall, the average Animal Kingdom ride came with a wait of 56 minutes, up 14 minutes from last time.
If you want to go galaxy brain about an Animal Kingdom visit right now, just throw on your swim trunks and ride Kali River Rapids on a loop. Hey, nobody else is doing it!
All kidding aside, this probably isn’t the week to ride Avatar Flight of Passage unless you feel like your vacation is ruined without it.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
This one won’t be pretty. So let’s just pull off the band-aid.
You would have found the longest line at Hollywood Studios at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Sure, that’s usually the case.
The difference here is that these lines stretched for 155 minutes, which is somehow up two minutes from last time.
Image Credit: Disney
There’s a real chance that we’ve reached the theoretical wait time boundary on this one. It might not be able to go beyond 160 minutes. We’ll find out for sure next week.
As usual, Slinky Dog Dash was the second-most popular attraction at the park. It had a 105-minute average wait this week, up 20 minutes from last time.
Photo: TheCoasterKings.com
Here’s everything else at Hollywood Studios:
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 81 minutes, up 10
- Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 71 minutes, up 2
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 69 minutes, down 4
- Toy Story Mania! – 65 minutes, up 2
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 60 minutes, up 6
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 42 minutes, up 4
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 32 minutes, up 3
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 20 minutes, up 1
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
Photo: Disney
Overall, Hollywood Studios rides averaged a wait of 52 minutes, up four minutes from last time.
I suspect that this behavior is similar to Rise of the Resistance. Hollywood Studios probably cannot go much above 65 minutes as a wait time.
Photo: Disney
This #HotTake may look stupid at this time next week. If so, I sincerely apologize.
EPCOT
Frequent readers know that I’m always encouraging park visitors to spend more time here. It’s the best bang for the buck at Walt Disney World.
Did this behavior continue over the start of the holiday season? Well, Frozen Ever After averaged a 102-minute, up seven minutes from last time.
Second place went to Test Track, which increased to 79 minutes this past week. It had been just 50 minutes. So, it spiked huge.
Here’s everything else at the park:
- Soarin’ Around the World – 60 minutes, up 16
- Mission: SPACE – 45 minutes, up 29
- Spaceship Earth – 35 minutes, up 15
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 27 minutes, up 10
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 23 minutes, up 8
- Living with the Land – 20 minutes, up 2
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 19 minutes, up 6
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 14 minutes, up 4
Overall, EPCOT obviously witnessed a significant increase in wait times. For example, the average ride required 42 minutes, which is up 12 from last time.
Yes, that’s the best of the Walt Disney World theme parks thus far. However, it’s much higher than usual at EPCOT. So, it may not have the best bang for the buck right now.
In fact, Animal Kingdom is looking pretty good if you ignore Avatar Flight of Passage while you’re there (or buy a Lightning Lane for it).
Magic Kingdom
I’ll just post the wait times and then talk about the results afterward.
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 106 minutes, up 31
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 91 minutes, up 14
- Jungle Cruise – 85 minutes, up 3
- Space Mountain – 58 minutes, up 12
- Haunted Mansion – 53 minutes, up 3
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 51 minutes, up 8
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 47 minutes, up 4
- Astro Orbiter – 46 minutes, up 6
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 43 minutes, up 1
- Splash Mountain – 42 minutes, down 6
- It’s a Small World – 40 minutes, up 4
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 39 minutes, down 3
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 32 minutes, down 2
- The Barnstormer – 31 minutes, up 6
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 30 minutes, up 12
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 29 minutes, up 1
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 29 minutes, up 3
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 24 minutes, up 1
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 22 minutes, down 7
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 21 minutes, up 4
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 20 minutes, up 1
- Mad Tea Party – 19 minutes, down 2
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 19 minutes, down 1
- Town Square Theatre – 11 minutes, down 2
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 7 minutes, down 4
- Country Bear Jamboree – 6 minutes, down 5
The average Magic Kingdom attraction required a wait of 38 minutes, up three minutes from last time.
Here’s where the depth of Magic Kingdom comes into play. It offers so many attractions that you can usually find several rides with sub-30-minute waits.
So, for a limited time only, Magic Kingdom might be the best choice if you want lower wait times for your attractions!
