Walt Disney World Wait Times for First Week of February 2022
Okay, Walt Disney World just experienced arguably its most crowded January ever.
The parks remained wild after the holidays ended, something that would have seemed impossible just five years ago.
The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts has profoundly impacted park demand…and the festival isn’t over yet!
So, did crowds grow larger or shrink over the past seven days? Let’s find out in this week’s Walt Disney World wait times!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
I’ll admit that I cheated a bit this week and peeked at a couple of parks, something I rarely do. Suffice to say it’s not gonna be pretty.
Specifically, Avatar Flight of Passage increased its average wait time from 83 minutes to 102 minutes, an unwelcome 19-minute change.
I must confess I’m not surprised by this data. I’ve had friends and family alike at the parks recently.
They’re all longtime Disney vacationers who expressed shock at the size of crowds. Demand for Disney parks is quantifiably higher than ever right now.
I can demonstrate this statement through the rest of the wait times at Animal Kingdom:
- Na’vi River Journey – 62 minutes, up 7
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 57 minutes, 17
- DINOSAUR – 28 minutes, up 3
- TriceraTop Spin – 15 minutes, down 3
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 15 minutes, up 5
- Kali River Rapids – 5 minutes, no change
Overall, rides at this park came with an average wait of 41 minutes, up eight minutes from last week.
So, the first week of February has started around the same level as the middle of January. As a reminder, we’re now finishing the “slow season” at Disney.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
The news is mostly similar at Hollywood Studios.
To wit, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance came with an average wait of 126 minutes last week. That’s an increase of six minutes from last time.
Obviously, Rise of the Resistance remains the most extreme example at the park. However, several other rides experienced increases as well.
Here’s the list:
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 111 minutes, up 64 (!)
- Slinky Dog Dash – 93 minutes, up 6
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 71 minutes, up 1
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 69 minutes, up 13
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 67 minutes, up 7
- Toy Story Mania! – 62 minutes, up 3
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 38 minutes, no change
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 35 minutes, up 10
- Meet Olaf – 25 minutes, n/a
- Meet Minnie – 22 minutes, n/a
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 18 minutes, up 1
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 11 minutes, up 1
The average Hollywood Studios attraction required a 53-minute wait, up 10 minutes from last time.
You can tell how the crowds are just from these two parks. And the trend is toward mobbed!
EPCOT
Despite hosting the Festival of the Arts, EPCOT hasn’t experienced the same traffic as the other parks, at least for its attractions.
People use this park for its social elements more than the other three Walt Disney World gates.
Still, the proverbial rising tide lifts all boats, something the data will demonstrate.
Here are the average wait times at EPCOT for the past week:
- Frozen Ever After – 89 minutes, up 17
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 82 minutes, up 7
- Test Track – 62 minutes, up 5
- Soarin’ Around the World – 39 minutes, up 6
- Living with the Land – 22 minutes, up 6
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 19 minutes, up 5
- Spaceship Earth – 18 minutes, up 6
- Mission: SPACE – 17 minutes, up 3
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 15 minutes, up 6
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 11 minutes, up 2
- Gran Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros – 10 minutes, no change
Overall, the average EPCOT attraction came with a wait of 33 minutes, up four minutes from last time.
Obviously, this average wait is better than the other two parks thus far, but it’s still unusually high for the first quarter of the year at EPCOT.
Magic Kingdom
I think you’ve figured out that Magic Kingdom won’t be much better. In fact, it’s mostly qualified as the most crowded park over the past four weeks.
I mean, Magic Kingdom always possesses more foot traffic than any other park in the world. However, the park rarely feels crowded.
By January standards, Magic Kingdom was mobbed…but February starts slightly better.
Here are the average wait times for the first week of February:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 90 minutes, down 11
- Jungle Cruise – 82 minutes, down 4
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 80 minutes, up 5
- Haunted Mansion – 55 minutes, up 4
- Space Mountain – 50 minutes, down 5
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 45 minutes, no change
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 41 minutes, down 6
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 40 minutes, down 10
- Astro Orbiter – 38 minutes, down 11
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 38 minutes, down 8
- It’s a Small World – 36 minutes, down 4
- The Barnstormer – 32 minutes, down 6
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 30 minutes, down 6
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 28 minutes, down 5
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 26 minutes, down 2
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 25 minutes, down 7
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 24 minutes, no change
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 22 minutes, down 3
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 20 minutes, up 3
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 20 minutes, down 7
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 19 minutes, down 3
- Mad Tea Party – 18 minutes, down 5
- Town Square Theater – 14 minutes, up 2
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, down 1
Overall, Magic Kingdom attractions averaged a 34-minute wait, down five minutes from last time.
Yes, Magic Kingdom and EPCOT attractions came with roughly the same average wait times, which is great!
Feature Image: TheCoasterKings.com