Fantastic Walt Disney World September Park Strategies
Welcome to September, the second-slowest month at Walt Disney World each year!
While Disney has claimed near-record crowds in 2022, falling behind only 2019 in terms of traffic, we’re about to witness a change.
After Labor Day, the parks should thin out enough that you can target some rides that you might otherwise skip.
Let’s talk about Walt Disney World theme park strategies by discussing nine rides you should target this month!
Avatar Flight of Passage
Mainly, this list will consist of the Disney attractions that require the longest waits.
I’ve excluded anything with Single Rider as an option, thereby ruling out Test Track, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, and a few others.
Virtually everything else factors into the conversation here. Still, some choices are obvious.
Those of you who read MickeyBlog’s wait time articles know that Avatar Flight of Passage consistently comes with the biggest crowds at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Seriously, off my head, I can only recall two instances where it didn’t average the longest wait over the past calendar year. It’s that memorable when it happens.
In September, the wait for Avatar Flight of Passage could drop under 45 minutes! Before you laugh and say no way, I’ll add this data point.
During the second and third weeks of September 2021, the ride’s average wait was 39 minutes!
Just a couple of weeks ago, it was nearly two hours! This statement alone demonstrates how much better September park visits are!
Frozen Ever After
While the percentage drop isn’t as dramatic at EPCOT’s top attraction, much of what I just said also applies here.
For the past two months, guests have stood in line for 75-90 minutes for Frozen Ever After.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s worth the wait to visit Arendelle for a while. Plus, the line queue’s theming is spectacular.
Still, when your choices are standing in line for 90 minutes vs. less than 40, you know what to do.
During the middle of September last year, Frozen’s average wait fell to 38 minutes! However, since we’re post-pandemic now, I doubt it will get that low in 2022.
You shouldn’t have to wait for long, though!
Na’vi River Journey
Okay, here’s a potentially divisive one. Some folks have it in for Na’vi River Journey, which is annoying to me.
I think this ride embodies the height of Disney Imagineering. It’s a breathtaking exploration of the dangerous jungles of Pandora.
I highly recommend it to everyone, although I suggest that people set their expectations since I know some dislike it.
Two weeks ago, guests waited for an average of 70 minutes for Na’vi River Journey. Even I don’t like it that much.
Conversely, people last September stood in line for only about half that time. If you’ll wait 35 minutes for Mad Tea Party, you should wait that long for this one!
Peter Pan’s Flight
Okay, here’s the quirkiest selection on the list. I say this because Peter Pan’s Flight is such a short ride.
Many guests simply don’t like the math of waiting 80 minutes for a 150-second ride. I respect the logic you’re using on this subject.
Thankfully, those numbers shrink in half in September.
Seriously, on average, guests only waited 40 minutes for Peter Pan’s Flight during the middle of the month in 2021. It’s worth that kind of wait!
After all, Peter Pan’s Flight is one of the few attractions that Walt Disney personally commissioned in the 1950s!
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
I don’t possess a point of comparison for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. That’s because the ride didn’t open until October 1st, 2021.
Still, I can say for sure that guests have waited a minimum of an hour for this ride for the body of a year.
This September, I fully expect the waits to fall in the same range as the other E-ticket attractions I’ve mentioned. So, yes, that would be 40 minutes or so.
Friends, people in Paris were waiting for two hours to ride this for the body of five years! Forty minutes is a steal!!!
That statement goes double for lovers of Ratatouille the movie. If you’re as charmed by the Pixar classic as I am, this ride will warm your soul!
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Here’s an obvious one. Anyone who has visited Magic Kingdom over the past eight years knows that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the alpha.
Nine times out of ten, guests will wait longer for this attraction than anything else. I’d say a fair estimate is 80-90 minutes on most days.
In September, that number drops to 50 minutes or so. Yes, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train’s waits will likely go above those of Avatar Flight of Passage.
The explanation involves throughput and demand. Frankly, it’s pretty rare for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train’s wait to fall below 50 minutes.
So, you should be happy with that total! As always, you can Rope Drop if you want to beat the rush, so to speak.
Slinky Dog Dash
This attraction also falls under the heading of better but still not great. In fact, Slinky Dog Dash might still require a 60-minute wait.
At that level, you’re still doing 50 percent more than usual, though. Again, the explanation here involves throughput.
While a short ride, Slinky Dog Dash doesn’t operate many roller coaster trains. There’s a maximum number of vehicles than can go on the tracks simultaneously.
As such, you can do better than usual here. You may still feel a bit annoyed by your wait, though.
As you’ll see, there’s another Disney’s Hollywood Studios ride that follows the same logic.
Splash Mountain
Okay, this one will blow your mind. Last week, Splash Mountain averaged a wait of 59 minutes.
For the middle weeks of September 2021, people only needed 27 minutes (!) to hop on the happiest log flume ride on Earth.
For comparison, Tomorrowland Speedway required a 29-minute last week.
So, you can ride Splash Mountain times during a September Magic Kingdom visit.
My one note is that Disney has confirmed that the attraction is on its last days. So that may boost attendance more in 2022 than last year.
Still, I expect Splash Mountain to hover in the 35-minute range for most of September, which is spectacular!
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Like Ratatouille, this ride requires some projection. Believe it or not, Rise of the Resistance still used a virtual queue last September!
Hollywood Studios switched to standby queues for the final week of September. So, I only have one week of data, and it’s flawed.
As you might imagine, guests flocked to Rise of the Resistance to ride it without a Boarding Group requirement.
Instead, I’ve used some other data to hazard a guess here. I know the Star Wars ride hovered over two hours a couple of weeks ago.
During the one week we tracked last year, the standby queue dropped to 74 minutes. I suspect that’s about 20 minutes high.
I think you should expect to wait about 55 minutes or so in September. Yes, that’s less than Slinky Dog Dash…and under an hour!
A year ago, none of us could have imagined riding Rise of the Resistance in under an hour…unless we paid for Lightning Lane!
That’s what you’ll love about a Walt Disney World September visit. The lines will be Lightning Lane-sized without Lightning Lane pricing!