Walt Disney World Wait Times for the Second Week of September 2022
You may recall that park wait times dropped significantly last week, even though it was technically a holiday.
Labor Day symbolically represents the last day of summer in the United States. After the holiday ends, theme parks witness an attendance decline.
So, the wait times for the second week of September should be significantly lower than last week. I have family members telling me that’s true, but are they right? Let’s find out!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
I can tell you right now that the parks were less crowded this past week, albeit not by a significant amount.
For example, Avatar Flight of Passage guests waited an average of 58 minutes, which is five minutes lower than last time.
Similarly, Na’vi River Journey required a wait of 54 minutes, down three minutes week over week. That’s how the park looks overall.
Here’s the rest of the data:
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 42 minutes, up 2
- Adventurers Outpost – 38 minutes, down 3
- Kali River Rapids – 37 minutes, down 9
- Expedition Everest – 25 minutes, down 5
- DINOSAUR – 18 minutes, down 4
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
- TriceraTop Spin – 6 minutes down 1
So, the attractions generally went down, just not by a lot. There’s a point of diminishing returns that comes into play here.
Also, the Pandora – The World of Avatar attractions blow the curve and thereby inflate the overall park wait time averages.
For last week, guests stood in line for 32 minutes, three minutes less than Labor Day Week.
What I’m accepting as I read these numbers is that the “slow season” this September may not be as slow as we had witnessed before the pandemic.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
As usual, we’re not expecting Hollywood Studios to follow any other trends. This park does its own thing.
People come here for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Even during the off-season, its crowds won’t drop a significant amount.
As proof, look no further than Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This attraction averaged a wait of 91 minutes, which is down seven minutes.
Still, we’re talking about a wait of an hour and a half for the attraction. And it’s not the only Hollywood Studios ride over an hour.
Here’s the data:
- Slinky Dog Dash – 80 minutes, up 10
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 65 minutes, up 3
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 63 minutes, up 12
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 60 minutes, up 5
- Toy Story Mania! – 58 minutes, up 8
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 48 minutes, down 2
- Red Carpet Dreams – 42 minutes, up 4
- Meet Sulley at Walt Disney Presents – 38 minutes, down 2
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 37 minutes, up 2
- Celebrity Spotlight – 24 minutes, up 4
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 19 minutes, up 5
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 14 minutes, up 4
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
Yes, most Hollywood Studios increased from the holiday week, which isn’t typical behavior at theme parks in September. But, as I said, this park marches to its own drum.
Overall, guests waited an average of 42 minutes, an increase of five minutes from Labor Day Week.
Anecdotally, I have both friends and family vacationing at Walt Disney World right now.
Each group confirmed that the other parks are fine, while Hollywood Studios remains crazy.
EPCOT
First, EPCOT officials have made no mention of adding a standby queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Last year, Disney waited until late September to do so for Rise of the Resistance.
I’d hoped they might switch sooner for Cosmic Rewind, presuming they do, which isn’t guaranteed.
Alas, that hasn’t happened yet. Until it does, the other attractions at the park will experience longer waits.
Frozen Ever After once again heads the list of the longest waits at EPCOT.
For the past week, guests waited an average of 61 minutes. That’s a one-minute drop, which means it’s about the same as last time.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure similarly decreased by one minute to 49 minutes. Was the rest of EPCOT similarly flat? Let’s see!
- Test Track – 43 minutes, down 3
- Royal Sommerhus – 20 minutes, down 1
- Soarin’ Around the World – 20 minutes, down 2
- Mission: SPACE – 16 minutes, down 2
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 10 minutes, down 2
- Living with the Land – 8 minutes, down 5
- Spaceship Earth – 8 minutes, down 3
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 6 minutes, up 1
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 6 minutes, down 4
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 5 minutes, down 2
Overall, guests waited just 19 minutes per EPCOT attraction. That’s two minutes less than last time. But, more importantly, it’s indicative of guests having a great time at EPCOT!
Magic Kingdom
Okay, we’ve got one more park to cover. Here are the Magic Kingdom wait times for last week:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 55 minutes, down 9
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 51 minutes, down 13
- Jungle Cruise – 42 minutes, up 2
- Town Square Theater – 38 minutes, down 4
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 30 minutes, up 2
- Haunted Mansion – 28 minutes, up 4
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh — 24 minutes, up 2
- Space Mountain – 23 minutes, up 9
- Splash Mountain – 22 minutes, up 8
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 21 minutes, no change
- Astro Orbiter – 18 minutes, down 2
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 14 minutes, up 1
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 14 minutes, up 1
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 10 minutes, no change
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 9 minutes, down 2
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 7 minutes, no change
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 6 minutes, no change
- The Barnstormer – 5 minutes, no change
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 5 minutes, no change
- It’s a Small World – 5 minutes, down 1
- Mad Tea Party – 5 minutes, no change
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 5 minutes, down 2
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 5 minutes, down 4
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 5 minutes, no change
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Last week, I mentioned that walk-on rides are anything that’s 10 minutes or less on average. Once again, Magic Kingdom hosted 12 such attractions. That’s amazing!
Overall, guests waited an average of 22 minutes, which is a drop of three minutes from Labor Day Week.
More importantly, it’s one of the lowest totals we’ve tracked at Magic Kingdom in recent memory.
When you can ride eight attractions in three hours, you’re doing phenomenally well!
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Feature Photo: Disney