Walt Disney World Wait Times for President’s Day Week 2023
This past weekend included a perfect storm of events at Walt Disney World.
A runDisney event lured many fans to the parks, where they discovered many other guests.
Photo: Disney
Some of them were celebrating a belated Valentine’s Day, while others spent some/all the long President’s Day holiday at the parks.
In short, we know that crowds increased this past weekend. In fact, Disney Genie+ sold out for the first time ever at Walt Disney World.
President’s Day weekend crowds
That happened on February 19th, which means the crowds were likely the largest we’ve tracked in February since the pandemic’s start.
How were the Walt Disney World wait times overall during the third week of February 2023? Let’s brace for the worst as we find out!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Last week, most Disney theme parks experienced moderate attendance surges.
Meanwhile, CEO Bob Iger explained on CNBC that he had restored his preferred behavior at the parks.
Photo: Disney
Iger likes slightly smaller crowds who purchase more for paid extras. While FastPass was free the last time Iger was in charge, Disney Genie+ sellouts fit this strategy well.
So, we always hope that the wait times will remain within the same general range, especially for the next two months or so.
I say this because President’s Day represents the end of Walt Disney World’s slow season. During the upcoming weeks, Spring Break guests will crowd the parks.
In other words, these Animal Kingdom wait times should provide the range until mid-April. Here’s what happened during the holiday week:
Photo: Disney
- Avatar Flight of Passage – 125 minutes, up 8
- Na’vi River Journey – 80 minutes, up 10
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 65 minutes, up 19
- Expedition Everest – 50 minutes, up 14
- Adventurers Outpost – 49 minutes, up 7
- DINOSAUR – 35 minutes, up 10
- TriceraTop Spin – 17 minutes, up 6
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug – 15 minutes, up 5
Photo: Disney
So, every attraction increased its wait time by at least five minutes.
Overall, guests waited for an average of 55 minutes per Animal Kingdom attraction.
Photo: Disney
That’s 11 minutes more than last time and a VERY large number for this park. Uh oh.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Photo credit: DisneyWorldVacationGuide.com
I feel like I’m heading down to the basement in a horror movie right now as I show you the average wait times for Hollywood Studios:
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 114 minutes, up 17
- Slinky Dog Dash – 106 minutes, up 7
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 97 minutes, up 17
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 77 minutes, up 9
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 76 minutes, up 15
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 75 minutes, down 20
- Toy Story Mania! – 71 minutes, up 8
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 44 minutes, up 3
- Red Carpet Dreams – 42 minutes, up 1
- Meet Sulley at Walt Disney Presents – 33 minutes, up 1
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 30 minutes, up 2
- Celebrity Spotlight – 23 minutes, up 1
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
Image Credit: Disney
Okay, one attraction here requires an explanation. Tower of Terror sticks out like a sore thumb on this list because it’s the only attraction down this week.
There’s a reason for that. Disney finished its repairs and opened up all sections of the attraction for the first time in a while.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
So, Tower of Terror operated at full throughput capacity for a change. If not for that, its wait time would have been…a lot. As things stand, it still hosted significantly more guests.
Overall, guests waited an average of 55 minutes per attraction, an increase of five minutes from last time.
Hollywood Studios crowds
Yes, people stood in line as long at Animal Kingdom attractions as those at Hollywood Studios. That hasn’t happened in a while.
EPCOT
Surely, EPCOT was better than those two parks, right? RIGHT? Let’s check:
- Frozen Ever After – 83 minutes, up 9
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 82 minutes, up 11
- Test Track – 68 minutes, up 5
- Soarin’ Around the World – 51 minutes, up 9
- Royal Sommerhus – 35 minutes, no change
- Mission: SPACE – 29 minutes, up 10
- Spaceship Earth – 24 minutes, up 8
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 18 minutes, up 3
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 17 minutes, up 6
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 16 minutes, up 4
- Living with the Land – 14 minutes, down 3
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 13 minutes, up 3
Overall, guests waited roughly 38 minutes per attraction at EPCOT, which is high for this park but low compared to the rest of Walt Disney World last week.
Photo (Earth 911)
Also, Living with the Land was the only ride across the first three parks to reduce its average wait from last week. (We’re not counting Tower of Terror.)
Magic Kingdom
Credit: Disney
We should expect more of the same at Magic Kingdom…but with one exception! A beloved attraction finally returned!
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 94 minutes, up 15
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 84 minutes, up 17
- Space Mountain – 68 minutes, up 14
- Jungle Cruise – 67 minutes, up 12
- Haunted Mansion – 60 minutes, up 16
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 55 minutes, up 10
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 50 minutes, up 13
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 47 minutes, up 15
- Ariel’s Grotto – 45 minutes, up 3
- Astro Orbiter – 41 minutes, up 12
- It’s a Small World – 40 minutes, up 13
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 40 minutes, up 6
- Town Square Theater – 38 minutes, up 8
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 35 minutes, up 16
- Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 34 minutes, up 6
- The Barnstormer – 33 minutes, up 10
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 32 minutes, up 8
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 31 minutes, up 10
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 30 minutes, n/a
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 29 minutes, up 12
- Mad Tea Party – 24 minutes, up 12
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 20 minutes, up 10
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 19 minutes, up 5
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 17 minutes, up 7
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 16 minutes, up 7
- Country Bear Jamboree – 5 minutes, no change
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
The lines for Enchanted Tales with Belle weren’t what I expected for its triumphant return.
Usually, returning attractions claim long lines their first few days back but then settle into a routine.
Ariel’s Grotto
I’m a bit surprised Ariel’s Grotto required a longer wait since it’s been back a couple of weeks.
Overall, guests waited an average of 41 minutes at Magic Kingdom. That’s a spike of 12 minutes per attraction compared to last time.
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