Walt Disney World Wait Times for First Week of May 2023

Historically, the month of May has qualified as the slow season at Walt Disney World.

Guests generally plan their travel for the period between Memorial Day Weekend and mid-August.

Image: Disney

But the rules may have changed over the past two years. I wouldn’t describe what we’re witnessing now as Revenge Travel.

People are definitely visiting tourist meccas more often than they were five years ago.

So, I’d ordinarily expect the wait times for the first week of May to drop considerably. In 2023, I’m not so sure…

Let’s find out!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Photo: YouTube:MouseSteps / JWL Media

We’ll start with Avatar Flight of Passage, which has just completed the trifecta.

For the third consecutive week, the average wait for this ride was 84 minutes.

While a statistical quirk, this fact does indicate steady traffic flows at Animal Kingdom lately.

Here are the other wait times at the park during the first week of May:

• Na’vi River Journey – 69 minutes, no change
• Adventurers Outpost – 41 minutes, no change
• Expedition Everest – 36 minutes, up 4
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 35 minutes, up 2
• Kali River Rapids – 31 minutes, up 2
• DINOSAUR – 28 minutes, up 4
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 12 minutes, down 1
• TriceraTop Spin – 10 minutes, down 1

Photo: D23

Overall, guests stood in line for 38 minutes per attraction last week, which is the same as last week.

Anecdotally, I’ve been tracking average wait times for several years now.

Photo by Judd Helms via WDW Magazine

The static behavior at Animal Kingdom has proven the steadiest trio of wait times for any one park I can ever recall.

This sort of consistency is your friend during a park visit. Right now, you KNOW how long you’ll wait at various Animal Kingdom attractions.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Was Hollywood Studios similarly consistent? Yes and no.

The same attraction required the longest line time. It was Slinky Dog Dash, which averaged 78 minutes. However, that’s a sizable drop of 11 minutes from last time.

Similarly, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance finished second but also watched its wait time drop.

Photo: ScreenCrush

Guests stood in line for 75 minutes this past week, which is five minutes less than in late April.

Here are the other wait times at Hollywood Studios:

• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 63 minutes, down 3
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 58 minutes, down 1
• Toy Story Mania! – 55 minutes, down 3
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 52 minutes, down 2
• Red Carpet Dreams – 39 minutes, up 1
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 38 minutes, up 1
• Celebrity Spotlight – 20 minutes, up 1
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 16 minutes, no change
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 12 minutes, down 3
• Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change

Overall, the average Hollywood Studios attraction required a wait of 41 minutes, the same as last week.

EPCOT

Photo: Disney

You’re getting the gist about the park wait time similarities to last week.

Here are EPCOT’s average waits for the first week of May:

Photo: WDW Magazine

• Frozen Ever After – 68 minutes, no change
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 63 minutes, down 1
• Test Track – 58 minutes, down 3
• Soarin’ Around the World – 43 minutes, down 5
• Royal Sommerhus – 33 minutes, up 1
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 18 minutes, up 1
• Mission: SPACE – 17 minutes, down 3
• Spaceship Earth – 15 minutes, down 1
• Living with the Land – 13 minutes, up 1
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 12 minutes, up 2
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 12 minutes, up 3
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 10 minutes, no change

Image: Disney

Overall, guests waited for an average of 28 minutes per attraction. Yes, that’s the same as last week.

Yes, all three parks thus far have duplicated the previous week’s stats. And no, I’ve not seen that before.

Magic Kingdom

Okay, let’s see if we can go four for four! Here are Magic Kingdom’s average waits for the first week of May:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 80 minutes, down 2
• Peter Pan’s Flight — 72 minutes, down 1
• Jungle Cruise – 55 minutes, no change
• Space Mountain – 53 minutes, down 7
• Haunted Mansion – 45 minutes, down 3
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 40 minutes, down 1
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 39 minutes, down 1
• Ariel’s Grotto – 38 minutes, down 1
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 37 minutes, down 5
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 33 minutes, down 4
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 32 minutes, down 4
• Town Square Theater – 32 minutes, no change
• Astro Orbiter – 31 minutes, down 1
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 30 minutes, down 1
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 29 minutes, up 2
• It’s a Small World – 28 minutes, down 2
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 27 minutes, down 1
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 26 minutes, no change
• The Barnstormer – 22 minutes, no change
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 21 minutes, down 2
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 20 minutes, down 4
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 19 minutes, down 1
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 18 minutes, no change
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 17 minutes, up 2
• Mad Tea Party – 16 minutes, up 2
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 15 minutes, up 2
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 12 minutes, no change
• Country Bear Jamboree – 5 minutes, no change
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Overall, guests waited for an average of 30 minutes per attraction, which is NOT the same as last week!

Magic Kingdom’s average wait times dropped by two minutes, thereby preventing us from going four for four. This is why we can’t have nice things!

Photo: MickeyBlog

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Feature Photo: Disney