Walt Disney World Wait Times for Third Week of May 2023

Walt Disney World slowed down in the days leading up to Mother’s Day.

Did that trend continue this past week? Based on everything I’ve heard, the answer is yes.

Photo:visitorlando.com

The marvelous thing about Walt Disney World is that the stories don’t always align with the facts, though.

So, here are Walt Disney World’s wait times for the third week of May 2023.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

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Have you wondered why rumors are heating up about an Animal Kingdom expansion? The answer is obvious to those who pay attention.

In 2017, Pandora – The World of Avatar opened and thereby reinvigorated Animal Kingdom overnight. To this day, guests flock to the park for this land.

In fact, Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom is akin to Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls, with everyone rushing to Avatar Flight of Passage.

That expansion turns six years old this week! Every other American Disney theme park has opened at least one new E-ticket attraction since then!

Meanwhile, Animal Kingdom has closed more rides than it has opened! Remember Primeval Whirl? Well, it existed, I swear.

So, guests continue to flock to Avatar Flight of Passage because it’s so far beyond anything else at Animal Kingdom.

This past week, guests waited for an average of 72 minutes to tour Pandora by Banshee flight. That’s one minute less than last time.

Similarly, Na’vi River Journey required a 67-minute wait, which is two minutes less than during Mother’s Day Week.

Photo: Disney

Here are the other Animal Kingdom wait times for this past week:

• Adventurers Outpost – 39 minutes, no change
• Kali River Rapids – 28 minutes, no change
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 29 minutes, down 2
• Expedition Everest – 24 minutes, no change
• DINOSAUR – 18 minutes, down 7
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
• TriceraTop Spin – 7 minutes, down 2

Photo: Disney

Overall, guests stood in line for an average of 31 minutes this past week, which is three minutes less than during Mother’s Day Week.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

I think of Hollywood Studios as the anti-Animal Kingdom. Disney zhuzhed it up with several E-ticket attractions, most recently Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

The maxim “if you build it, they will come,” definitely proved correct here, as it’s arguably Disney’s second-most popular theme park.

Much of the appeal stems from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its alpha attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Photo: ScreenCrush

For the past week, guests waited for an average of 73 minutes, 12 minutes less than last time.

Here are the park’s other average wait times for the past week:

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 55 minutes, down 1
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 54 minutes, down 4
• Toy Story Mania! – 51 minutes, down 2
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 37 minutes, no change
• Red Carpet Dreams – 35 minutes, down 4
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 29 minutes, down 3
• Celebrity Spotlight – 18 minutes, no change
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 13 minutes, up 3
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 10 minutes, no change
• Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change

Okay, let’s acknowledge something significant here. Only ONE attraction required an average wait of 60+ minutes!

Hollywood Studios sometimes has as many as seven rides with 60-minute waits. So, this past week was stunningly slow compared to park norms.

Guests waited for an average of 35 minutes, which is three minutes less than last time. Not that long ago, the average wait was 60 minutes.

If you were at Hollywood Studios this past week, you had a great day!

EPCOT

Photo: WDW Magazine

Obviously, we’re trending downward here, and I wouldn’t expect much to change at EPCOT.

This park’s wait times should remain relatively static until Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind finally offers a standby queue.

Photo: Disney

Here were EPCOT’s average waits this past week:

• Frozen Ever After – 65 minutes, down 1
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 55 minutes, down 5
• Test Track – 52 minutes, down 1
• Royal Sommerhus – 31 minutes, down 1
• Soarin’ Around the World – 29 minutes, down 1
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 19 minutes, up 1
• Mission: SPACE – 17 minutes, no change
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 13 minutes, up 2
• Spaceship Earth – 12 minutes, down 3
• Living with the Land – 11 minutes, down 1
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 10 minutes, up 2
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 8 minutes, down 1

Overall, guests at EPCOT stood in line for 25 minutes per EPCOT experience, which is one minute less than last time.

Magic Kingdom

Okay, the trend is clearly shorter lines at the other three parks this past week. How was Magic Kingdom?

Here are the park’s average wait times:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 71 minutes, down 3
• Peter Pan’s Flight – 65 minutes, down 2
• Space Mountain – 52 minutes, down 3
• Jungle Cruise – 50 minutes, down 6
• Haunted Mansion – 41 minutes, down 2
• Ariel’s Grotto – 37 minutes, up 1
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 35 minutes, down 2
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 33 minutes, up 2
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 33 minutes, down 2
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 30 minutes, down 3
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 29 minutes, down 1
• Astro Orbiter – 28 minutes, no change
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 27 minutes, down 2
• Town Square Theater – 27 minutes, down 5
• It’s a Small World – 25 minutes, no change
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 23 minutes, down 3
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 22 minutes, down 2
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 19 minutes, down 1
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 17 minutes, up 2
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 16 minutes, up 2
• The Barnstormer – 15 minutes, down 2
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 14 minutes, up 2
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 12 minutes, down 4
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 10 minutes, down 2
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 9 minutes, down 2
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 8 minutes, down 1
• Mad Tea Party – 7 minutes, down 3
• Country Bear Jamboree – 5 minutes, no change
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Photo: Disney

Final Thoughts

Credit: Disney

First, we should acknowledge that Ariel’s Grotto possesses renewed interest right now in the wake of The Little Mermaid’s opening in theaters this weekend.

Also, Magic Kingdom was the ONLY Walt Disney World park this week that had multiple attractions with hourlong waits. You know Disney is slow when that’s the case.

Overall, guests waited for an average of 26 minutes, which is one minute less than last time.

The parks should remain slow for another three weeks or so until kids finish school. However, there’s one massive caveat in the middle of that.

Memorial Day Weekend crowds should be huge, which means this week’s wait times should increase significantly.

Photo: MickeyBlog

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Feature Photo: Disney