Walt Disney World Wait Times for Memorial Day Week 2023
Okay, Memorial Day is officially in the books.
As usual, Disney’s American theme parks witnessed large crowds during the holiday.
However, we also heard a few whispers that this holiday weekend wasn’t as crowded as some we’ve seen.
What were the Walt Disney World wait times for Memorial Day Week 2023? You may be surprised…
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney100 Sign
I’ll start with a caveat. While I don’t know when this article will publish, we’re only covering the timeframe through Sunday, May 28th.
So, Memorial Day itself won’t factor into the wait times until next week.
Keeping that in mind, we should still expect significant increases in wait times.
Photo: YouTube:MouseSteps / JWL Media
I mean, you’d spend the holiday at Walt Disney World if you could, right?
Proving this point, Avatar Flight of Passage experienced a 25 percent increase this past week.
Guests stood in line for 90 minutes, 18 minutes more than last time.
Similarly, Na’vi River Journey increased to 72 minutes, which is five minutes more than the previous week.
Photo: D23
Here are the other average wait times at Animal Kingdom last week:
- Adventurers Outpost – 39 minutes, no change
- Expedition Everest – 33 minutes, up 9
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 31 minutes, up 2
- Kali River Rapids – 29 minutes, up 1
- DINOSAUR – 25 minutes, up 7
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
- TriceraTop Spin – 10 minutes, up 3
Overall, guests waited for an average of 38 minutes, which is 7 minutes or 23 percent more than last time.
Also, every attraction either maintained or increased its wait.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
At Hollywood Studios, we have a bit of a surprise at the top.
As sometimes happens, Slinky Dog Dash has risen to the top of the wait time list.
Photo: TheCoasterKings.com
Guests waited 87 minutes on average, which is 15 minutes longer than last time.
As a reminder, this sometimes happens with this attraction, as its throughput is hard-locked at the upper boundary.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the attraction that ordinarily requires the longest wait, required an 81-minute wait, eight minutes more than last time.
Photo: ScreenCrush
How were the other attractions? Let’s take a look:
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 64 minutes, up 10
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 63 minutes, up 8
- Toy Story Mania! – 58 minutes, up 7
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 56 minutes, n/a
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 53 minutes, up 16
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 37 minutes, up 8
- Red Carpet Dreams – 36 minutes, up 1
- Celebrity Spotlight – 19 minutes, up 1
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 16 minutes, up 3
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 13 minutes, up 3
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 10 minutes, no change
Photo: Disney
Overall, guests stood in line for 41 minutes on average, which is six minutes more than last time.
The one noteworthy change here is that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith reopened after a recent refurbishment.
So, we’re back to having more attractions with longer waits. Like Slinky Dog Dash, Aerosmith’s throughput isn’t as high as some of the other rides here.
So, I don’t consider the average wait at Hollywood Studios to be problematic for a holiday weekend. If anything, I’d describe it as reasonable.
EPCOT
Photo: Disney
At EPCOT, the usual suspects rounded out the top three.
Frozen Ever After required the longest average wait at 71 minutes, which is six minutes more than last time.
Meanwhile, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure spiked 13 minutes week-over-week. On average, guests waited 68 minutes at the France pavilion.
Photo: Disney
At Test Track, people stood in line for 61 minutes, nine minutes more than the non-holiday week.
Here are the other average waits at EPCOT last week:
- Soarin’ Around the World – 38 minutes, up 9
- Royal Sommerhus – 31 minutes, no change
- Mission: SPACE – 21 minutes, up 4
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 19 minutes, no change
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 18 minutes, up 5
- Spaceship Earth – 17 minutes, up 5
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 14 minutes, up 4
- Living with the Land – 12 minutes, up 1
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 10 minutes, up 2
Photo: WDW Magazine
Overall, guests stood in line for 31 minutes, which is six minutes more than last time.
I’ll also point out that it’s rare for EPCOT to host three rides with average waits of an hour. So, this park was definitely more crowded than usual.
Magic Kingdom
Okay, we can tell that wait times are up overall at Walt Disney World.
How about Magic Kingdom? Here are the average waits for the holiday week:
- Slinky Dog Dash – 86 minutes, up 15
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 71 minutes, up 6
- Space Mountain – 58 minutes, up 6
- Jungle Cruise – 54 minutes, up 4
- Haunted Mansion – 46 minutes, up 5
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 45 minutes, up 10
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 40 minutes, up 7
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 39 minutes, up 10
- Ariel’s Grotto – 38 minutes, up 1
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 37 minutes, up 7
- Astro Orbiter – 34 minutes, up 6
- Town Square Theater – 33 minutes, up 6
- Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 30 minutes, up 3
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 29 minutes, up 7
- It’s a Small World – 28 minutes, up 3
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 27 minutes, up 4
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 26 minutes, up 7
- The Barnstormer – 23 minutes, up 8
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 21 minutes, up 9
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 20 minutes, up 6
- Walt Disney World Railroad – 19 minutes, up 3
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 17 minutes, no change
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 16 minutes, up 6
- Mad Tea Party – 15 minutes, up 8
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 14 minutes, up 5
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 12 minutes, up 4
- Country Bear Jamboree – 5 minutes, no change
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Photo: Disney
Guests at Magic Kingdom waited for an average of 32 minutes, a six-minute increase from last week.
To a larger point, every attraction at Walt Disney World either increased its wait time or stayed the same. And most of them went up.
That’s the holidays for you at Walt Disney World!
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