Disney World Sees Super High Wait Times Today
Disney World has its busy and slow seasons, but there are always exceptions and anomalies. For example, we usually expect the days around the 4th of July to be very busy, but this year the wait times were surprisingly low.
On the other hand, there are days in the slower seasons that still see very high wait times. And, that’s what’s happening today in Disney World!
Disney World Crowds
Disney World wait times have been pretty low recently. This is usually a slower time of the year with kids getting back to school.
However, today is a federal holiday making this past weekend a long weekend. This is one of those times when you will see more people in the parks even though we’re technically in a slower season.
And honestly, the wait times today kind of blew my mind! I know it’s a holiday, but it still seemed a bit over the top when it comes to how long some people stood in line today.
I checked in on how things were going around 11AM this morning. In Magic Kingdom, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had an 105 minute wait, while Space Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise were at or near hour long wait times.
In EPCOT, both Test Track and Soarin’ had wait times of 80 minutes. That’s pretty high for Soarin’!
Even more surprising, MISSION: Space had a wait time of 45 minutes and Nemo had a 40-minute wait — this ride is regularly a walk-on!
Walking around the park, it didn’t seem like certain areas were very busy, like over near Japan.
But, when we got to the area around the World Showcase Plaza, we found all of the people!
In Hollywood Studios, Slinky Dog Dash was at a whopping 160 minute wait. A lot of other popular rides followed close behind.
Alien Swirling Saucers at 85 minutes is madness! We usually don’t see that unless it’s the peak busy season.
Animal Kingdom kept up with the high wait times as well. Flight of Passage was at a 105 minute wait, Na’vi River Journey was at 90 minutes, Kilimanjaro Safaris was at 60 minutes, and Expedition Everest was at 50 minutes.
Even wilder is that the wait time to meet Mickey and Minnie was 80 minutes!
So, could we attribute this to just a busy morning? Well, I checked back on the parks around 1PM and things were still very high.
Magic Kingdom’s wait times went down for some rides, but stayed the same for others. Although, this was definitely looking more manageable.
EPCOT saw Frozen Ever After jump up to a 130 minute wait! Even Test Track went up to 90 minutes, but Soarin’ did go down to 55 minutes.
In Hollywood Studios, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster had a 190 minute wait time — YIKES! This is very high for this ride.
Tower of Terror and Rise of the Resistance also remained at over 100 minute wait times.
We could definitely see why the times were so high once we got to Hollywood Studios. It was pretty packed with people!
And, in Animal Kingdom Flight of Passage went up to a 170 minute wait and the Safari went up to 95 minutes. The other attractions didn’t decrease in time very much.
What’s really interesting is when we checked on things a little after 3PM in Magic Kingdom. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pans Flight still had high wait times, but everything else was all the way down at 45 minutes or below.
In EPCOT, lines remained high with Frozen Ever After at 105 minutes and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at 85 minutes.
Hollywood Studios saw the same, with Slinky Dog Dash at 145 minutes, Rise of the Resistance at 135 minutes, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at 110 minutes.
And, Animal Kingdom was still seeing pretty high wait times — Flight of Passage was at 110 minutes.
So, why did wait times decrease so much only in Magic Kingdom? One theory I have is that people visiting Disney World for the long weekend wanted to visit the parks one last time before they left, and they chose Magic Kingdom.


Pumpkins on Main Street, U.S.A.
It’s the most popular park, so this makes sense anyway. It really does seem like people went to see Cinderella Castle one last time and get on a few rides before leaving to go home.


Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom
We’ll keep an eye on how this plays out for the rest of the week. Will a lot of people have extended their long weekends or did they go home? We’ll have to wait and see!
Stay tuned for more Disney World news and updates!