Walt Disney World Wait Times for Second Week of October 2023

Halloween is only two weeks away!

Not coincidentally, Disney theme parks around the world are increasing in popularity.

Tourists are dying to see the park decorations and celebrate the holiday at The Happiest Place on Earth.

How did the influx of crowds impact the parks? Here are Walt Disney World’s wait times for the second week of October 2023.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

During the first week of October, we tracked an average wait of 34 minutes per attraction at Animal Kingdom.

Typically, the park doesn’t experience traffic of that scale during early October.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

This surge in attendance speaks to the love that guests have for Disney Halloween decorations.

Did the trend continue into the second week of October? Here are Animal Kingdom’s average wait times:

• Avatar Flight of Passage – 91 minutes, up 26
• Na’vi River Journey – 70 minutes, up 8
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 49 minutes, up 7
• Adventurers Outpost – 46 minutes, no change
• Expedition Everest – 33 minutes, up 3
• DINOSAUR – 32 minutes, up 9
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
• TriceraTop Spin – 10 minutes, no change

Photo: Disney

So, every attraction at the park either held its average wait time or increased.

Overall, guests stood in line for an average of 40 minutes per attraction, or six minutes more than last time. That’s an increase of roughly 18 percent.

This data aligns with what our park reporters noticed during their daily visits.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios          

Entrance to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

The first week of October signified the first time in a while that Hollywood Studios had shown sizable increases at its most popular attractions.

While the average attraction wait time only increased by two minutes, the unmistakable trend involved longer lines.

Photo: ScreenCrush

Did that pattern continue into the second week of October? Here are the park’s average waits:

• Slinky Dog Dash – 117 minutes, up 25
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 94 minutes, up 18
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 90 minutes, up 29
• Toy Story Mania! – 79 minutes, up 23
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 74 minutes, up 20
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 69 minutes, up 18
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 68 minutes, up 10
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 42 minutes, up 4
• Red Carpet Dreams – 41 minutes, up 1
• Celebrity Spotlight – 22 minutes, up 2
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – 21 minutes, up 7
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
• Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change

Photo: Matt Stroshane

Ouch. That was pretty brutal. We can tell when this park experiences its largest crowds by counting the number of attractions with 60-minute waits.

For the past week, that number was…seven. Yes, that’s a lot.

Photo: Disney

Not coincidentally, the average wait time per attraction soared, with guests standing in line for 50 minutes, which is nine minutes or 22 percent more.

We’ve averaged a 20 percent increase in wait times across our first two parks. The trend seems clear.

EPCOT

Credit: Disney

Now, we reach the park that has the most new stuff happening at the moment.

As I’ve detailed, EPCOT is currently hosting a festival, opening a new attraction, and re-running the old version of Soarin’.

With so much in play, park attendance should increase anyway. How were the crowds last week? Let’s check.

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 81 minutes, up 17
• Frozen Ever After – 77 minutes, up 7
• Test Track – 67 minutes, up 4
• Soarin’ Over California – 62 minutes, up 15
• Royal Sommerhus – 37 minutes, no change
• Spaceship Earth – 21 minutes, up 4
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 21 minutes, no change
• Mission: SPACE – 20 minutes, no change
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 19 minutes, up 1
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 16 minutes, down 3
• Living with the Land – 14 minutes, no change
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 10 minutes, down 3

Overall, guests at EPCOT waited for an average of 39 minutes per attraction, which is six minutes or 18 percent more than during the first week of October.

Magic Kingdom

Okay, the pattern here seems obvious. The parks were mobbed during the second week of October. Here’s the data:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 85 minutes, up 5
• Peter Pan’s Flight – 75 minutes, up 3
• Space Mountain – 57 minutes, no change
• Jungle Cruise – 54 minutes, up 2
• Haunted Mansion – 52 minutes, no change
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 48 minutes, up 1
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 47 minutes, up 6
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 46 minutes, up 3
• Ariel’s Grotto – 43 minutes, up 4
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 42 minutes, up 2
• Town Square Theater – 41 minutes, up 1
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 39 minutes, up 2
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 36 minutes, up 1
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 35 minutes, up 4
• Astro Orbiter – 33 minutes, down 1
• It’s a Small World – 32 minutes, up 6
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 30 minutes, up 6
• The Barnstormer – 28 minutes, up 7
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 27 minutes, up 6
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 25 minutes, up 7
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 24 minutes, up 4
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 20 minutes, up 5
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 19 minutes, up 4
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 19 minutes, up 6
• Country Bear Jamboree – 18 minutes, up 13 (!)
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 18 minutes, up 4
• Mad Tea Party – 17 minutes, no change
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 16 minutes, up 3
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Final Thoughts

Photo: Disney

The first week of October looks like the first week that guests realized that Country Bear Jamboree wasn’t long for this world.

Disney will update the attraction in 2024 to modernize the music. So, the next few months represent the last chance to savor the classics.

Anyway, guests at Magic Kingdom waited in line for an average of 34 minutes per attraction, which is two minutes or six percent more than last time.

Notably, Magic Kingdom provides the best bang for the buck at Walt Disney World right now.

Photo: Disney

You should keep that in mind if you’re visiting for Halloween this year!

Photo: MickeyBlog

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Feature Photo: Disney