Walt Disney World Wait Times for Pre-Thanksgiving Week 2023

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Here are the Walt Disney World wait times for the third week of November 2023.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

As a reminder, we’re about to talk about wait times for last week, not right now.

So, it’s the pre-Thanksgiving timeframe, which covers November 13^th through November 19^th.

How were the crowds? I haven’t peeked ahead, but based on everything I’ve heard and seen, the short answer is “massive.”

Is that correct? Well, yes. However, the wait times for the previous weeks were already sizable.

So, we might witness some attractions lower their wait times while still counting as possessing long lines. It is the holidays, after all.

Donald’s Photo Spot

Here are the average wait times for Animal Kingdom attractions last week:

• Avatar Flight of Passage – 82 minutes, down 20
• Na’vi River Journey – 70 minutes, down 4
• Adventurers Outpost – 51 minutes, down 4
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 46 minutes, down 7
• Expedition Everest – 33 minutes, down 5
• DINOSAUR – 24 minutes, down 5
• Kali River Rapids – 18 minutes, down 7
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 15 minutes, no change
• TriceraTop Spin – 12 minutes, down 1

Yes, everything declined from the previous week, which had claimed some of the largest lines we’d tracked since late June.

Chip ‘n Dale’s Holiday Outfits

Overall, Animal Kingdom guests waited in line for 39 minutes per attraction, which reflects a drop of six minutes or 13 percent from last week.

You’re probably wondering whether overall crowds are down at Walt Disney World. Hold that thought…

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

I did peek here, and I’ll warn you right now. This isn’t gonna be pretty.

Here are the average attraction wait times at Hollywood Studios last week:

• Slinky Dog Dash – 136 minutes, up 33
• Toy Story Mania! – 98 minutes, up 26
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 97 minutes, up 29
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 97 minutes, no change
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 88 minutes, up 15
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 74 minutes, up 2
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 61 minutes, down 3
• Red Carpet Dreams – 53 minutes, up 5
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 48 minutes, up 5
• Celebrity Spotlight – 28 minutes, down 1
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 25 minutes, down 5
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
• Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, down 3

Photo: Steven Diaz

Overall, visitors to this park stood in line for an average of 63 minutes, which is 12 minutes more than last time. And last time was very crowded.

I don’t want to credit Disney Jollywood Nights as a factor here since the park only hosted the event one night.

Instead, most of what we’re witnessing circles back to the sustained popularity of the park’s top attractions.

Based on this information, you might expect EPCOT crowds to increase their attendance as well. Hold that thought…

EPCOT

I’ll just go ahead and spoil the fact that this one isn’t about to make much sense.

Here are EPCOT’s average wait times this past week:

• Frozen Ever After – 82 minutes, down 13
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 81 minutes, down 17
• Test Track – 68 minutes, down 9
• Soarin’ Over California – 48 minutes, down 18
• Royal Sommerhus – 41 minutes, down 1
• Mission: SPACE – 23 minutes, down 2
• Spaceship Earth – 19 minutes, down 8
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 21 minutes, down 7
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 19 minutes, down 3
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 17 minutes, down 10
• Living with the Land – 15 minutes, down 9
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 13 minutes, down 7

Overall, EPCOT guests were likely thrilled by their pre-holiday wait times.

The average EPCOT attraction required a wait of 37 minutes, which is nine minutes or 20 percent less than last time.

Ordinarily, the final days of the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival are a bit more crowded, especially on weekends.

Fans try to squeeze in a final few moments at EPCOT’s most storied festival. It’s a bit puzzling that this didn’t happen in 2023.

Magic Kingdom

We haven’t even gotten to the strangest park yet.

Magic Kingdom’s average wait times are totally chaotic. Here they are:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 91 minutes, down 5
• Peter Pan’s Flight – 82 minutes – up 2
• Jingle Cruise – 78 minutes, up 3
• Space Mountain – 64 minutes, up 1
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 55 minutes, no change
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 54 minutes, no change
• Haunted Mansion – 53 minutes, down 4
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 48 minutes, up 10
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 45 minutes, down 4
• Ariel’s Grotto – 42 minutes, down 5
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 41 minutes, up 6
• It’s a Small World – 40 minutes, up 3
• Town Square Theater – 40 minutes, down 4
• Astro Orbiter – 39 minutes, up 5
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 38 minutes, down 5
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 38 minutes, down 7
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 36 minutes, down 4
• The Barnstormer – 33 minutes, up 2
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 28 minutes, down 2
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 27 minutes, no change
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 25 minutes, up 2
• Mad Tea Party – 21 minutes, no change
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 21 minutes, up 1
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 18 minutes, down 2
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 18 minutes, down 1
• Country Bear Jamboree – 17 minutes, no change
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 17 minutes, down 2
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 17 minutes, down 2
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Final Thoughts

Overall, guests at Magic Kingdom stood in line for 39 minutes per attraction, which is four minutes more than last time.

If we combine the four parks, the overall wait time average is almost identical week-over-week.

The oddity involves the way it happened. EPCOT was way down, Hollywood Studios was way up, and then Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom canceled each other out.

That’s legitimately one of the weirdest splits I’ve ever tracked in my multiple years of writing this article.

So, my wholly unscientific opinion is that holiday season crowds have their favorite parks at this time of year.

If you have a better explanation, please let us know in the comments. I’m a bit baffled this week.

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Feature Photo: Disney