Walt Disney World Wait Times for Early December 2023
Walt Disney World fans know a secret.
The earliest days of December present a rare opportunity for theme park guests.
As a rule, the two weeks after Thanksgiving lack the crowds that swell organically as the holiday season approaches.
Did this trend hold in 2023? Let’s check. Here are the Walt Disney World wait times for early December 2023.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
At this point, all of Walt Disney World’s theme parks exemplify the holiday spirit.
You’ll find Hanukkah and Christmas decorations everywhere. Remarkably, you’ll find some of the most unique holiday accouterments at Animal Kingdom.
Still, attendance at this park plummeted the instant Thanksgiving ended.
I’m not expecting much of a bounce back this week, either. The story will change during the second half of the month, though.
Until then, here are the average wait times at Animal Kingdom this past week:
- Avatar Flight of Passage – 86 minutes, up 25
- Na’vi River Journey – 65 minutes, up 8
- Adventurers Outpost – 52 minutes, up 5
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 45 minutes, up 9
- Expedition Everest – 28 minutes, up 4
- DINOSAUR – 23 minutes, up 6
- TriceraTop Spin – 12 minutes, up 2
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, down 3
- Kali River Rapids – 9 minutes, down 1
So, we’re largely up at the park this week, although few guests were bold enough to spend December on Kali River Rapids.
Overall, Animal Kingdom guests stood in line for an average of 38 minutes this past week, which is seven minutes or 23 percent more than last time.
In other words, we’ve had a modest but predictable correction at Animal Kingdom.
Once the crowds died after Thanksgiving, they picked up some the following week, but it’s still way down from the holiday.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Here’s where the conversation may change.
I had family and friends at the parks last week. Anecdotally, they indicated that the crowds at Hollywood Studios were sizable.
Can we track this with the data? Here are the park’s average wait times last week:
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 103 minutes, up 31
- Slinky Dog Dash – 92 minutes, up 9
- Toy Story Mania! – 67 minutes, up 4
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 64 minutes, up 6
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 62 minutes, up 10
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 56 minutes, up 6
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 56 minutes, up 3
- Red Carpet Dreams – 43 minutes, up 2
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 39 minutes, up 2
- Celebrity Spotlight – 24 minutes, up 3
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 14 minutes, up 2
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
You’ll notice that every attraction at this park either increased its wait time or held from the previous week.
Still, we haven’t reached that level where the crowds have been outrageous, though.
As a reminder, I don’t view Hollywood Studios as packed unless seven attractions require hour-long waits on average.
Yes, we were close this past week, but we didn’t get there.
Overall, guests waited 45 minutes per attraction, which is five minutes or 13 percent more than last time.
EPCOT
For those who weren’t keeping up last week – and shame on you! – EPCOT unveiled two new amenities.
World Celebrations Garden opened, highlighted by Dreamers Point and the Walt Disney statue.
Also, Luminous The Symphony of Us debuted as EPCOT’s latest nighttime presentation.
So, crowds ostensibly should have increased at the park. But did they?
Here are EPCOT’s average wait times last week:
- Frozen Ever After – 82 minutes, up 11
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 78 minutes, up 14
- Test Track – 61 minutes, up 9
- Soarin’ Over California – 48 minutes, up 14
- Royal Sommerhus – 40 minutes, up 4
- Living with the Land – 25 minutes, up 6
- Spaceship Earth – 21 minutes, up 5
- Mission: SPACE – 20 minutes, up 2
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 20 minutes, up 6
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 19 minutes, no change
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 14 minutes, up 1
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 12 minutes, up 1
Overall, guests waited an average of 36 minutes per attraction, which is six minutes or 20 percent more than last time.
Magic Kingdom
Okay, based on the first three parks, we can safely say that crowds increased at Walt Disney World this past week.
We only have one more place to check, and that’s the most popular theme park on the planet.
Here are the average wait times at Magic Kingdom this past week:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 77 minutes, up 5
- Jingle Cruise – 73 minutes, up 3
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 68 minutes, up 3
- Haunted Mansion – 53 minutes, up 7
- Big Thunder Mountain Railraod – 49 minutes, up 15
- Space Mountain – 48 minutes, up 7
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 47 minutes, up 7
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 43 minutes, up 4
- Town Square Theater – 43 minutes, up 6
- Ariel’s Grotto – 42 minutes, up 5
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 40 minutes, up 6
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 39 minutes, up 10
- Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 36 minutes, up 3
- Astro Orbiter – 32 minutes, up 2
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 32 minutes, up 4
- It’s a Small World – 30 minutes, up 7
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 30 minutes, up 6
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 27 minutes, up 6
- The Barnstormer – 24 minutes, up 4
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 24 minutes, up 5
- Walt Disney World Railroad – 21 minutes, up 6
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 20 minutes, up 3
- Mad Tea Party – 19 minutes, up 5
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 19 minutes, up 1
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 18 minutes, no change
- Country Bear Jamboree – 17 minutes, up 1
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 15 minutes, up 3
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 15 minutes, up 4
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Final Thoughts
Magic Kingdom attractions averaged a wait of 32 minutes last week, which is four more than last time.
Overall, only two attractions at Walt Disney World decreased their wait times week-over-week.
Those were It’s Tough to Be a Bug! and the totally understandable Kali River Rapids.
So, we definitely trended upward, but it wasn’t by a lot. For the current week, the wait times should tick up even more.
Then, the size of lines will explode on December 18th as holiday crowds arrive.
Buckle up, folks! People are about to flock to Walt Disney World to spend the holidays at the Most Magical Place on Earth!
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Feature Photo: D23